4.5: Racism

Racism in Communities

If we can determine that low funded schools, pollution, crime, community resources, toxins and poverty can have a negative effective on a child's development we can easily draw the conclusion that there are negative outcomes for children that grow up in these low income urban neighborhoods. The data also shows that the majority of these children are Black, Brown and Indigenous children (Shrider, Kollar, Chen, & Semega, 2021). This is not a mistake, it is an example of systemic racism. This is from years of racism and white supremacy that is still happening today. Jim Crow laws were laws put into place in the late 1800s until mid 1900s that segregated Black people from white people. They also prevented Black people from voting by enacting a poll tax or requiring a test before voting. If you can't vote, you can't vote for your interests or vote to better your situation.

Redlining is another example of systemic racism. This was the practice of outlining areas with sizable Black populations in red ink on maps as a warning to mortgage lenders, effectively isolating Black people in areas that would suffer lower levels of investment than their white counterparts. But redlining hasn't stopped. There is significantly greater economic inequality in cities where more of the high-risk or “hazardous” areas are currently minority neighborhoods.

Currently in California and many other states, schools are funded in large part by property taxes. What does that mean for schools in neighborhoods that have a lower socioeconomic status and lower median property value? Some states like California, New York, Texas and Illinois tax wealthier businesses more heavily and redistribute those dollars into lower-income school districts to help spread out the funding more evenly. Even in those states the wealthier school districts have families that can fundraise or donate more money to the schools for better opportunities for the students.

As home ownership is the traditional, tried and true key to accessing wealth in the U.S., it becomes easier to understand the web of institutional racism. Where we live generally determines where our children attend school. The quality of schooling we receive impacts our potential for higher education, our entrance into the job market, and quite possible our interactions with police and the criminal justice system. Additionally, the type of job we work generally determines the type of health care we receive or do not receive.

The combination of family poverty and neighborhood poverty poses a double risk to a large population of black and brown children and are much more likely to grow up in these situations than white children. There are still laws being passed that make it harder for black people to vote and that are trying to deny the history of racism in this country.

This video gives a good explanation of some of these challenges.

References

Shrider, E. A., Kollar, M., Chen, F., & Semega, J. (2021). Income and poverty in the United States: 2020. Current Population Reports. US Census Bureau.