Sept 9 Flashcards
systemic racism alt term
structural racism
systemic racism definition
processes of racism that are embedded in LAWS (local, state, federal), POLICIES, and PRACTICES
of SOCIETY and its INSTITUTIONS
that provide ADVANTAGES to RACIAL groups deemed as SUPERIOR
while differentially OPPRESSING, DISADVANTAGING, or otherwise NEGLECTING racial groups viewed as inferior
Dr David Williams video
tells story of Clyde, a black man who went to Yale and died of a blood clot at 62
many of his black classmates also died young - black people had a death rate 3 times higher than average
every 7 mins, a black person dies prematurely in the US (200 daily who wouldn’t die if things were equal between the races)
at every level of education, white live longer than blacks
whites who have graduated from high school live longer than blacks with a college degree
key to lifespan disparity = DE FACTO SEGREGATION
racial bias in US health care system algorithms
US health care system uses commercial algorithms to GUIDE HEALTH DECISIONS
evidence of racial bias - Black patients at same risk level by algorithm’s calculations are SICKER than white patients
reduces number of black patients identified for extra care by MORE THAN HALF
happens because algorithm uses HEALTH COSTS as proxy for HEALTH NEEDS
less money is spent on Black patients who have same level of need, so algorithm FALSELY CONCLUDES they are healthier than equally sick white patients
us health algorithm - what proxy does it use for health needs?
health costs
and less money is spent on black patients who are equally as sick as white patients
so they are seen as less in need of extra care by the algorithm
hiring: AI and systemic racism
widespread fears about bias in AI-driven HIRING platforms
are certain types of NAMES, SPORTS, UNIS… selected against by AI?
beyond hiring: AI and systemic racism
- 5 known wrongful arrests based on AI facial recognition - ALL 5 WITH BLACK MALES
facial recognition is much worse at identifying black faces than white ones
- social media FILTERS and GENERATIVE ART changes Black people’s facial features, skin, hair to look MORE EURO-CENTRIC
facial recognition software: systemic racism
facial recognition software sucks for black faces
often mistakenly labels female and male black faces
because of LACK OF DIVERSITY IN DATA used to TRAIN the aI
usually majority “pale male data”
residential segregation: systemic racism
neighbourhoods are segregated
the secret source of racial inequality in the US
where you live determines your access to opportunities in EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, MEDICAL CARE
not even one US city where Whites and Blacks live in equal contexts
if you statistically eliminate residential segregation…
it greatly reduces racial inequality
housing disparities: mortgage lending
contributes to segregation in NA neighbourhoods
gaping racial disparities in mortgage lending
Fair Housing Act failed America because it isn’t enforced
35% of Black applicants are approved for mortgage loans, compared to 56% of White applicants in same income bracket
in majority White neighbourhoods, White people have approval rate 1.5 times higher than Black applicants
mortgage lending approval rate differential even when holding income and loan amount constant
20%
prime loan vs subprime loan
prime: at best rate
subprime: pay more over the life of the loan
Justice Department reaches settlement with Wells Fargo resulting in more than $175 million in relief for homeowners to resolve Fair Lending Claims
between 2004-2008
Wells Fargo discriminated by steering 4000 African American and Hispanic wholesale borrowers (and retail borrowers)
into SUBPRIME MORTGAGES when non-Hispanic white borrowers with SIMILAR CREDIT profiles received PRIME LOANS
Wells Fargo charged approx 30 000 African American and Hispanic wholesale borrowers HIGHER FEES and RATES than non-Hispanic white borrowers BECAUSE of their RACE or NATIONAL ORIGIN rather than borrowers’ credit worthiness/other objective criteria related to borrower risk
the difference between a prime and subprime loan…
is only a COUPLE PERCENTAGE POINTS
ie. 5.24% monthly rate versus 6.24% monthly rate
but 1% diff results in an extra $290 a month
2% diff results in an extra $593 a month
across 25 year term, you’ll pay how much more with a subprime mortgage rate?
$87 000 - $177 900 more
by focusing on the “racists” as the problem behind racism…
we keep attention away from the STRUCTURE and COLLECTIVE PRACTICES
that MAINTAIN RACIAL DOMINATION
and this is “the goal of racism”
if racism were a matter of fighting or educating the “racists”, then…
cohort replacement and increasing educational level of population would have ALREADY PRODUCED the ELIMINATION of the problem
racial domination is not an _______ action or an __________/_________ event…
not ISOLATED action
or an EXCEPTIONAL or DISCRETE event
it is SUSTAINED, ROUTINIZED, enacted in form of PRACTICES, RULES, DEVICES, DISCOURSES
which all end up REPRODUCING the racial status quo
systemic racism: we are all…
racialized beings
systemic racism: we all act within…
racialized society
systemic racism: we all participate within a system of…
structural racism
historically, racializers are…
white people
how is racialization an active process?
it happens/shifts over time
immigration trends in US as to who was counted as white
“how Italians became ‘White’”
“White immigrants weren’t always considered white - and acceptable”
often governments play role in conceptualization of racial and ethnic groups
the canadian census uses these two questions to…
group people into 3 categories
- white
- indigenous
- visible minority
Canadian census population group options
11 options
- white
- south asian (eg east indian, pakistani, sri lankan etc)
- chinese
- black
- filipino
- latin american
- arab
- southeast asian (eg vietnamese, cambodian, laotian, thai etc)
- west asian (eg iranian, afghan etc)
- korean
- japanese
- other
^confusing and seemingly arbitrary categories (also, no countries on the African continent are listed)
also has follow up question: select all that apply: First Nations, Metis and/or Inuk
in canadian census, you can’t be a visible minority if…
you are indigenous
this erases Black-Indigenous identity
implications of Stats Can classification categories
stats on HEALTH, EMPLOYMENT, WELLBEING, EDUCATION etc
often reported based on those 3 groups
COLLAPSES across MINORITIZED GROUPS with wildly diff experiences
Stats Can is publicly _________ but
accessible
but you CAN’T DISAGGREGATE DATA by RACIAL GROUP
you need clearance to access specialized data centre
if Stats Can data are disaggregated by visible minority group…
they are generally not compared to White people
Beals quote on Stats Can
“such INDOLENCE facilitates the process of minority status identification for public and private institutions, such as gathering statistics, health policy, judiciary systems, policing systems (ie. racial profiling/carding), and the MAINTAINING OR DENYING OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES”
systemic racism: racial choices are obviously not limited to housing…
they affect almost everything Whites do
- friends they have
- schools they attend
- churches they patron
- jobs they hold
- leisure activities they enjoy
- seat they choose on train/bus
^all these things reinforce SR
living in white communities sustains…
the racialization of the housing market
- Whites’ homes, net of quality, are valued HIGHER than those of POC - this helps preserve the RACIAL WELATH GAP
- SCHOOLS are connected to neighbourhoods too, and thus the more Whites segregate themselves residentially, the higher the level of SCHOOL SEGREGATION
- Segregation in neighbourhoods, schools, friend networks and churches shape profoundly WHITES’ VIEWS and EMOTIONS on race matters
- White’s RACIAL ISOLATION SHAPES their LIVES from birth to death
solutions to segregation?
demographic INTEGRATION of neighbourhoods, schools, friendship networks, jobs
MUST be accompanied by HOLISTIC EFFORT TO UNDO THE RACIAL STRUCTURE of society
increasing racial diversity in organizations without attending to RACIAL POWER DYNAMICS in structure and culture leads to RACIAL COHABITATION rather than true integration
what leads to racial cohabitation instead of true integration?
increasing racial diversity in organizations without attending to racial power dynamics in structure and culture
solutions to segregation: can’t try to fix one part of the system in isolation…
efforts will be stunted by the effects of other parts of the system
“addressing systemic racism is like playing Whack-a-mole except that to win the game the player should try to simultaneously seal all the holes from which the model can come through”
pervasive idea that racial disparities in health are due to ____ instead of race
SES
logic is that:
- minority people tend to be lower SES
- low SES is associated with poor outcomes
- therefore, minority people show poor outcomes because they’re generally lower SES
plenty of work shows positive associations between SES and health
programs that reduce poverty generally have positive impacts on youth’s health downstream
addressing SES/income equality explanation for racial health disparities: asking what are racial disparities in health among NONPOOR Black and Latinx communities, and how does discrimination fit in? setup
Cohen et al 2018
data on nationally representative US sample of 5000+ individuals aged 14-41
28% black, 19% latinx
participants were kids of women originally enrolled in 1979 longitudinal study of youth
asked about ACUTE and CHRONIC discrimination (no attribution to race or other identity status)
acute: very recent
chronic: everyday type
addressing SES/income equality explanation for racial health disparities: asking what are racial disparities in health among NONPOOR Black and Latinx communities, and how does discrimination fit in? findings 1
- black and latinx people overall report more discrimination than white people
- upwardly economically mobile black people face MORE ACUTE DISCRIMINATION than black people whose SES stays stable across time
- opposite pattern for latinx and white people
- upwardly mobile latinx people face MORE CHRONIC DISCRIMINATION than latinx people with stable SES across time
as black and latinx people move up the ladder, they…
as black and latinx people move up the ladder, they face MORE DISCRIMINATION
for black people, comes in the form of acute discrimination (very recent)
for latinx people, comes in the form of chronic discrimination (everyday)
addressing SES/income equality explanation for racial health disparities: asking what are racial disparities in health among NONPOOR Black and Latinx communities, and how does discrimination fit in? findings 2
upwardly mobile black and latinx people have between 17-23% and 28-29% higher risk of having POOR SELF-REPORTED HEALTH relative to white people
when you account for exposure to acute discrimination, gap shrinks by 58% for black people and 6% for latinx people
similar pattern for chronic discrimination
summary of Cohen et al 2018
- racial disparities in self-reported health are apparent even among people who have been upwardly socially mobile
- disparities partially to fully accounted for by discrimination depending on type (acute vs chronic) and population (black or latinx)
- difference in exposure to discrimination by race
will reducing income inequality help with disparities in racial health outcomes?
yes, but not fully
income inequality doesn’t fully account for racial disparities in outcomes
- DIFFERENTIAL EXPOSURES (minorities are more exposed to disc) may drive continued disparities
- DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS may do the same
how do differential effects of disc contribute to disparities?
black people don’t benefit as much from:
- REDUCTION OF RISK FACTORS
- INTRODUCTION OF PROMOTIVE FACTORS
compared to white people
white populations are more sensitive to…
the introduction of protective factors
the introduction of negative factors
(minority groups are less affected by negative things because they’re used to them)
reasons behind DIMINISHED RETURNS for Black people vs White people
all tie into STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES
- labour market preferences and practices
- discrimination
- cumulative disparities due to initial disadvantage
- cost of upward social mobility
labour market preferences and practices
cause 1 for diminished returns for black vs white people
racial disparities in employment
- racialized people in Canada have higher participation in labour force AND higher unemployment
- 13.4% of black people in MTL with grad degrees are unemployed (equal to unemployment rate for non-Black people who didn’t finish secondary school/high school)
- racial biases in hiring practices
cumulative disparities due to initial disadvantage
cause 2 for diminished returns for black vs white people
HAVES are better able to capitalize on resources than have-nots
initial advantage SNOWBALLS and leads to GREATER CUMULATIVE ADVANTAGE
racial wealth gap starts people on an uneven playing field - capitol gains disparity between racialized and non-racialized groups
costs of upward social mobility
cause 3 for diminished returns for black vs white people
example of a racial bias in hiring practices
people with “Asian-sounding names” are 20-40% less likely to get a callback when applying
can the racial wealth gap be calculated in canada?
no
racial disparity in capitol gains and investment income
capitol gains for racialized people: 8.3%
capitol gains for non-racialized people:
11.9%
investment income for racialized people:
25.1%
investment income for non-racialized people:
30.8%
health consequences of upward social mobility
- striving
- competing demands
- lack of belonging
- mismatch of low-SES traits in high-SES environments
striving
very high effort coping
moving up ladder is so hard that you cope in a very high effort style called striving
harmful for physiological health (increased cellular ageing, increase cardiovascular disease risk)
a health consequence of upward social mobility
lack of belonging
“do I fit in?”
differences in social capitol
higher SES groups tend to be less racially, ethnically and culturally diverse
higher up the ladder = more likely to feel like an outsider in this community
a health consequence of upward social mobility
mismatch of low-SES traits in high-SES environments
what got you up the ladder may not be helpful once you’re at the top
things you to do build wealth are different than things you do to maintain wealth
a health consequence of upward social mobility
competing demands
ie. have to balance school and job and family
a health consequence of upward social mobility
overall lecture summary
- racism, sexism, heterosexism, and homophobia are embedded in unequal systems
- these unequal systems lead to wide array of inequalities impacting one’s educational chances, employment, access to healthcare, and financial opportunities
- reducing SES-disparities is helpful, but differences in exposure to discrimination and diminishing returns reduce efficacy of pure reduction in income inequality
- all these things have health implications
- structural inequalities lead to and perpetuate interpersonal discrimination
