Documenting Systemic Racism in the United States of America
A Compilation of Academic Literature
Summary
The purpose of this document is to provide academic resources that demonstrate the material consequences of Systematic Racism.
Key points from each section
Criminal Justice System
Black people are discriminated against at virtually every level of the criminal justice system
Crimes committed against white victims typically end in much more severe sentences than crimes committed against black people
Black people are consistently overpoliced, racially profiled, subjected to more violence and are killed far more by police relative to Whites and this leads to a cycle of poverty
Militarizing the police has not been effective in reducing crime rate, 99% of Police who kill don’t get charged and in 8 cities police kill black men at a higher rate than the United States murder rate
Socio-economics
Black people are consistently given worse opportunities in housing and are exposed to lead and other types of utility and housing poisoning more often
Black people are consistently discriminated against in employment and are paid far less on average than Whites
Republicans have on multiple occasions attempted to prevent Black people from voting by targeting them with “Almost Surgical Precision”
Black students at all levels of education, all types of schools, and at all levels of poverty are given all types of punishment, suspension and expulsion at a higher rate than Whites
The disproportionate treatment of Black students in schools include an increased rate of being referred to and interacting with law enforcement, thereby contributing to the school to prison pipeline
The schools Black students have access to are on average worse in every conceivable way relative to the quality of other schools
Black people are discriminated against in Academia and are subject to hostile environments
There is prominent implicit bias against black people in healthcare and this manifests itself into healthcare disparities in terms of access and quality
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Sentencing
Black men who commit the same crimes as white men receive federal prison sentences that are, on average, nearly 20 percent longer
The black/white sentencing disparities are being driven in large part by “non-government sponsored departures and variances”
This means that sentencing choices are made by judges at their own discretion.
University of Michigan Law School: Starr and Rehavi 14
All other factors being equal, black offenders were 75 percent more likely to face a charge carrying a mandatory minimum sentence than a white offender who committed the same crime.
Whites and African Americans report using and selling drugs at similar rates, but African Americans go to prison for drug offenses at higher rates than whites
In 2002, African Americans were admitted to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of whites in the largest population counties in the country.
Meta-analysis of 71 studies
“Analyses indicate that African-Americans generally are sentenced more harshly than whites; the magnitude of this race effect is statistically significant but small and highly variable”
High variability is explained by differences in methodology between studies
Found that between 1990 and 2010, state prosecutors struck about 53 percent of black people eligible for juries in criminal cases, vs. about 26 percent of white people. The study’s authors concluded that the chance of this occurring in a race-neutral process was less than 1 in 10 trillion
Even after adjusting for excuses given by prosecutors that tend to correlate with race, the 2-to-1 discrepancy remained
The state legislature had previously passed a law stating that death penalty defendants who could demonstrate racial bias in jury selection could have their sentences changed to life without parole. The legislature later repealed that law
“Mock jurors” were given the same evidence from a fictional robbery case but then shown alternate security camera footage depicting either a light-skinned or dark-skinned suspect
Jurors were more likely to evaluate ambiguous, race-neutral evidence against the dark-skinned suspect as incriminating and more likely to find the dark-skinned suspect guilty
“Black defendants who kill white victims are seven times as likely to receive the death penalty as are black defendants who kill black victims. … Moreover, black defendants who kill white victims are more than three times as likely to be sentenced to death as are white defendants who kill white victims.”
Murderers who kill white people are three times more likely to get the death penalty than murderers who kill black people
“One quarter to one third of death sentenced defendants with white victims would have avoided the death penalty if their victims had been black.”
Looking at 33 years of data found that after adjusting for variables such as the number of victims and brutality of the crimes, jurors in Washington state were 4.5 times more likely to impose the death penalty on black defendants accused of aggravated murder than on white ones
Black people are more likely to be wrongly convicted of murder when the victim was white. Only about 15 percent of people killed by black people were white, but 31 percent of black exonerees were wrongly convicted of killing white people. More generally, black people convicted of murder are 50 percent more likely to be innocent than white people convicted of murder
Black people are 3.5 times more likely than white people to be wrongly convicted of sexual assault and 12 times more likely to be wrongly convicted of drug crimes. (And remember, data on wrongful convictions is limited in that it can only consider the wrongful convictions we know about.)
This study found that when a black person was accused of killing a white person, defendants with darker skin and more “stereotypically black” features were twice as likely to receive a death sentence. When the victim was black, there was almost no difference
This study of about 48,000 criminal cases in Wisconsin showed that white defendants were 25 percent more likely than black defendants to have their most serious charge dismissed in a plea bargain. Among defendants facing misdemeanor charges that could carry a sentence of incarceration, whites were 75 percent more likely to have those charges dropped, dismissed or reduced to a charge that did not include such a punishment
“The majority of research on race and sentencing outcomes shows that blacks are less likely than whites to receive reduced pleas”
“Studies that assess the effects of race find that blacks are less likely to receive a reduced charge compared with whites,”
“Studies have generally found a relationship between race and whether or not a defendant receives a reduced charge.”
After adjusting for numerous other variables, federal prosecutors were almost twice as likely to bring charges carrying mandatory minimums against black defendants as against white defendants accused of similar crimes.
Black defendants with multiple prior convictions are 28 percent more likely to be charged as “habitual offenders” than white defendants with similar criminal records
The authors conclude that “assessments of dangerousness and culpability are linked to race and ethnicity, even after offense seriousness and prior record are controlled.”
United States Sentencing Commission 18
With firearm crimes black people are more likely to be arrested, more likely to get longer sentences for similar crimes and more likely to get sentencing “enhancements”
The study looked at 67,000 first-time felons in Georgia from 1995 to 2002
The average sentence for white men was 2,689 days
The average for black men was 378 days longer, but light-skinned blacks received sentences of about three and a half months longer than whites
Medium-skinned blacks received a sentence of about a year longer
Dark-skinned blacks received sentences of a year and a half longer.
Black federal judges are about 10 percentage points more likely to be reversed on appeal than white federal judges
The study adjusted for variables like who appointed the judges, judicial circuits and demographic data
This study of first-time felons found that while black men overall received sentences of 270 days longer than white men for similar crimes, the discrepancy between whites and dark-skinned blacks was 400 days
61 to 80 percent of black overrepresentation in prisons can be explained by higher crime rates in the black population
Of course, those higher crime rates are due to socio-economic factors which are in great part influenced by systemic racism
The rest is probably because of racial bias
This study of bail in five large U.S. counties found that blacks received $7,000 higher bail than whites for violent crimes, $13,000 higher for drug crimes and $10,000 higher for crimes related to public order
These disparities were calculated after adjusting for the seriousness of the crime, criminal history and other variables
The Urban Institute looked at probation offices in four locations across the country: New York City; Multnomah County, Ore.; Dallas County, Tex.; and Iowa’s Sixth Judicial District. After adjusting for criminal history, seriousness of the crime and other factors, the study found that black people were 18 to 39 percent more likely than white people to have their probation revoked
This study of more than 10,000 cases handled by a public defender’s office in San Francisco found that black and Latino defendants were more likely to be incarcerated while awaiting trial, had to wait longer for their trials to begin, were less likely to see their charges reduced and were more likely to see new misdemeanor charges added
Policing and Racial Profiling
A data analysis on 3933 killings to examine the intersection of race and reasonableness in police killings
They find that, across several circumstances of police killings and their objective reasonableness, Black suspects are more than twice as likely to be killed by police than are persons of other racial or ethnic groups; even when there are no other obvious circumstances during the encounter that would make the use of deadly force reasonable
They suggest that the addition of training components that specifically address the role of race in officers’ perceptions of risk and their decision-making in potentially dangerous interactions with citizens may remediate both the incidence of police shootings and their apparent racial and ethnic disparity
Despite roughly equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana
Marijuana arrests account for over half of drug arrests in the United States
Out of 8.2 million arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% of them was simply for possession
States waste 3,613,969,972$ enforcing marijuana laws every years
Bias in policing isn’t just a “few bad apples,” nor is it a problem among white police officers specifically; policing practices inherently operate in a discriminatory manner.
The disproportionate killing of African Americans by police officers “is likely driven by a combination of macro‐level public policies that target minority populations and meso‐level policies and practices of police forces.”
“Much research in organizational theory suggests that the problem of disproportionate killing may be fundamentally institutional.”
Also outlines past studies on policing that recognize the disproportionate impacts of institutional policies on minorities
Black, Indian, and Native people are significantly more likely to get killed by the police than white people
“For young men of color, police use of force is among the leading causes of death.”
POC are killed at a disproportionate rate, even more so when unarmed.
Police disproportionately target low-income and POC neighborhoods
“Overall, police-related death rates were highest in neighborhoods with the greatest concentrations of low-income residents and residents of color”
Instances of police brutality harm mental health
“Police killings of unarmed black Americans have adverse effects on mental health among black American adults in the general population.”
Highlights the philosophical (social power and group power) and racial reasons why white police officers have a discriminatory bias against African-Americans
Data collected via nationally representative survey which focuses on a number of specific racial attitudes of police officers to gain a broader understanding of their racial views and biases
Finds that officers believe blacks are more violent, lazy, and should not be given special treatment compared to whites
Further highlights that those with less education adopt conservative views on race and the harmful impacts discrimination denial can have (i.e. shows how denial of racial discrimination can lead to the establishment of racial hierarchy)
Militarization of the police does not enhance safety of reduce crime
“Militarized “special weapons and tactics” (SWAT) teams are more often deployed in communities of color, and—contrary to claims by police administrators—provide no detectable benefits in terms of officer safety or violent in crime reduction, on average”
However, militarized police in the news does increase negative attitudes towards law enforcement, demonstrating that police militarization is ultimately counterproductive
BMJ Journals Injury Prevention: Miller et al. 17
Analyzed 12.3 million police interventions
1,000 deaths (2016)
1 in 291 stops/arrests resulted in hospital-treated injury or death of a suspect or bystander
55,400 people were injured or killed by cops during legal stop and search incidents in one year
Criminal Legal News: Chappell 18
The DOJ estimates that around 25 to 30 dogs are killed by cops every day, with some numbers as high as 10,000 per year.
The totals could be higher – most police agencies do not formally track officer-involved shootings involving animals.
Photos of capital inmates shown to entry-level criminal justice students for them to evaluate the trustworthiness of the faces
Students rated the light skin pictures as more trustworthy when they preceded dark skin pictures
Most study participants (79.9%) were white, but the study predicted that this wasn’t a major factor - “When controlling for race, no statistically significant result was found. This suggests that each race, White and non-White, were consistent in their rating outcomes. Prior research has found similar results, where Whites and light-skinned Blacks are likely to share similar attitudes towards darker-skinned Blacks”
Students and Police officers participated in tests to determine levels of bias
Black boys as young as 10 may not be viewed in the same light of childhood innocence as their white peers, but are instead more likely to be mistaken as older, be perceived as guilty and face police violence if accused of a crime
Researchers reviewed police officers’ personnel records to determine use of force while on duty and found that those who dehumanized blacks were more likely to have used force against a black child in custody than officers who did not dehumanize blacks. The study described use of force as takedown or wrist lock; kicking or punching; striking with a blunt object; using a police dog, restraints or hobbling; or using tear gas, electric shock or killing
People have a tendency to perceive black men as larger and more threatening than similarly sized white men
We found that these estimates were consistently biased. Participants judged the black men to be larger, stronger and more muscular than the white men, even though they were actually the same size
Participants also believed that the black men were more capable of causing harm in a hypothetical altercation and, troublingly, that police would be more justified in using force to subdue them, even if the men were unarmed
Of 4.5 million traffic stops by the 100 largest police departments in North Carolina found that blacks and Latinos were more likely to be searched than whites (5.4 percent, 4.1 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively), even though searches of white motorists were more likely than the others to turn up contraband (whites: 32 percent, blacks: 29 percent, Latinos: 19 percent)
Between 2012 and 2014, black people in Ferguson, Mo., accounted for 85 percent of vehicle stops, 90 percent of citations and 93 percent of arrests, despite comprising 67 percent of the population
Blacks were more than twice as likely as whites to be searched after traffic stops, even though they proved to be 26 percent less likely to be in possession of illegal drugs or weapons
Between 2011 and 2013, blacks also received 95 percent of jaywalking tickets and 94 percent of tickets for “failure to comply.” The Justice Department also found that the racial discrepancy for speeding tickets increased dramatically when researchers looked at tickets based on only an officer’s word vs. tickets based on objective evidence, such as vs. radar
Black people facing similar low-level charges as white people were 68 percent less likely to see those charges dismissed in court. More than 90 percent of the arrest warrants stemming from failure to pay/failure to appear were issued for black people.
This study found that between 2011 and 2015, black drivers in Nashville’s Davidson County were pulled over at a rate of 1,122 stops per 1,000 drivers — so on average, more than once per black driver. Black drivers were also searched at twice the rate of white drivers, though — as in other jurisdictions — searches of white drivers were more likely to turn up contraband
Interactions between officers and citizens taken from footage captured by police officer body cameras found that “officers speak with consistently less respect toward black versus white community members, even after controlling for the race of the officer, the severity of the infraction, the location of the stop, and the outcome of the stop.”
This study finds that citizen complaints against police officers in North Charleston, S.C., between 2006 and 2016 found that complaints by white citizens were about two-thirds more likely to be sustained than complaints filed by black citizens. When the complainant alleged excessive force, white complaints were sustained seven times more often than black complaints.
This study of stop and frisk incidents in Boston between 2007 and 2010 that did not result in a citation or arrest found that 63 percent of such stops were of black people. Blacks made up 24 percent of the city’s population. Incredibly, 97.5 percent of these encounters resulted in no arrest or seizure of contraband.
In nearly half of the more than 700,000 stop and frisk searches in Milwaukee, the police failed to demonstrate reasonable suspicion as required by the Constitution
The study found that between pedestrian stops and traffic stops, black people were six times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and that less than 1 percent of those searches turned up any contraband
Here again, while black and Latino drivers were more likely to be searched, they were 20 percent less likely to be in possession of any contraband.
Analysis of 125,000 police stops by NYC police department over a period of 15 months
Finds that even after controlling for precinct variability and race-specific estimates of crime participation, black people were still disproportionately stopped relative to whites
This study of police shootings from 2011 to 2014 found “a significant bias in the killing of unarmed black Americans relative to unarmed white Americans, in that the probability of being black, unarmed, and shot by police is about 3.49 times the probability of being white, unarmed, and shot by police on average.”
The study also found “no relationship between county-level racial bias in police shootings and crime rates (even race-specific crime rates), meaning that the racial bias observed in police shootings in this data set is not explainable as a response to local-level crime rates.”
Black drivers in Florida are nearly twice as likely to be pulled over for “seatbelt violations”
Statewide and National seat belt wearing behaviour by race does NOT explain this
Researchers compiled and analyzed data from more than 100 million traffic stops in the United States. What they found: Police were more likely to pull over black drivers. The researchers were able to confirm racial bias by measuring daytime stops against nighttime stops, when darkness would make it more difficult to ascertain a driver’s race.
As with previous studies, they also found that black and Latino drivers are more likely to be searched for contraband — even though white drivers are consistently more likely to be found with contraband
They also found that legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington has caused fewer drivers to be searched during a stop, but that it did not alter the increased frequency with which black and Latino drivers are searched
Black and Hispanic residents were “significantly over-represented as targets of narcotics search warrants,” even after adjusting for usage rates
The study also found that “searches of White suspects were more successful in recovering the targeted drug than were searches of either Black or Hispanic suspects.”
“The risk of incarceration in the federal system for someone who uses drugs monthly and is black is more than seven times that of his or her white counterpart”
SOCIO-ECONOMICS
Housing/Utilities
Housing and Urban Development 12
Analyzes “trends in racial and ethnic discrimination in both rental and sales market” since the 1970s
“When well-qualified minority homeseekers contact housing providers to inquire about recently advertised housing units, they generally are just as likely as equally qualified white homeseekers to get an appointment and learn about at least one available housing unit. However, when differences in treatment occur, white homeseekers are more likely to be favored than minorities. Most important, minority homeseekers are told about and shown fewer homes and apartments than whites”
Harvard University: Sampson et al. 16
Racial analysis of lead poisoning in housing
“Black disadvantage in particular is pronounced not only relative to Whites but even relative to Hispanics, in every year from 1995-2013.”
“The profound heterogeneity in the racial ecology of what we call toxic inequality is partially attributable to socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and education, and to housing-related factors, such as unit age, vacancy, and dilapidation. But controlling these factors, neighborhood prevalence rates of elevated BLL remain closely linked to racial and ethnic segregation.”
Michigan Civil Rights Commission 17
“The people of Flint have been subjected to unprecedented harm and hardship, much of it caused by structural and systemic discrimination and racism that have corroded your city, your institutions, and your water pipes, for generations”
“Rather, the disparate response is the result of systemic racism that was built into the foundation and growth of Flint, its industry and the suburban area surrounding it. This is revealed through the story of housing, employment, tax base and regionalization”
Analyzes “trends in racial and ethnic discrimination in U.S. housing and mortgage lending markets” since the 1970s
Finds a decline in housing discrimination since the 1970s, though such has not vanished completely - the level of discrimination varies depending on the factor being analyzed
Racial gaps in mortgage cost have not declined at all, suggesting racism or other racial barriers have not gone away at all for that particular factor
Employment
Georgetown University: Carnevale et al. 19 (interactive)
Compared to blacks and latinos, whites have a disproportionate level of access to good jobs regardless of education attainment
“We define good jobs as those that pay at least $35,000 per year, at least $45,000 for workers aged 45 and older, and $65,000 in median earnings in 2016. Wages for good jobs between 1991 and 2016 are inflation-adjusted.”
Whites also get higher earning in jobs than blacks and latinos, regardless of education attainment
These disparities lead to major annual earnings gaps:
“To manipulate perceived race, resumes are randomly assigned African-American- or White-sounding names. White names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews. Callbacks are also more responsive to resume quality for White names than for African-American ones”
“The racial gap is uniform across occupation, industry, and employer size”
“We also find little evidence that employers are inferring social class from the names”
“Applicants were given equivalent résumés and sent to apply in tandem for hundreds of entry-level jobs”
“Our results show that black applicants were half as likely as equally qualified whites to receive a callback or job offer”
“In fact, black and Latino applicants with clean backgrounds fared no better than white applicants just released from prison”
Meta-analysis of “every available field experiment of hiring discrimination against African Americans or Latinos” – adding up to 55,842 applications submitted for 26,326 positions
Found that since 1989, there has been no change in hiring discrimination against blacks, though hiring discrimination against Latinos has decreased over that time
Voting
North Carolina voting law ruling “targeting African Americans with nearly surgical precision”
http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/nc-4th.pdf
In 2016 Republicans attempted to pass voting restrictions right after requesting a voter breakdown by race
The Supreme court reviewed these restrictions and stated that:
“In response to claims that intentional racial discrimination animated its action, the State offered only meager justifications. Although the new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision, they constitute inapt remedies for the problems assertedly justifying them and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist.”
The restrictions did not end up passing due to the Supreme court's verdict
Education / Academia
“Black students are disciplined more frequently and more severely for the same misbehaviors as White students”
“Principals endorsed more severe discipline for Black students compared with White students”
“Further, this discipline severity was explained through Black students being more likely to be labeled a troublemaker than White students”
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights 14
Black children are consistently being suspended and expelled disproportionately to white kids, even as early as in preschool
“More than one out of four boys of color with disabilities — and nearly one in five girls of color with disabilities — receives an out-of-school suspension”
“Black students represent 16% of student enrollment, they represent 27% of students referred to law enforcement and 31% of students subjected to a school-related arrest”
“Black students represent 19% of students with disabilities served by IDEA, but 36% of these students who are restrained at school through the use of a mechanical device or equipment designed to restrict their freedom of movement”
“The results generally support hypotheses that schools and districts with relatively larger minority and poor populations are more likely to implement criminalized disciplinary policies, including suspensions and expulsion or police referrals or arrests, and less likely to medicalize students through behavioral plans put in place through laws such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act”
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights 14
Access to experienced teachers: Black, Latino, American Indian and Native-Alaskan students attend schools with higher concentrations of first-year teachers at a higher rate (3 to 4%) than white students(1%). English learners also attend these schools at slightly higher rates (3%) than non-English learners(2%).
Teacher salary disparities: Nearly one in four districts with two or more high schools reports a teacher salary gap of more than $5,000 between high schools with the highest and the lowest black and Latino student enrollments.
Access to certified teachers:While most teachers are certified, nearly half a million students nationwide attend schools where 60% or fewer of teachers meet all state certification and licensure requirements.Racial disparities are particularly acute in schools where uncertified and unlicensed teachers are concentrated; nearly 7% of the nation’s black students – totaling over half a million students – attend schools where 80% or fewer of teachers meet these requirements; black students are more than four times as likely, and Latino students twice as likely, as white students to attend these schools.
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights 14
A quarter of high schools with the highest percentage of black and Latino students do not offer Algebra II; a third of these schools do not offer chemistry. Fewer than half of American Indian and Native-Alaskan high school students have access to the full range of math and science courses in their high school.
Growing opportunity gap in gifted and talented education: Black and Latino students represent 26% of the students enrolled in gifted and talented education programs, compared to black and Latino students’ 40% enrollment in schools offering gifted and talented programs.
Advanced Placement (AP) course enrollment and testing: Black and Latino students make up 37% of students in high schools, 27% of students enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement (AP) course, and 18% of students receiving a qualifying score of 3 or above on an AP exam.
Higher rates of retention for students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities: Students with disabilities served by IDEA and English learners make up 12% and 5% of high school enrollment, respectively, but 19% and 11% of students held back or retained a year, respectively. (Some students may be counted in both categories). Twelve percent (12%) of black students are retained in grade 9 — about double the rate that all students are retained (6%).
The Condition Of College & Career Readiness 2015: African American Students
Research demonstrates that academic gaps begin before high school. Without solid academic foundations established in primary and secondary school, African American students will continue to be academically underprepared for college in large numbers.
When students are not adequately prepared on the K–12 level, they are more likely to need remedial or developmental courses in college, which offer no course credit, yet students often have to pay for these classes. This leads to longer completion times and the need for additional financial aid, both factors that contribute to higher rates of attrition. Unfortunately, research demonstrates that African American students are more likely to need remedial courses than other students and also have significant financial need for higher education compared to other students.
African American students are more likely to be in schools that offer less rigorous courses, which can hamper the college admissions process.
Biology and physics professors from eight large, public, U.S. research universities were asked to read one of eight identical curriculum vitae (CVs) depicting a hypothetical doctoral graduate applying for a post-doctoral position in their field, and rate them for competence, hireability, and likeability
The candidate’s name on the CV was used to manipulate race (Asian, Black, Latinx, and White) and gender (female or male), with all other aspects of the CV held constant across conditions
Physics faculty rated Asian and White candidates as more competent and hirable than Black and Latinx candidates, while those in biology rated Asian candidates as more competent and hirable than Black candidates, and as more hireable than Latinx candidates
An interaction between candidate gender and race emerged for those in physics, whereby Black women and Latinx women and men candidates were rated the lowest in hireability compared to all others.
American Institute of Physics 20
During 2018 and 2019, TEAM-UP, the National Task Force to Elevate African American representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy, examined the reasons for the persistent underrepresentation of African Americans in physics and astronomy in the US
The task force finds that African American students have the same drive, motivation, intellect, and capability to obtain physics and astronomy degrees as students of other races and ethnicities. Many African Americans who might otherwise pursue these fields are choosing majors that are perceived as being more supportive and/or rewarding
The briefest summary of the TEAM-UP report is this: the persistent underrepresentation of African Americans in physics and astronomy is due to (1) the lack of a supportive environment for these students in many departments, and (2) to the enormous financial challenges facing them and the programs that have consistently demonstrated the best practices in supporting their success. Solving these problems requires addressing systemic and cultural issues, and creating a large-scale change management framework.
A multitude of studies show how groups of diverse individuals with differing viewpoints outperform homogenous groups to find solutions that are more innovative, creative, and responsive to complex problems, and promote higher-order thinking amongst the group
Research specifically into publications also shows that diverse author groups publish in higher quality journals and receive higher citation rates
Despite this enormous growing potential, and the proven power of diversity, the demographics of our field are not keeping pace with the changing demographics of the nation, and astronomers of color, women, LGBT individuals, people with disabilities, and those with more than one of these identities still face "chilly" or "hostile" work environments in the sciences
To that end, diversity and inclusion training for AAS council and leadership, heads of astronomy departments, and faculty search committees should be a basic requirement throughout our field
Healthcare
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 18
AHRQ writes reports on healthcare quality, disparities, and access
Racial and ethnic Disparities Vary by group (out of 250 measures):
Blacks, American Indians, and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs), and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) received worse care than whites for about 40% of quality measures.
Disparities were improving for only 4 measures for Blacks, 2 measures for AI/ANs, and 1 measure for NHPIs.
Hispanics receive worse care than Whites for about 35% of quality measures.
From 2000 to 2017, disparities were improving for 5 measures for Hispanics.
Most health care providers appear to have an implicit bias in terms of positive attitudes toward Whites and negative attitudes toward people of color
Interventions targeting implicit attitudes among health care professionals are needed because implicit bias may contribute to health disparities for people of color
A comprehensive literature search of several databases between May 2015 and September 2016 identified 37 qualifying studies.
Of these, 31 found evidence of pro-White or light-skin/anti-Black, Hispanic, American Indian, or dark-skin bias among a variety of HCPs (health care providers) across multiple levels of training and disciplines.
Eight studies found no statistically significant association between implicit bias and patient care while six studies found that higher implicit bias was associated with disparities in treatment recommendations, expectations of therapeutic bonds, pain management, and empathy.
All seven studies that examined the impact of implicit provider bias on real-world patient-provider interaction found that providers with stronger implicit bias demonstrated poorer patient-provider communication.
Evidence indicates that healthcare professionals exhibit the same levels of implicit bias as the wider population.
Correlational evidence indicates that biases are likely to influence diagnosis and treatment decisions and levels of care in some circumstances and need to be further investigated.
The primary hypothesis of this study is that racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care impose costs on numerous aspects of society, both direct health care costs and indirect costs such as loss of productivity
They estimate that eliminating health disparities for minorities would have reduced direct medical care expenditures by about $230 billion and indirect costs associated with illness and premature death by more than $1 trillion for the years 2003-2006 (in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars)
We should address health disparities because such inequities are inconsistent with the values of our society and addressing them is the right thing to do, but this analysis shows that social justice can also be cost-effective
ESSAY about ways in which a white physician benefits from white privilege in the medical field