Tag Archives: Racism

Women of Color Lag Behind Economy

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“Race and racism create specific, unique challenges for women of color that are too easily ignored with broad platitudes that seek to advance women’s representation without questioning which women are most likely to benefit.“ ~ Adia Harvey Wingfield, author of the book Flatlining: Race, Work, and Health Care in the New Economy

Race and gender continue to create divergent and uneven outcomes for women of all races and men of color in America.

An oft-cited statistic reveals that women make 79 cents for every dollar men earn. But Black women earn only 64 cents on the dollar, and for Latinas,.racism and ,.racism and” it is a dismal 54 cents.

As it was in the early 20th century, women of color continue to experience occupational and economic disadvantages that reflect the ways both race and gender affect their work experiences.

Research indicates that both factors, racism and sexism, impact women of color in professional settings. The factors adversely affect Black women in a variety of occupations through stifled leadership opportunities, the ongoing persistence of specific forms of sexual harassment, and subtle but pervasive doubts about competence, intelligence, and skill that are unrelated to actual performance, according to a Brookings Institution report.

In a study by Adia Harvey Wingfield, Black women doctors observed that

The medical community is sorely lacking in diversity with respect to Black women doctors.

Black women doctors, in a study by Adia Harvey Wingfield, observed that race and gender were key factors shaping the challenges they faced in the field.

Despite being 7% of the U.S. population, Black women are a paltry 3% of medical doctors today, a disparity that has devastating consequences for health equity in a rapidly diversifying society.

Working in a profession dominated by white men, Black women doctors are very attuned to the ways that sexism impacts their lives. For instance, nearly every Black woman doctor with whom Wingfield spoke shared accounts of being mistaken for a nurse rather than a doctor, so much so that they argued that when it came to their everyday interactions, gender was a much more significant factor than race.

Source: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/women-are-advancing-in-the-workplace-but-women-of-color-still-lag-behind/

Systemic Racism and Unconscious Bias in America

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“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “I have a dream speech”

Over the past centuries, Americans have permitted systemic racism and unconscious bias to affect how an entire race and class of people are mistreated – by the justice system, by the penal system, by the social welfare system, by the education system, by the financial system, and the list goes on – because of the color of their skin, stated Chamath Palihapitiya, founder and CEO of Social Capital. In no reasonable, moral worldview is this acceptable.

The salient point is that equality, for all Americans, is an essential pillar of the US democracy and its capitalist economy…not a discretionary feature that can be arbitrarily turned off and turned on based on the whim of public and private leaders.

Conversely, we, as a nation, can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge and we need to acknowledge that systemic racism and unconscious bias have happened and continues to happen, and begin the hard work of finding solutions.

One solution

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

In the past eighteen months since George Floyd murder at the knee of law enforcement, many private sector companies are embracing their role in creating more equitable workplaces, addressing societal racial inequality and even donating to causes working to end racism. Robert F. Smith, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Vista Capital, argues that if we want to see lasting, meaningful change, the private sector’s efforts to address structural racism, we need the private sector to step up and deploy “permanent capital” — meaning investments and commitments that are scalable and focused on the long-term. 

Specifically, companies should designate 2% of their yearly earnings to closing racial opportunity gaps, diversifying their boards and pension managers, making higher education more affordable, and addressing disparities that they’re uniquely qualified to help solve.

For example, telecommunications companies have a “special responsibility to end connectivity deserts” where one in three Black households have no broadband internet or computer access, according to Smith.

Health care companies can work to address racial health inequities, and software companies can make affordable tools to help Black sole proprietors and small business owners better handle payroll and customer acquisition. 

“It is all too easy to let the urgency of a moment fade away with little to show for it,” Smith said. “Let’s meet this moment. We have the tools, the technologies and the access to capital to do it. All we need is the willpower to see this through.” 

References:

  1. https://www.socialcapital.com/annual-letters/2020
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/15/how-companies-can-make-practical-commitments-achieve-economic-justice/

Closing the Black Wealth Gap

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Black families have one-eighth the wealth of white families as a result of economic discrimination and institutionalized racism.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacres. Over two days, a white mob in the city’s Black district of Greenwood killed an estimated 300 Black Americans and left nearly 10,000 destitute and homeless. The Greenwood area was known as Black Wall Street, an epicenter of Black business and culture.

The Tulsa Race Massacres is just one many thousands of violent and economic incidents throughout American history that created the wealth gap. As such, the Black wealth gap was created through centuries of institutional racism and economic discrimination that limited opportunities for African-Americans.

Wealth was taken from these communities before it had the opportunity to grow. This history matters for contemporary inequality in part because its legacy is passed down generation-to-generation through unequal monetary inheritances which make up a great deal of current wealth.

The racial wealth gap is a chasm with Black families owning one-eighth the wealth of white families. According to the Survey of Consumer Finances, in 2019, the median net worth of Black households was $24,000 as opposed to $189,000 for white households. This shortfall in financial wealth creates a cascade of inequalities in education, homeownership, and simply saving for emergencies.

Historically, Blacks were limited to certain neighborhoods and had more trouble borrowing to buy a home than white home buyers. Additionally, Black workers don’t advance to the top positions in companies at a proportional rate as other groups.

Moreover, African American families have had fewer opportunities to build generational wealth through home ownership, investments and inheritance. In this century, many Black families were stripped of their wealth and financial security by by both public and private institutionalized racism whether called Jim Crow or redline policies.

There are other factors: Many African-Americans, particularly older ones, are too conservative as investors. Only 34% of Black families own stocks, while more than half of white families do, according to a Federal Reserve. It is important to help African American investors get more comfortable with owning risk assets such as equity stocks, ETF and mutual funds that build wealth over the long term.

Do not seek shortcuts to build wealth

You must build wealth over time. If you’re saving 15% or 20% of your income over 30 years, there’s a good chance you will be wealthy. These methods truly work whether you’re making $50,000 or making $500,000 a year.

‘We just had an 11-year bull market. If you didn’t take the appropriate amount of risk, you’re significantly behind,” says Malik Lee, an Atlanta financial advisor whose clientele is more than 90% African-American.

American Dream for Black families

The heart of the American Dream for Black families is financial wellness, independence and freedom. There are many ways to express the American Dream, including owning their home, not living paycheck to paycheck, and being able to travel. Today, 69% of African American families are confident the American Dream is still attainable, according to MassMutual’s ‘State of the American Family’ survey.

Financial wellness for most families is the heart of the American Dream. American families tend to view financial wellness in terms of five common financial priorities:

  • Having an emergency fund
  • Feeling confident in both short-term and long-term financial decision making
  • Not carrying a lot of debt
  • Being financially prepared for the unexpected
  • Not living paycheck to paycheck

Black families are taking steps to secure their financial future and dreams, but more needs to be done to keep the American Dream alive. The top financial regret across all consumer groups surveyed is “not starting early enough.”

References:

  1. https://www.barrons.com/articles/this-advisor-wants-to-close-the-black-wealth-gap-accepting-risk-is-key-51625077456
  2. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Net_Worth;demographic:racecl4;population:1,2,3,4;units:median;range:1989,2019
  3. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/02/27/examining-the-black-white-wealth-gap/
  4. https://www.massmutual.com/static/path/media/files/mc1133aa_09248mr-final.pdf
  5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianthompson1/2021/06/17/the-key-to-closing-the-racial-wealth-gap-black-entrepreneurship/

Making the American Dream Available to Every American – CEO Newel Brands

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How can we make the American dream available not just to a select few Americans, but to every American?

African Americans don’t feel fully part of the fabric of America society because systemic racism, discrimination and economic/social injustice have been barriers that have effectively denied people of color their full rights and privileges of American citizenship. Blacks and people of color have had to fight and to demand for decades for their inalienable civil and human rights and privileges, which are accorded freely to the majority, to become full citizens in America.

“As Americans, we need to proactively address aspects of our society in which discrimination and racism are systemic and root them out,” Ravi Saligram, Newel Brand’s President and CEO wrote. “We need to open our hearts and truly believe that every one of us is equal, not succumb to tawdry stereotypes or allow the insidious hand of unconscious bias to seep deep into our souls.”

Saligram wrote in a letter to Newel Brand’s team members entitled “Embracing Our Humanity” that “his hope [is that] this tragedy will galvanize Americans—black, brown, white, Democrat, Independent, Republican, male, female or however one identifies—to come together to acknowledge and reject racism and discrimination of any kind. As Americans, we need to proactively address aspects of our society in which discrimination and racism are systemic and root them out. We need to open our hearts and truly believe that every one of us is equal, not succumb to tawdry stereotypes or allow the insidious hand of unconscious bias to seep deep into our souls.”

Social scientists say crises like COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd are “focusing events,” events that recalibrates public policy and cultural norms. It often takes a crisis or tragedy to get society to wake up, look in the mirror, face up to uncomfortable truths and find a better way forward.

We require new and innovative thinking and actions in America to solve deep rooted societal problems of systematic racism and economic inequality, to repair the economic devastation caused by the pandemic and to heal and bring spiritual peace (free of the burdens of uncertainty, fear and anxiety) to the country and the world.  

“It would be tragic if the narrative that the general public remembers is property damage and violent acts instead of focusing on the real issues at hand, namely justice, equality and ending systemic discrimination,” Saligram wrote. “We cannot revert to the old normal of ‘Us versus Them’ and perpetuate senseless killings of people of color.”

References:

  1. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-can-be-a-three-time-ceo-because-ive-never-been-infected-by-systemic-racism-newell-chief-executive-vows-to-level-the-playing-field-for-black-employees-11603123364
  2. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/back-to-normal-we-can-do-better-here-are-the-best-new-ideas-in-money-11601997311?mod=bniim
  3. https://www.newellbrands.com/embracing-our-humanity
  4. https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/library/article/id/273/the-fruit-of-spirit-peace.htm

Pledge to Action

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Recently, four Black Alumni from the U.S. Naval Academy’s Class of 1988 penned a short, yet strong message and call to action ‘Pledge’. The Pledge was written for and shared with their approximately one thousand classmates.

They asked their classmates “to read carefully and consider acknowledging publicly” the intent and and message of the Pledge.

I offer their message to my blog readers to do likewise, to read carefully and consider acknowledging.

Pledge:

“Recent reprehensive comments of a fellow Naval Academy alumnus, along with the worldwide call to address racial inequality and police brutality have deeply impacted many of us in ’88.”

“We have drafted a Pledge that we ask each of you to read carefully and consider acknowledging publicly.”

“This Pledge is not only about race, but about openly discussing and understanding all our differences as people and offering a deeper level of support for each other in a way that many of us have already come to embrace in our lives.”

“It is about conversation, engagement, and using our influence to help us be even stronger as a class and better friends.”

I will take these 3 steps:

1. Listen to my peers.

  • I will interact intentionally with shipmates and have real conversations about our respective life experiences.
  • My commitment is not only to hear but also to try to understand. I pledge to listen to my Class of 1988 brothers and sisters.

2. Lead by example.

  • I will engage to address any displays of injustice and any statements of untruths.
  • If I am in an environment among friends or peers and something insensitive, derogatory, or untrue is proffered, I will reject it and encourage others to do the same.
  • I will lead by example. Silence is no longer an option.
  • What I can do, I will do.

3. Leverage my network.

  • I will use my sphere of influence, an important extension of me, to the benefit of my classmates and the U.S. Naval Academy.

It is critical that we all affirm our commitment to fairness and integrity, and that we carry out our message to the broadest audience possible.

One of their Naval Academy classmate wrote an article that appeared on the website www.medium.com where she pledged to do the following:

“I recognize that we are men and women of action, and only through our actions can we effect a change.” She wrote. “Because it is not enough to only recognize and speak against the mistreatment of our brothers and sisters who served alongside me, I commit to you that I will also engage on your behalf.”

“What I can do, I will do. I commit to each of you to serve alongside you.”

References:

  1. https://medium.com/@leelauras/annapolis-grads-write-powerful-pledge-9976017cc1f9
  2. https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2020/06/06/jacksonville-area-naval-academy-alumni-member-resigns-apologizes-after-racial-comments-aired-on-facebook-live/

Silence is not an Option

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“We have to stand together with the victims of murder, marginalization, and repression because of their skin color, and with those who seek justice through protests across our country.”  Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Many Fortune 500 corporations and their CEOs have released statements condemning police brutality and racism within American society.

In my view, most of the statements or pledges to fund Black organizations are nothing more than marketing statements and platitudes created by corporate marketing and legal teams trying to position their organizations on the moral and politically correct side of this legitimate protest. Words don’t change much, actions do!

One glaring exception is the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s press release. Their statement stands as one of the few exceptions to the norm:

Silence Is NOT An Option (by Ben & Jerry’s)

“All of us at Ben & Jerry’s are outraged about the murder of another Black person by Minneapolis police officers last week and the continued violent response by police against protestors. We have to speak out. We have to stand together with the victims of murder, marginalization, and repression because of their skin color, and with those who seek justice through protests across our country. We have to say his name: George Floyd.

George Floyd was a son, a brother, a father, and a friend. The police officer who put his knee on George Floyd’s neck and the police officers who stood by and watched didn’t just murder George Floyd, they stole him. They stole him from his family and his friends, his church and his community, and from his own future.

The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy. What happened to George Floyd was not the result of a bad apple; it was the predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated Black bodies as the enemy from the beginning. What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis is the fruit borne of toxic seeds planted on the shores of our country in Jamestown in 1619, when the first enslaved men and women arrived on this continent. Floyd is the latest in a long list of names that stretches back to that time and that shore. Some of those names we know — Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Emmett Till, Martin Luther King, Jr. — most we don’t.

The officers who murdered George Floyd, who stole him from those who loved him, must be brought to justice. At the same time, we must embark on the more complicated work of delivering justice for all the victims of state sponsored violence and racism.

Four years ago, we publicly stated our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Today, we want to be even more clear about the urgent need to take concrete steps to dismantle white supremacy in all its forms. To do that, we are calling for four things:

First, we call upon President Trump, elected officials, and political parties to commit our nation to a formal process of healing and reconciliation. Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protestors, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas. The world is watching America’s response.

Second, we call upon the Congress to pass H.R. 40, legislation that would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. We cannot move forward together as a nation until we begin to grapple with the sins of our past. Slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation were systems of legalized and monetized white supremacy for which generations of Black and Brown people paid an immeasurable price. That cost must be acknowledged and the privilege that accrued to some at the expense of others must be reckoned with and redressed.

Third, we support Floyd’s family’s call to create a national task force that would draft bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability. We can’t continue to fund a criminal justice system that perpetuates mass incarceration while at the same time threatens the lives of a whole segment of the population.

And finally, we call on the Department of Justice to reinvigorate its Civil Rights Division as a staunch defender of the rights of Black and Brown people. The DOJ must also reinstate policies rolled back under the Trump Administration, such as consent decrees to curb police abuses.

Unless and until white America is willing to collectively acknowledge its privilege, take responsibility for its past and the impact it has on the present, and commit to creating a future steeped in justice, the list of names that George Floyd has been added to will never end. We have to use this moment to accelerate our nation’s long journey towards justice and a more perfect union.”

“Bravo Zulu” / well done to Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.

Source: https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/dismantle-white-supremacy