Not *Quite* Post-racial: The Status of Race in the United States, 2009 Edition
1. Andrew Grant-Thomas
Deputy Director
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Research Assistance provided by Cheryl Staats
Portland State University
November 17, 2009
2. 2
Today’s Conversation
The state of race in the U.S. today
Explicit Bias
Structural racialization
Implicit Bias
4. 4
Data: U.S. Census
Bureau, 2007 American
Community Survey
Racial Equity Status Report. Prepared for the W.K. Kellogg foundation by the Kirwan Institute. September 2008.
5. 5
Data: 2001 Survey of Income and
Program Participation (SIPP)
Racial Equity Status Report. Prepared for the W.K. Kellogg foundation by the Kirwan Institute. September 2008.
6. 6 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, Common Core of Data
(CCD), “Public Elementary/ Secondary School
Universe Survey,” 2005–06
Proportion of students (by race) attending high poverty schools (schools with more than 75% of
students eligible for free and reduced lunch) in the 2005-2006 school year
Racial Equity Status Report. Prepared for the W.K. Kellogg foundation by the Kirwan Institute. September 2008.
7. 7
Projected Life Expectancy at Birth,
1999, by Race, Gender and Hispanic Origin
White females 80
White males 75
Black females 75
Black males 68
American Indian females 82
American Indian males 73
Asian females 87
Asian males 81
Hispanic females 84
Hispanic males 77
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Source: National Projections Program, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington DC 20233.
8. 8
Happiness
60%
Percentage Very Happy by Race, Ethnicity
50%
40% 36%
34%
30% 28%
20%
10%
0%
White Black Hispanic
-10%
Data from Pew Research Report, “Are We Happy Yet?” February 13, 2006
9. 9 http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0910/g
allery.highestpaid_40_under_40.fortune/index.html
Among the Best Paid Executives Younger than 40
11. 11
Diversity in the U.S. Senate
1,913 people have served in the Senate (1789-present)
Only 20 have been ethnic minorities:
6 African Americans (1 currently serving)
5 Asian Americans (2 currently serving)
6 Hispanic Americans (1 currently serving)
3 Native American Indian
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/minority_senators.htm
12. 12
Possible Explanations of These Disparities
Is it culture?
“If they wanted to, they could pull themselves up by their
bootstraps.”
Is it interpersonal racism?
“If only people would stop stereotyping and discriminating….”
Is it structural?
“Institutions can interact in ways that are discriminatory.”
Is it some or all of the above?
13. 13
Compared to Whites, are Blacks
More ___ than Whites, tied with Whites, or More Less
less ___ than Whites?
Wealthy 5% 77%
Industrious 9% 46%
Violence-prone 45% 10%
Intelligent 3% 38%
Committed to strong families 15% 44%
Committed to intergroup tolerance 18% 38%
Compared to Whites, are Hispanics
More ___ than Whites, tied with Whites, or More Less
less ___ than Whites?
Wealthy 7% 78%
Industrious 22% 35%
Violence-prone 38% 15%
Intelligent 3% 42%
Committed to strong families 34% 25%
Committed to intergroup tolerance 22% 34%
Data from 2000 GSS. Topical Report No. 32. National Opinion Research Center.
14. 14
Do you agree with the following statement: Irish, Italians, Jewish
and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their
way up. Blacks should do the same without special favors.
50%
44%
45%
N = 1,325
40%
35%
30% 28%
25%
20%
15% 13%
10% 9%
5%
5% 1%
0%
Agree Agree Neither agree Disagree Disagree Don't know
strongly somewhat nor disagree somewhat strongly
Data: 2008 General Social Survey (U.S.). From Polling the Nations
16. 16
Structural Racialization
How race works today: There are still practices, cultural norms
and institutional arrangements that help create & maintain
(disparate) racialized outcomes
Structural racialization addresses inter-institutional
arrangements and interactions.
It refers to the ways in which the joint operation of
institutions produce racialized outcomes.
In this analysis, outcomes matter more than intent.
17. 17
Place and Life Outcomes
We all live in
opportunity
structures.
Effective The opportunities
Participation available to all people
Childcare Employment are not the same.
Housing
We must consider how
Education Health institutions interact
with one another to
Transportation produce racialized
outcomes.
18. 18
Contrasting Low & High Opportunity Areas:
Where would you want to live?
It’s more than just a matter of choice.
19. 19
Place Matters: Costs of Opportunity Isolation
o Individual/family costs
Living in “concentrated disadvantage” reduces student IQ by 4
points, roughly the equivalent to missing one year of school
(Sampson 2007)
o Societal cost
Neighborhoods of concentrated poverty suppress property
values by nearly 400 billion nationwide (Galster et al. 2007)
People of color are far more likely to live
in opportunity deprived neighborhoods and
communities.
20. 20
Living in Low Opportunity…
… correlates with children
… generates unhealthy having levels of lead in
levels of stress their blood 9 times above
hormones in average; high levels of
children, which impairs lead linked to ADD and
their neural irreversible loss of
development cognitive functioning
… links to higher levels … is highly correlated with
of violent offending childhood aggression and
among juveniles social maladjustment
21. 21
Million Dollar Blocks
Prison Expenditure
by Block
Brooklyn, NY
22. 22
Some people ride the “Up” Others have to run up
escalator to reach the “Down” escalator to
opportunity. get there.
23. 23
Analyzing Opportunity in Portland
Housing and
Education Economic Indicators
Neighborhood
Reading Proficiency Proximity to
Homeownership Rate
Scores Employment
Proximity to Neighborhood Poverty
Math Proficiency Scores
Employment (change) Rate
Population on Public
Free and Reduced Lunch
Assistance
Student-to-Teacher
Unemployment Rate
Ratio
Adult Educational Average Commute to
Attainment Work Time
24. 24
Distribution of Opportunity in Portland
Population by Race, 2000
Neighborhood African
Asian Hispanic White
Opportunity American
Low & Very Low 37.0% 60.2% 59.5% 34.0%
Moderate 21.4% 16.8% 17.0% 21.4%
High & Very High 41.5% 22.9% 23.5% 44.7%
25. 25
Neighborhood Poverty by Race/Ethnicity and Income
(Portland – Vancouver Metro Area)
Poor Middle Income Affluent
Black 17.9% 14.5% 12.0%
Hispanic 13.9% 12.3% 9.7%
Non-Hispanic White 11.7% 9.5% 7.6%
Asian 12.7% 10.2% 7.7%
U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census. Diversity Data: http://diversitydata.sph.harvard.edu/Data/Profiles/Show.aspx?loc=993¬es=True&cat=2
26. 26
Racialized outcomes do not always require racist actors.
27. The Spinning Girl
http://hight3ch.com/
are-you-left-or-
right-brained-
illusion/
OR
http://www.moillusio
ns.com/2007/06/spin
ning-sihouette-
optical-illusion.html
27
28. 28
Awareness Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrqrkihlw-s
29. 29
Implicit Bias
People have multiple networks that may be activated without our
awareness.
Depending on the situation, one network becomes dominant over
the others
Even though we may fight them, implicit biases reside within us…
30. 30
Our Unconscious Networks
What colors are the following lines of text?
31. 31
Our Unconscious Networks
What colors are the following lines of text?
32. 32
Our Unconscious Networks
What colors are the following lines of text?
33. 33
Our Unconscious Networks
What colors are the following lines of text?
35. 35
Implicit Association Test
http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2007/08/19/
36. 36
Implicit bias against nonwhites is pervasive.
Distributions of Responses on Explicit
(Self-reported) and Implicit Measures
Groups Explicit Implicit
Compared
Nonwhite Neutral White Nonwhite Neutral White
Blacks/Whites 12% 56% 32% 12% 19% 69%
Asians/Whites 16% 57% 27% 11% 26% 63%
Note: Percentages represent the percent biased in favor of group.
Source: 94 California Law Review (2006), p. 957
38. 38
Biases in Employment
Researchers sent out fictitious resumes in response
to help-wanted ads.
HR reps in the area indicated that they were eager to find
qualified minority candidates and embraced diversity.
Each employer White-sounding name • 1) Highly qualified
received four • 2) Average
(i.e., Emily, Greg, Jill, Todd)
resumes –
Black-sounding name • 3) Highly qualified
(i.e., Jamaal, Lakisha, • 4) Average
Latoya, Tyrone)
Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004)
39. 39
Employment Bias - outcomes
Resumes with “white-sounding” names received 50% more call-
backs than those with “black-sounding” names.
More shockingly, some average white applicants received call-
backs rather than highly-skilled blacks.
Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004)
40. 40
Biases Influencing Neighborhood Evaluations
Respondents saw videos of neighborhoods and their “residents”
(portrayed by actors).
The neighborhoods in the videos were the same, but respondents
were randomly assigned to see either:
(1) White residents,
(2) Black residents, or
(3) a mix of both White and Black residents.
“Respondents then evaluated the neighborhoods in terms of
housing cost, property upkeep, safety, trajectory of housing
values, and quality of the schools.”
Krysan, Farley, and Couper (2008)
41. 41
Neighborhood Videos
http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/tmp/das/
Krysan, Farley, and Couper (2008)
42. 42
Neighborhood Evaluations - Results
“White respondents who saw a neighborhood with only Black
residents evaluated it significantly more negatively than similar Whites
who saw exactly the same neighborhood but with White residents.”
“When [Whites] are shown the same neighborhood but with White
residents, they offer more positive evaluations.”
“Race of residents appears to code the neighborhood with regard to
some of the most important characteristics people consider when
thinking about where to live.”
“Race may indeed be a “proxy” for other neighborhood features; but
our study reveals that it is a “proxy” constructed in respondents’ minds
and shaped by their racial stereotypes.”
Krysan, Farley, and Couper (2008)
