Structural Racism on the Ground: Using the Communities of Opportunity Framework

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Structural Racism on the GroundUsing the
Communities of Opportunity Framework

• Facing Race A National Conference. Define
  Justice. Make Change
• Applied Research Center
• CUNY Graduate Center
• March 22-24, 2007
• Andrew Grant-Thomas
• Deputy Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study
  of Race and Ethnicity
• Hiram J. Irizarry Osorio
• Research Associate, Kirwan Institute for the
  Study of Race and Ethnicity
• john a. powell
• Williams Chair in Civil Rights Civil Liberties,
  Moritz College of Law
• Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race
  and Ethnicity

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Roadmap of todays presentation

• Structural Racism
• Communities of Opportunity approach
• Linked fates and transformative change

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Structural Racism

• An SR analysis emphasizes understanding and
  intervention
• FIVE defining characteristics
• Interrelated functioning of institutions
• Call for a strategic and dynamic understanding of
  these interactive cumulative relationships
• A shift of focus from individuals to raced groups
• Strategic interventions that challenge the
  collective routine actions of individuals
  interacting within a set of normal institutional
  arrangements
• Relevance of monitoring

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Necessity/Importance of an SR approach

• Broadens and grounds individual and institutional
  explanations
• Theoretical generality
• Methodological inclusiveness

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What are the implications of an SR understanding?

• Need to realize (and think of) that institutional
  arrangements create racialized patterns.
• Need to make visible these racialized
  arrangements and realized their
  socially-constructed nature (i.e., they are not
  inevitable).
• Need to be aware of not falling into a localist
  perspective.
• Need to be aware of the importance to build a
  movement (capacity).
• Need to be aware of the necessity to locate the
  relevant players/actors.

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A Structural Racism model attempts to account for
the theoretical shortcomings of traditional
models
SOURCE Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (1997)
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What are Strategic Interventions?

• Points of pressure where collective action is
  needed (specific and general impact).
• Points of pressure where we realize the need to
  think about our linked fate for long-term and
  lasting change.

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How do we identify Strategic Interventions?

• We need to identify the Veto Players/ Relevant
  Actors needed for transformative change.
• Transformative change takes time and energy.

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What is Opportunity Mapping?

• A spatial and empirical counterpart to structural
  racism.
• A way of looking at the spatial distribution of
  opportunities.

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How is Opportunity Mapping Done?

• Good and bad neighborhoods
• House hunting
• Geographic Information Systems (mapping software)
  and detailed data sets (e.g., US Census)

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Opportunity Indicators (examples)

• Housing
• Education
• Child care
• Health care
• Employment
• Transportation
• Crime/safety

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Critical General Findings

• Composite measure reliably indicates areas of
  high/low opportunity
• Opportunity unevenly distributed across regions
  (clustered)
• Generally worse in central cities, better in far
  suburbs
• Distinct patterns according to racial/ethnic
  makeup
• No absolutes

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Economic Segregation and Racial Segregation in
Public Schools Cleveland and Akron High Poverty
Schools (Red and Yellow) are Concentrated in
African American Neighborhoods (Areas in Gray)
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Opportunity and Subsidized Housing in Milwaukee
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Cleveland opportunity analysis race
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Case Studies Opportunity Segregation by Race
(Milwaukee, Chicago and Cleveland)
Chicago 1 Lowest Opportunity 5 Highest
Opportunity
Milwaukee
Cleveland
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These Findings Are Troubling

• Life outcomes dramatically affected according to
  race and space
• People of color not the only ones negatively
  affected
• Uneven distribution of opportunity has regional
  implications
• Uneven distribution of opportunity has (anti)
  democratic implications

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What Can We Do? The Communities of Opportunity
Framework

• Invest in people
• Invest in places
• Invest in the linkages between them

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Investing in people

• Asset-building
• Educational achievement
• Social and political empowerment

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Investing in places

• Attracting public/private investment to
  low-growth areas
• Supporting equitable investment in public
  infrastructure
• Targeting redevelopment of vacant properties
• Supporting neighborhood anchor institutions

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Investing in People-Places Linkages

• Improving public transportation
• Community benefits agreements
• Supporting home ownership and mixed-income
  housing initiatives
• Promoting fair housing

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Thompson v. HUD

• 1995 Lawsuit filed on behalf of 14,000 African
  American public housing residents in Baltimore
  City
• 2005 US District Court Judge finds HUD in
  violation of federal Fair Housing Act in failing
  to consider a regional approach to desegregating
  public housing
• Proposed remedy development of 7,000 affordable
  housing units in high-opportunity areas

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Proposed Remedy Identifies Region-wide
Communities of Opportunity

• Neighborhood Quality/Health
• Poverty, Crime, Vacancy, Property Values,
  Population Trends
• Economic Opportunity
• Proximity to Jobs and Job Changes, Public Transit
• Educational Opportunity
• School Poverty, School Test Scores, Teacher
  Qualifications

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Linked Fate and Transformative Change

• Housing is a leverage point for connecting
  clients to other critical opportunity structures
• All of these opportunity structures relate to and
  shape each other all are ripe for transformative
  change
• Advocate for Communities of Opportunity as
  transformative change
• Our fates are linked!

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