Understanding & Transforming the Racialized Wealth Gap Professor john a. powell Haas Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society, Executive Director and The Robert D. Haas Chancellor s Chair in Equity and Inclusion University of California, Berkeley Why We Can t Wait Summit, Miami Beach, Florida December 3, 2012
Wealth: How do we define it? Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Developed after World War II Measures economic production provides guidance to policymakers on which sectors of the economy are growing/slowing GDP = indicator for economic production Does not measure Overall performance Overall progress Well-being of it s citizens Human Development Index (HDI) Attempt to broaden definitions of wellbeing beyond economic growth and income Adds literacy and mortality to the equation of income Does not measure/reflect State of the natural environment Whether well-being can be sustained Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) Links well-being and wealth (economic growth & income) Wealth defined as: The social worth of an economy s assets: reproducible capital (e.g., roads, factories); human capital (e.g., levels of education, knowledge, creativity); natural capital (e.g., forests); population; institutions; and time. Extra research needed to make IWI a more accurate tool for economic, environmental, and social planning. Legalum Prosperity Index (LPI) Study of Wealth and Well-being in 142 countries Based on eight categories (e.g., economic strength, education, governance), and 89 variables Ranks countries based on foundations of prosperity U.S. ranked 12 out of 142
Does our current understanding of wealth and efforts to achieve it consider Human well-being? Well-being of future generations? Whether efforts to achieve wealth are sustainable? How wealthy are our communities as they exist today?
The Political-Economic Context of the Racialized Wealth Gap
Demographics in High and Low-Poverty Neighborhoods http://images.politico.com/global/2012/11/emp_urban_report_final_web.html
Wealth Loss in High & Low- Poverty Neighborhoods While families in high poverty neighborhoods lost less wealth in absolute terms, their wealth losses reflect a 91% decline in their overall wealth. For families in low-poverty neighborhoods, their wealth losses reflect a 47% decline. http://images.politico.com/global/2012/11/emp_urban_report_final_web.html
Racialized Wealth Gap (2012) http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/21/news/economy/wealth-gaprace/index.htm
Americans Beliefs on Actual, Estimated, and Ideal Levels of U.S. Wealth Distribution in 2005 Survey Source : Building a Better America--One Wealth Quintile at a Time, Perspectives on Psychological Science 2011
Misalignment of Power There is a misalignment of power between government, corporations, and people. This results in the expansion of the corporate sphere and the non-public/nonprivate spheres and the concomitant shrinking of the public and private spheres.
Transforming Societal Spheres Private Public Nonpublic/nonprivate Corporate
Corporate Misalignment Corporations exercise excessive authority, power, and influence that threaten: Democratic accountability, citizenship, civil and human rights, and the environment As well as individual freedom and personal privacy
Race & the Conservative Agenda The conservative agenda supports this misalignment through policies that promote deregulation, lower taxes, and cut social infrastructure White racialized fear and anxiety toward racialized, ethnic, and religious others has held it together over the past 30 years
Whiteness White fear of dependency, derived from an ontological fear of being like slaves, also drives this agenda This fear is most severely expressed as anti-black racism The threat to whiteness as a condition of being trumps the economic interests of middle class and poor whites This necessitates recreating whiteness in solidarity with others rather than in isolation
Right Meta Narrative Provided by Richard Healey
Draft Alternative Meta Narrative Multiple Identities and relationships Liberatory Faith Democratic control over concentrated power Provided by Richard Healey Political and economic power for the common good
Creating anxiety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= OTSQozWP-rM
AP IMPACT: China overtaking US as global trader By By JOE McDONALD and YOUKYUNG LEE Associated Press Mon, Dec 3, 2012
Obama Re-Election Generating white racial anxiety still works Blacks are the glue that hold white racial resentment together
Post-Election Conservative Strategy To continue their neoliberal politicaleconomic agenda, conservatives will have to pull off another group
Obama won 93% of Black vote and 71% of Latino vote, but
We have nobody to blame but ourselves when it comes to losing Hispanics We can get them back with some effort on our part. - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. ( Meet the Press - 11/11/12) [I]f Republicans are going to have the opportunity to be in the majority, we clearly have to determine how we deal with minority and Latino voters [W]e need to figure out how to talk about issues and pursue policies that matter to Latino, Hispanic voters." - Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas (as reported to Politico after the election) The Republican Party has to be open to and listening to people who are going to be a major part of our future and unless we do that, we re going to be a minority party I think you do have to have an attitude towards the Latino population not necessarily towards the president that is much, much more inclusive than it has been in the past. Newt Gingrich (CBS News Interview 11/7/12)
and We have a Latino problem that just cost us a national election. Mike Murphy, GOP Stategist (Newsday.com - 11/7/12) Republicans are never going to win a meaningful number of black voters. Move on. - Rod Dreher, Journalist/Author (theamericanconservative.com - 11/6/12) If we don t do better with Hispanics, we ll be out of the White House forever. - Ana Navarro, Republican strategist and CNN contributor (CNN 11/8/12) Must have sweeping, generous immigration reform, make existing law-abiding Hispanics welcome. Most are hard working family people. - Rupert Murdoch (via twitter 11/7/12)
Obama won 93% of Black vote and 73% of Asian vote, but If the Republican Party wants to win elections in the future, it should consider appealing to the fastest growing racial group in the United States. No, not Latinos. Asians. - Cristina Costantini, National Affairs Correspondent at ABC/Univision News ( Are Asians the New Latino Conundrum for the GOP? - 11/15/12) Asians, like Latinos, tend to place great value on family relationships and individual work ethic, according to a recent study by Pew. - Cristina Costantini (abcnews.com - 11/15/12) The Pew Research Center does excellent research on Asian-American and Hispanic values. Two findings jump out. First, people in these groups have an awesome commitment to work. - David Brooks, NY Times Op-Ed Columnist ( The Party of Work 11/8/12)
Developing a Counter Strategy & Creating a Coalition The Haas Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society
The Circle of Human Concern LGBTQ persons Mothers Citizens Children Felons Undocumented immigrants Elderly Black and Latinos Non-public/non-private apace 25
Social Cleavages in Our Society 26
Our Vision Diversity + Equity Diversity + Inclusion Diversity Where Social Cleavages Disappear 27
Our Approach Power Implicit Bias / Mind Science Structures/ Institutional Arrangements 28
Research Clusters Diversity & Democracy Diversity & Health Educational Disparities Economic Disparities LGBTQ Citizenship Disability Religious Diversity 29
A Framework for Addressing Racialized Wealth Disparities: Targeted Universalism
Opportunity is Racialized o Structures and policies are not neutral. They unevenly distribute benefits and burdens. o Institutions can operate jointly to produce racialized outcomes. School Segregation & Concentrated Poverty Lower Educational Outcomes o This institutional uneven distribution & racial marking has negative consequences for all of us. Racial and Economic Neighborhood Segregation Increased Flight of Affluent Families 31
Differential Positioning in Structures 32
Targeted Universalism Define shared, universal goals for all In this case, economically viable, healthy, and educated individuals and communities. These include the interrelated goals targeting economic opportunity, employment, housing, education, health, transportation, food security, civil rights, etc. Prioritize these goals 33
Targeted Universalism Structural Inequity produces consistently different outcomes for different communities. Targeted Universalism responds with universal goals and targeted solutions VS. Structural Inequity Targeted Universalism 2012 Connie Cagampang Heller
Developing the Plan The plan should support the identification of specific obstacles in particular geographies that limit certain populations/neighborhoods from reaching these universal goals All populations and communities must be included in this plan Strategies should then be tailored to address the specific needs and differentiated situatedness of targeted populations and communities 35
For more information, visit: http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/806639 36