This document summarizes key concepts from the book "Race & Social Equity: Nervous Area of Government" by Susan T. Gooden. It discusses how addressing issues of racial equity can produce nervousness in government organizations and public administrators. The document defines nervousness and explains why racial equity is a "nervous area of government." It presents Gooden's conceptual model for understanding how nervousness related to racial equity manifests within an organization's external environment, senior administrators, public servants, and values. The intensity of this nervousness and how it can be effectively or ineffectively managed is also addressed.

1. Complete the Assurance of Learning Exercises 6A and 6B on
page 205 of the textbook. Use the completed SWOT and SPACE
matrices to draw conclusions regarding both the long term and
short term strategies you would recommend in light of your
findings. Summarize in a two-page APA formatted paper.
RACE & EMOTIONAL WORK
Addressing race & social equity is emotion laden work
It involves managing ones professional self, which may be
incongruent with personal
feelings
Joy, happiness, love, anger, fear, & grief are emotions
Emotions entail subjective feelings, body response, expressive
behavior
Nervousness may be conscious, brains response to stimuli as
fearful is unconscious

2. & automatic
EMOTIONAL LABOR
Component of dynamic relationship between two people;
worker/client,
worker/worker
Not in job description but implicit in public servants position
Range on continuum from superficial friendliness to deeply felt
human emotions
Cost/benefits of emotional labor
& inclusion
EMOTIONAL LABOR & RACE/SOCIAL EQUITY
Emotional labor is occupation specific
Women engage in emotional labor more so than men

3. Degree of engagement on race at work dependent on
organizational
leadership/culture, & external events
Individual levels of fear common across spheres
(internal/external)
RACE TALK @ WORK
Array of factors influence comfort level communicating about
race – preferences,
family background/attitudes, historical, cultural, societal
influences, org. culture,
prior work experience, etc.
nervousness relative to race
Baseline level of nervousness influences likelihood public
administrator with raise
issue of racial equity relative to administration of public
services
Absent outside stimuli, baseline level indicator of likelihood of
addressing racial
equity
Avoidance common strategy to manage nervousness

4. STRATEGIC COLORBLINDNESS
Race among first and fastest automatic categorizations made of
others
Many whites report inability to do so – fail to acknowledge
racial differences to avoid
appearance of bias
e race” infers its not viable factor to consider in
administration of public services
differences, e.g. SES, class, etc.
Strategic colorblindness to avoid appearing biased often
backfires, leads to negative
interpersonal perceptions among blacks, is indicative of greater
racial prejudice
ASSIMILATION
Assimilation/melting pot strategy based on, single, ideal,
homogenous culture
S
given our history

5. Discounts personal, institutional, culture impact on those that
are “different”
Public Administrators adhering to assimilationist strategy
approach dialogue, analysis,
& recommendations as serving one public rather than multiple
or diverse publics
CONVERSATIONAL VARIABILITY
Speaker able to negotiate conversational space on race based on
group’s perceived
receptivity
Allows public administrator to shift messages on racial equity
in agency to fit
contextual factors, e.g. setting, audience
to line staff, &
another to citizens/residents
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Subjective anecdotal experiences about race, racism, or racial
groups can’t be
externally verified

6. Speaker positions self as observer/authority on facts & events
Audience role is to accept facts as true
Anecdotes operate as generalizations, behavior of some
extrapolated as
representative of larger group individual belongs to
Negatively affect organization when public administrator uses
personal experience as
substitute for data-driven decision-making within agency
CULTURAL PLURALISM
Diverse groups maintain distinctiveness within
multicultural/ethnic society
Increased knowledge/understanding of other racial/cultural
groups can reduce
prejudice/stereotyping
Perspective values cultural differences rather than seeing as
distraction, threatening,
divisive
groups in mutual

7. coexistence
discussion of racial disparities
with more comfortable discussion of class, urban, inner-city
factors etc.
MULTICULTURAL MOSAIC
Recognizes oppression exists and is manifested through
structural, institutional, &
social arrangements
Focuses on complexities of human relationships acknowledging
cultural
distinctiveness & need to work across differences
Administrators using this strategy explicitly research &
acknowledge institutional
influences on racial patterns of public service delivery
Chapter 2: Saturation of

8. Racial Inequalities in US
Susan T. Gooden
Racial Inequities
are persistent
characteristic of US
partially culpable for their development
and maintenance
agencies and to whom relevant in
understanding history of US social
inequity
Public Policy & Resource
Distribution
–
◦ whether material, e.g. money, taxes, houses or
◦ less tangible, e.g. chances of military services,
getting sick, being a crime victim
questions of delivery of policy
1. Who are recipients & many ways of defining
them?

9. 2. What is resource & ways of defining it?
3. What is social process of determining
distribution?
Saturation of Inequities
compounding; permeates multiple public
policies areas that affects life chances
◦ e.g. housing > environmental inequities > health >
education > employment > income/poverty > crime
◦ See Fig. 2.1 pg. 23
diminished overtime due to societal changes,
racial disparities maintained;
◦ e.g. Jim Crow laws replaced by less overt laws but
racial disparities persist
lthy, may be
less affected by disparities, but cumulative
racial effect intact for racial group overall
Housing
-being

10. care, employment, public safety, quality schools, &
financial capital/wealth
& asset accumulation among whites
◦ FHA & banking industry practice of redlining promoted
disinvestment & blight of racially segregated minority
neighborhoods & suburbanization of whites
◦ Blacks/Latinos denied loans despite credit worthiness,
disproportionately given subprime loans
◦ Fair Housing Act (1968) goal to elimination differential
treatment,
reduce ghettoization of minorities, create stable, diverse
neighborhoods
◦ Housing discrimination persists across public agencies,
homeowners, bankers, real estate agents, government officials
Housing Choice Voucher Program
– federally subsidized voucher
designed to provide low-income families,
elderly, disabled safe, quality, affordable
housing on private market
recipients; refuse to rent to families
-

11. housing discrimination policies, e.g. FHA
◦ Ohio state legislature bill to prohibit fair
housing testing
Education
investment to offset racial discrimination
education implicated in historical racial
disparities
◦ Majority of 1892 land-grant college funding went to
white colleges
Plessy v. Ferguson’s (1896) “separate but
equal” unconstitutional; ruled “separate” is
inherently “unequal”
Education
◦ 34% whites & 50.8% Asians 16 > have college degree
compared to
20.2% blacks, 14.1% Hispanics
◦ Persistent black/white labor market wage differential despite
higher
educational attainment for blacks

12. than race
rate of 46.6%, compared to 69.8% whites, 54.7% blacks,
77.9 Asians, 50.8% Hispanics
ht to “civilize” Native Americans &
eradicate language/culture
inequitable funding;
◦ institutionalization of inequities through allocation of
resources to
privileged, rewarding cultural capital, & standardizing of test
Environment
1980s
◦ Environmental quality if a basic human right
◦ Environmental racism: policies/practices disadvantage
persons/groups/communities based on race; include
exclusion from decision-making processes
affected by negative externalities from producers
of waste (resource depletion, pollution)
facilities, levying of fines, & slow response to

13. contaminates in communities of color
Environmental Justice Legislation
• Title VI (1964) Civil Rights Act protects against
discriminatory/exclusionary policies/practices by federally
funded agencies/programs
Environmental Policy Act (1969) provide
“safe, healthful, productive, pleasing surrounding
to all”
-Aid Highway Act (1970) equitable
treatment of communities impacted by
transportation projects
disproportionately high & adverse effects on
minority/low-income populations
◦ DOT & FHWA implemented & expanded on EO 12898
Environmental Racial Disparities
polluting industries in minority/low-income
neighborhoods
located in South, which has > % blacks

14. American Communities
by black/white poverty rate, % manufacturing
employment, degree of segregation
◦ Child lead poisoning highest among Hispanics renting in
older homes/apartments
◦ Causes learning disabilities, damage to central nervous
system, blood cell functioning
Conclusions
reinforcing
inequities
monitor, assess, & eradicate
ires talking about race
Chapter 1: Nervousness, Social
Equity, & Public Administration
By

15. Susan T. Gooden
Characteristics of Nervousness
• What is nervousness?
• Usually emotional and physical traits
associated with individuals
– sweaty palms, hand tremors, pacing, fidgeting,
knots in stomach, loss of appetite, problem focusing
– A state of discomfort
• A common experience but problematic when
it interferes with ability to perform daily tasks
• What about nervousness in organizations?
Social Equity Nervous area of
Government
• Gooden argues social equity, particularly racial
equity is a nervous area of government (NAG)
• Historically nervousness led to inability to
advance reduction of racial inequities in
government
• Until nervousness effectively managed, public
administrations efforts to reduce inequities won’t
reach full potential

16. • As public administrators it interferes with
provision of government services in alignment
with democratic principles of US Constitution
Equity & Justice
• Evaluation of equity & justice fundamental concern for
public administrators who struggle to assess social
climate & ensure equity in government
• Evaluation unlikely to occur if administrators too
uncomfortable to directly address topic
• Result is unacknowledged context of nervousness that
is debilitating to public sector organizations, hampering
progress to achieving racial equity in governance
• Phrase, “nervous area of government” evolved from
interviews examining racial disparities within
Wisconsin welfare program
Foundational questions in book

17. • What is a nervous area of government?
• How extensive are racial inequities in
American society?
• How is the nervous area of government
manifested in individuals & organizations?
• What can we learn from public sector
organizations engaging in this nervousness
work?
• What challenges remain in path ahead?
Race & Social Equity: Nervous area of
Government
• “Nervousness” conceptual linkages
• Merton’s (1952) “dysfunctions of bureaucracies” -
positive attributes emphasized, stress and strains
almost wholly ignored
• Blau (1963), unofficial group norms provide
powerful inducement of acceptance among
members despite individual attitudinal
differences
– Behaviors concealed, hostility towards questioning,
myths to explain conformity, ostracism penalty for
violating norms

18. Downs, 4 biased behavior of administrators
1. Distorting info forwarded to superiors
2. Biased attitude regarding certain policies &
alternative actions associated with position
3. Varying degrees of compliance with
directives, dependent upon preferences
4. Varying willingness to seek added
responsibilities and assume risk in position
Organizational Justice
• “…justice phenomenon is pervasive in all organizations,
however, …invisible until attention is focused on it by
experience or perception of injustice,” Sheppard et al.
• Literature primarily adopts HR management
perspective focused on employees’ fairness concerns,
recruitment, compensation, grievances, layoffs,
downsizing
• NAG more systemic, prioritizes treatment & experience
of publics being served by organization rather than
only internal, employee justice
• Public justice is context organizational value of social
equity resides in

19. Conceptual Model of NAG
• NAG entails both internal & external dimensions
• Understanding how organization effectively or
ineffectively provides public justice requires
examination of 4 core areas operating in a context
characterized by nervousness with racial equity as
focus
• 4 areas- all exist in overall context of nervousness &
influence intensity within organization
– External environment
– Sr. public administrators
– Public servants
– Organizational values
External Environment
• External environment motivators often are
catalyst for racial equity examination
• Evolve from political, legal, economic, or moral
stimuli
• Racial-equity motivation often provided by
elected official, campaigning on specific issue
– E.g. Seattle Race & Social Justice Initiative – Mayor
Nickels; NYC Stop-&-Frisk Mayor de Blasio
• Legal includes laws, regulations, court

20. decisions/litigation promoted by advocacy groups
– E.g. ACLU, NAACP
External Environment
• Economic triggers promote racial-equity in monetary
terms
– e.g. cost-benefit analysis, return on investment, behavioral
incentives based on large funding sources, or enhance
overall organizational efficiency
• Moral triggers include grassroots concerns, civic
participation, media attention, large shifts in societal
perspectives,
– e.g. civil rights legislation resulting from civil rights
movement
• External triggers get attention of Sr. Public
Administrators (SPA)
Senior Public Administrators (SPAs)
• SPAs concentrated source of power in organization
• Individual/persons at top decision-making level
exercise power by giving orders/making decisions
• Leadership distinct from sheer power
• 4 task of leadership
– Define institutional mission & role

21. – Institutional embodiment of purpose
– Defense of organizations integrity
– Provision of order to internal conflict
• among individual employees or subgroups
• Determine boundaries of racial analysis in organization
Public Servants
• Majority of agency employees – frontline staff, managers, &
midlevel
supervisors
• Daily actions, decisions, & routines affect life-chances of
clients which
often have racial-equity implications
• Street-level bureaucrats mediate the constitutional relationship
between
citizens & the state
– They define & operationalize the meaning of citizenship
• Public servants use of discretionary judgment
– Police decide who to arrest or not
– Judges decide whose sentence to suspend or give the max
– Teachers decide who to suspend, or remain in school & who is
teachable
• Restraint by rules, regulations, & directives, but oft deferred
to given
specialized area of work & relative freedom from supervisor &
client
scrutiny

22. • Race equity analysis of agency’s patterns of service is
important; impacted
by agency socialization of acceptable/unacceptable behavior
Organizational Values
• Most important area of NAG
• Organizational culture establish & sustain hierarchy of
values;
– efficiency, effectiveness, quality, citizen-participation,
innovation
• Values explicitly & implicitly communicated & define
tolerance of racial-equity analysis
• NAG is how agency considers, examines, promotes,
distributes, & evaluates provision of public justice relative
to race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, class,
& ability status
– Public servants responsible to provision of services to
minority
groups that are part of public at large
• Nervous in areas due to emotional historical or societal
context

23. Intensity of Nervousness
• Low nervousness intensity means agency
minimally engaged in analysis of subject areas
• High intensity, agency in early stages of analysis;
expected by unsustainable for years
• Either manage ineffectively & revert to low-
intensity state or manage effectively & move to
moderate-intensity state
• Moderate is optimal because sustainable as a
core value, & facilitates productive, effective
provision of equity in delivery of public services
Why Race?
• Race is not only NAG
– Gender, class, sexual orientation, religion, & disability
critical aspects
of social-equity also
• Race defined as, “cluster of inheritable bodily markings
carried by a
largely endogamous group of individuals, markings easily
observed
by others, difficult to change or conceal, & invested in a
particular
society as a given historical movement with social meaning”
(Loury)
– American political culture doesn’t freely give presumption of
equal

24. humanity Race-equity produces significant nervousness
• W.E.B. Du Bois, “The problem of the 20th Century is the
problem of
the color line,” (1900)
• Racial inequality still a salient feature of society today
• Racial disparities evident in many indices of wellbeing
– Wages, unemployment, income & wealth, educational
achievement
gaps, incarceration & crime victimization, health & morality
Structural Racism
• Historical & contemporary disparities grounded in
structural racism
• Primarily deals with “discrimination in contract” -
standardization of racial bias through public & private
structures
• As opposed to “discrimination in contact” – unequal
treatment of otherwise like persons on basis of race in
associations & relationships formed in social life
• Research entails cross-section of academics, advocates,
practitioners, civil rights leaders, & policy analysts to
explain why race still predictor of SES & wellbeing, & id
policy & practice implications

25. 5 context of Structural Racism
• Values - promoting philosophy of American equal
opportunity, & lack of success due to individual failings
• Knowledge - normalizes racial inequities & acceptance
of disproportionalities
• Cultural - allows persistence of racialized media
images/stereotypes
• Psychological – reinforces sense of entitlement among
whites, non-entitlement/ low expectations for people
of color
• Political – power exercised to sustain white privilege
Structural & Institutional Racism
• Structural racism builds upon institutional racism by
recognizing the
cumulative effect of social inequity that is compounded &
reinforced across organizations
– Interaction between institutions often produces racial
disparities
• Institutional racism can be set by formal rules but depends on
an
organizational culture that is tolerant of such behavior
• Racist institutional decisions do not require nor preclude
racist
individuals

26. • Systematic, intentional efforts to address racial equity must
entail
race-conscious action
– Color-blind approaches are ineffective
– “Ideological colorblindness inhibits kind of democratic
engagement
necessary to confront most deeply entrenched problems facing
our
society,” (Guinier & Torres)
Social Equity, PA, & Democracy
• Social equity directly related to democratic
principle of justice
• Implementation of justice is context-bound
• Sometimes justice is treating everyone the same, others
cases it means treating groups differently based on current
or past inequities
• What is fair dependent upon complex array of
historical, political, & social facts
• ‘Social’ implicates public administrators to be
attentive to differences in fairness & justice
relative to important social characteristics

27. Criteria for measuring Equity
• Procedural fairness – examination of problems
of due process, equal protection, equal rights
for policies and programs
• Access – distributional equity; review policies,
services, practices to determine level of access
• Quality – process equity; review consistency in
level of service provided to groups/individuals
• Outcomes – whether policies, programs have
same impact for all groups/individuals served
Social Equity in PA
• PA origins - Minnowbrook conferences (1960s)
– Dwight Waldo, George Frederickson architects
• 3 Pillars of PA – Effectiveness, Efficiency, Equity
– 1st question of public programs – is it effective/good?
– 2nd question – good for whom?
• Tenets of American Dream
1. Equal opportunity & ability to start over – most of US history
women, minorities, & poor restricted
2. reasonable anticipation of success – requires resources &
opportunities
3. success under individual’s control – those that try but fail
realize

28. fallacy of notion but viewed as losers thus discredited
• Book examines federal, state, & local organizations operating
in
NAG