Op/Ed: Despite progress, racism persists

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on June 22, 2021

This past Juneteenth weekend was filled with celebrations of freedom for African Americans. But it should also serve as a reminder that the promise of freedom for the descendants of slaves has yet to be recognized.

Despite the gains in legal and political rights made by the descendants of enslaved Africans since Emancipation and the Civil Rights Era, relative poverty between black and whites has barely changed for half a century.

However, amidst the unfathomable challenges of the past year, there are signs of hope that only a few years ago would have seemed unimaginable. I witnessed and participated in the biggest civil rights protest in American history, the Black Lives Matter movement.

Standing side by side, with my predominantly white neighbors and local police officers we condemned the actions of another police officer, Derrick Chauvin, in the murder of an unarmed black man, George Floyd. And while barely half of all Americans thought racial discrimination was a big problem, five years ago. Today, more than three-quarters of us feel that way. The question is no longer whether most Americans want a racially just society. The question is how? And the answer is to avoid focusing our attention solely on the racist beliefs or actions of individuals.

Although that form of racism is impossible to ignore (especially with daily and often graphic videos feeding a voracious news model designed to create shock and disgust among its customers), the most intractable racial disparities exist because of the institutional economic legacy of slavery and segregation, poverty.

Covid-19 has killed many more African Americans than whites or Asian Americans. That is more likely a product of African Americans being more likely to have pre-existing health conditions, having to work outside of the home during the pandemic and being less likely to have health insurance than whites; than racist doctors or nurses. All three stem from poverty that has been cemented in place by hundreds of years of systemic racism.

Similarly, the War on Drugs which led to an explosion of young black men behind bars, from my vantage point as a public defender in one of America’s largest cities, in the late 90s and early 2000s, was less about racist cops than ill-conceived policies targeted at poor communities Many well-intentioned, individuals, including prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement officers, and judges were working within a criminal justice system that exacerbated racism, by trying to eradicate illicit drug use, primarily arresting casual drug users (who accounted for 4 out of every 5 drug arrests during that period) in the poor black and brown neighborhoods where open-air drug markets existed. So, although there were similar rates of drug use in both poorer black and more affluent white communities, the over-policing of poverty-stricken neighborhoods created an immeasurable drain on the human and financial resources of already communities of color.

That is why policies that address poverty are desperately needed.

Like the Affordable Care Act — ACA — prompted 39 states to expand the availability of Medicaid to low-income Americans. As a result, the share of uninsured African Americans has fallen by 40 percent over a decade. Or, President Biden's proposed New Child Tax Credit, which is projected to reduce child poverty by 40 percent in the next decade. And because black children are much more likely to live in poverty, it is likely to have an even greater impact on those under-resourced black communities.

Policies that help all poor Americans are not only effective, but they are also relatively popular (i.e. those 39 aforementioned ACA states). Perhaps, it is because so many Americans of all backgrounds are unable to make ends meet or are worrying about it for the first time in their lives. Or perhaps it is much easier to make the argument to support those in need, based on their present necessity versus historical hardships. Either way, these ‘color-informed policies help improve all our lives while tearing down the residual structure of racism.