And Before That...
Over the past 14 days, we have borne witness to a murder of a(nother) black man - George Floyd - at the hands of police. And before that the murder of Breonna Taylor, also by police. And before that the murder of Ahmaud Arbery by white supremacists. And before that the murder of countless other black people tied to police brutality. But before all of that, way before…there has been a devastatingly exhausting litany of “before thats” tied to myriad racist, systemic, structural, spatial inequities that have brought us to where we are today. Get ready. This ain’t gonna be comfortable. But getting uncomfortable is the least you can do.
This is Why Black Lives Matter.
And before that…Black people were already 3 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. Black people have a rate of incarceration 5.9 times that of white people. Black people have an imprisonment rate for drug charges 6 times that of whites, despite using drugs at similar rates. Black people receive prison sentences that are 20% longer than that of whites, and face racial disparities at multiple touchpoints throughout the criminal justice system, including number and types of bookings, prosecuting, adjudication, and case resolutions and processing, and before that, the criminalization of blackness pervades nearly all aspects of daily life for black people.
This is why black lives matter.
Meanwhile, over the past 140 days, there have been 113,000+ deaths due to Covid19, which have been disproportionately borne by black people, with a mortality rate of 2. 4 times that of white people. And before that, between 1.5 to 2 times the number of black people have chronic diseases (i.e., those “co-morbidities” you’ve been hearing about with respect to Covid19) than white people, and 7.6 times more black children die from asthma, an environmental-related disease, than do white children. And before that, black people wait 1.2 times longer than white people to receive health care. Black majority neighborhoods are 67% more likely to have a shortage of primary care physicians, and while the rates of those uninsured have dropped post-ACA, 1.7 times more black people remain uninsured than white people. Black women - across all incomes - die from preventable pregnancy-related complications between 3-4 times the rate of white women, while twice as many black infants die than those born to white women. And before that…nearly twice more black people are “food insecure” than the average population. Black people are half as likely to have access to a chain supermarket within a mile of their homes than white people. And before that…blacks are 1.2 times less likely than whites to have home internet access. And before that…non-white school districts receive 1.2 times less funding per student than white school districts, accounting for a funding gap of $23B annually. And before that…4.8 times more federal funds go toward highways over transit, while the share of black people that use transit to commute to work is nearly 4 times higher than that of white people and black people are 3 times more likely not to own a vehicle than white people. Black people make up only 10.8% of all workers, but make up 25.3% of workers riding public transit with commutes longer than an hour. Black people are nearly 1.5 times more likely to be killed by a driver than are white people. And before that…there are 3 times more black “extremely low-income renters” than white, and 1. 4 times more black people pay more than 50% of their income on rent than white people. The gap between black and white homeownership rates is over 30 points, and blacks are 1.7 times more likely than whites to be “credit invisible.” And before that…overall, white family wealth is 7 times more than that of black families.
And before that…this, and myriad other disparities tied to structural racism and spatial injustices…this is why
Black Lives Matter.
And before that…over the past 400+ years, the black community has had to work incessantly and tirelessly to overcome slavery, overt racism, Jim Crow, redlining, segregation, anti-blackness, implicit bias, micro-aggressions, and more. It is no wonder black people are exhausted – not only do they actively have to fight harder, louder, longer just to (maybe) level the playing field, even when they do overcome, they are still black in America – which means, they still fear for their safety while participating in the most otherwise mundane parts of daily life…walking, jogging, driving, birding, shopping, dining, watching TV, napping, sleeping, having a party, going to a party, being at school, and countless other ways non-black people cannot even begin to fathom or contemplate. And if that’s not enough, they fear too for the safety of their parents, brothers, daughters, children, nieces, nephews, family, friends, family of their friends, colleagues, and the black community, period, engaging in all of those same quotidian behaviors, engaging in everyday life, engaging in living, breathing…And too often, those fears are realized, and cruelly, in the most horrific, nightmarish way possible, with the slayings of their brethren laid out for all of us to see via another piece of black murder porn, and they are exponentially traumatized as they are forced to watch yet another one of their own be murdered before their eyes…
You tired yet?
Well, guess what? Get over yourselves. Being black in America carries a mental load that non-black people will never fully understand. This is why if you’ve reached out to your black friends (your actual black friends) in the past week, this is why they’re tired, exasperated, incensed.
This is why Black Lives Matter.
And why non-black people don’t get to be exhausted right now. You don’t get to be scared. You don’t get to be sad about Target being looted.
Focus. Basta Ya.
You know what you can be? You know what citymakers – specifically white - and non-black - citymakers can do?
ACCEPT YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
Stop paying lip-service to equity (this happened to be my most fundamental wish for this new decade of citymaking…pasted again for your reference below). Stop looking at things just through an “equity lens” (a term I myself am guilty of using). Stop sugar-coating. Start confronting race head on. And accept how your top-down, (white-male in particular) expert-led, gut and intuition-based approaches to citymaking have perpetuated, exacerbated, created the very spatial injustices laid out in this piece (and more) that have led to racial disparities, structural inequity, and the sheer exhaustion black people in America are feeling and have felt for centuries. And please, no whitesplaining. “No, but I.” “No, but we.” “No, pero nada!” Own it. Sit with it. Look back at your writings, your projects, your clients, your funding history, your budgets, your priorities…no way there isn’t room (a lot of it) for improvement. No way you’ve done all the work. Come on now.
FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
I started to outline the countless disparities, injustices (spatial and otherwise), oppressors for you herein (and compiled them into a ginormous, intentionally overwhelming list below). But there are more. So find them, add them, learn about them, and ask yourself how much has your work *centered* around these issues really (not taken them just as a lens, if that)…Own it. Sit with it. Do better. Don’t ask your black colleagues and friends to educate you. Remember, they are exhausted. I also included a very long list of references I used to write this piece below, and there are a growing number of listicles with even more information and links, like here, here by @dj_diabeatic and @sarahsophief, here by @danielle2016_ , here by @mslynnross, or here. Read my dear friend Calvin’s (Gladney - CEO of SGA) statement. Read Tamika Butler’s powerful piece. Watch her speak on this webinar around Covid, transportation, and equity. And then just start Googling. Next…
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
Work with – and FUND - our black citymakers to address the issues therein and myriad other issues of spatial justice and structural inequity – this is their lived experience and we’re here to learn from them (after we’ve done our homework, please) and lend *needed* support. Don’t reinvent the wheel, much is known about the wheel already. Many of your black colleagues have been at this a while. Study the wheel. And then help break that damn wheel (with the hopes you’ll fare better than Dani on GOT).
The bad news is many of the injustices facing black communities today are by design, by city design. The good news is, city processes, structures, funding systems, policies, designs – can and MUST be changed. The challenge and truth you must accept moving forward to do so is that – all of the walkable, livable, sustainable, resilient places you *think you’ve created? - if they were not inclusive, accessible, sans-disparities, and equitable, they were and are NOT any of those things you thought they were in earnest, and you have failed. Yes, FAILED. It’s ok – you, unlike most black people (and other POC may I add here), are “privileged” to even get to fail, but the folks who you’ve failed don’t have that privilege. So, buck up. Just own it. Let’s own it. You don’t get to feel sorry for yourself - we have a LOT of ground to cover, and equity and vulnerable communities – especially black people – must be at the heart of that, FIRST. Don’t Pass Go. Definitely do NOT collect $200. Equity, structural racism, spatial justice, they come FIRST. And do it using a bottom-up, community-led, data-driven, inclusive, transparent, accountable, transdisciplinary, radical empathy framework (more on that in an upcoming post). And remember, you don’t get to keep failing.
As a white-passing Latina, this is what I’ve been quietly, and now not so quietly (this quiet thing isn’t in my nature as a Latina…so glad to be shedding it!), intentionally doing the past couple of weeks…understanding my own privileges. And how it has impacted my work, my words, how I can be better, how I can DO better…how I can go “más allá” (further)…how I can fight the insidious virus so virulent and pervasive that it managed to overtake the pandemic that consumed our lives for months…but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Covid19 has been with us 140 days. Anti-blackness and racism in the US has been embedded into the fabric of this country since its inception 400+ years ago…and I, we, still have work to do.
I’ll leave you with the words I wrote at the end of 2019, my plea to citymakers to take equity seriously (to not play lip service to it)…with some additions in (CAPS) to show what I’d write slightly differently now…after beginning to dig deeper…I vow to continue to do so. And I hope I can somehow relieve at least a fraction of that mental load for you, my dearest black friends, colleagues, neighborhoods, community. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry it took this long, I’m so sorry there were so many “and before thats” to get us here. I’m so sorry there’s still so much more to do. I’m sorry we still need to defend why Black Lives Matter…I hope this serves to amplify and validate your sadness, fear, frustration, rage, exhaustion, needs, demands, humanity, voices, lives, breaths. But mostly, I hope to be the best ally - and warrior - I can be in personifying and actioning the change we want (and need) to see…so that you can breathe…
—
If you’re interested in learning more about our efforts to center equity in our work, check out these two (unfunded) projects we proposed at the end of last year focused around equity, spatial justice, health access, and placemaking.…and also here. And feel free to check me on it if it needs to go “más allá.” I’ll also be updating you on two FUNDED (yay!) projects centered on equity, urban design, health, transportation, and environmental justice…
From the “TOP 12 CITYMAKING MOVEMENTS OF THE 2010S!”
EQUITY’S ON PEOPLE’S LIPS…BUT
Is it just lip-service?
This past decade, and maybe, more precisely, in the last couple of years, I’ve finally started to hear more and more people talk about equity. Actually, what people usually ask me about is gentrification - and what they’re really asking about is displacement. And the question is usually framed in what is frankly a staggeringly overly-simplistic way: So if you’re predicting that increases to the State of Place Index (walkability, livability, etc.) will increase real estate value, what about gentrification? Have you just created a tool for gentrification. I am quite used to getting this question, so I (mostly) patiently explain that we are merely quantifying the inevitable - if you make a place better, it will increase in value. However, that doesn’t have to spell displacement IF you implement urban design changes with and for the community and pair that with policy that mitigates displacement, including affordable housing measures as well as workforce development, transit investment, ANTI-RACIST POLICIES, and others. I try to emphasize that urban design is only one part of the equation in real estate development and planning, and that community development, organizing, POLICING/CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM, PUBLIC HEALTH, TRANSPORTATION, and policy must be right alongside there with it. I’m not 100% sure I’m getting through to people (I WASN’T)…because I’m not always sure of the WHY behind their question (I WAS SURE…I WAS TOO POLITE TO CHECK THEM). Are they truly concerned about “gentrification” or are they merely worried they’ll get “pushback,” and that they feel they simply must ask (YES, THE LATTER)? And do they actually get it? (MOSTLY, NO). Do they get that gentrification - again, displacement - is merely a symptom? That it’s merely a by-product of a structurally unjust system? Of built-in spatial injustices. Of deeply-embedded subconscious bias (that’s become SO much more conscious - and even deliberate - since 2016…). Of rampant income inequality. OF RACISM AND ANTI-BLACKNESS. And that equity is about so much more than that (DISPLACEMENT)? That it’s about deliberately fostering diversity, inclusion, access, empathy, ANTI-RACISM - not merely trying to ward off the potential “unintended” consequences or negative “externalities” of making places better?
Yes, this past decade has seen the rise of the word equity, but I don’t think enough people truly understand what that means (THEY DON’T). Why? Because all of these movements I’ve outlined in this listicle, what stands to negate all of it, all of the progress, all of this enthusiasm, all of this general move in the right direction toward more urban, walkable, livable, sustainable places - is that this has decidedly, frustratingly, maddeningly NOT been the case equally for all people (IT’S DISPROPORTIONATELY BENEFITTED WEALTHY, WHITE PEOPLE). If you’re a person of color, you’ve likely not (DEFINITELY NOT PROPORTIONATELY) shared in the benefits of these movements. If you’re a person of lessor (AHEM, MOSTLY PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND PARTICULARLY THE BLACK COMMUNITY) means, you’re likely worse off than you were a decade ago, or no better off. If you’re a woman, maybe you’re in the room now, but you’re alone and you’re still more uncomfortable, more scared, more threatened, less seen in urban environments than our white male counterparts (ESPECIALLY BLACK WOMEN). And if you’re a person with a disability, physical, mental, sensorial…or older or younger, you’re likely (DEFINITELY) not proportionately benefiting from any one of these movements in the “right” direction. And if you’re any of these folks, you’re likely not the ones making the decisions that impact you - we’re lucky if we’re in the room, and if we’re in the room, we’re lucky if we truly have a say and aren’t just being placated to. All of this…this lack of equity in every which way…this is not just a blemish on an otherwise progressive decade. This is not just - oh, well, this is just the start. This is not just a tragedy of the commons. This is structural. (THIS IS SPATIAL INJUSTICE) This is built in. This is in some (MOST…) cases, by design. (THIS IS SYSTEMIC RACISM).
We absolutely MUST flip this script in the new decade. I for one am tired of working twice as hard, waiting twice as long, having to raise (my already loud Latina) voice twice as loud, having to struggle twice as much, as a minority - in my roles as startup founder, speaker, researcher, writer, conference-goer, meeting attendee, or simply as a woman living and breathing in an urban environment. And yet so many others suffer so much more than I ever have (ESPECIALLY THE BLACK COMMUNITY WHO BEAR THE DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF THESE MANY BURDENS). I’m writing this for you. I’m fighting this fight for you. And I promise to do my very best to harness whatever power that State of Place can bring to bear to meet you where you are, listen, learn, earn your trust, raise your voice, and destroy the structural (RACIST) forces designed to keep you down. I hope 2020 is the dawn of more empathetic, intersectional, inclusive, (ANTI-RACIST) citymaking. And I hope you will all join me…
Citations and Further Reading:
Fact Sheet: Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity
Search the Data | Healthy People 2020
African American Health | VitalSigns | CDC
FastStats - Health of Black or African American Population
African American Men's Health: Research, Practice, and Policy
The State of Health Disparities in the United States - Communities in Action - NCBI Bookshelf
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook | Commonwealth Fund
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health | DNPAO | CDC
Key Facts on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity – Health Status – 8878-02 | KFF
Clearinghouses & Health Information Center | NIDDK
HCReform - Disparities Report.pdf
COVID-19 deaths analyzed by race and ethnicity — APM Research Lab
A Timeline of the George Floyd Protests - The New York Times
NAACP | Criminal Justice Fact Sheet
Demographic Differences in Sentencing: An Update to the 2012 Booker Report
6793-examining-racial-disparities-may-2017-full
21 more studies showing racial disparities in the criminal justice system - The Washington Post
Race, police, and the dangers of #LivingWhileBlack - Vox
Inheriting the Criminalized Black Body: Race, Gender, and Slavery in "Eva's Man" on JSTOR
The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons | The Sentencing Project
Incorporating Racial Equity into Criminal Justice Reform
A Decade Of Watching Black People Die | KPBS
#JUSTICEFORAHMAUD - SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Dangerous By Design 2019 | Smart Growth America
Fighting For Equitable Transportation: Why It Matters
Transit Investment Can Help Close the Racial Employment Gap – Streetsblog USA
To Move Is To Thrive: Public Transit and Economic Opportunity for People of Color | Demos
Time for justice: Tackling race inequalities in health and housing
Racial Disparities Among Extremely Low-Income Renters | National Low Income Housing Coalition
Long Before Redlining: Racial Disparities in Homeownership Need Intentional Policies —
Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America (Updated)
Credit Invisibles by Kenneth P. Brevoort, Philipp Grimm, Michelle Kambara :: SSRN
After Redlining — Shelterforce: The Voice of Community Development
There's a Huge Health Equity Gap Between Whites and Minorities | Policy Dose | US News
In Focus: Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care by Confronting Racism | Commonwealth Fund
Disparities in Health and Health Care: Five Key Questions and Answers | KFF
Inequality and the health-care system in the USA
Residential Segregation and the Availability of Primary Care Physicians - PubMed
Hunger is a Racial Equity Issue | Move For Hunger
Can we stop using an “equity lens”? - Sippin the EquiTEA - Medium
Eliminating Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Mortality - Center for American Progress
How to Report on the Digital Divide & COVID-19 | Free Press
Health in the Segregated City – NYU Furman Center
People Are Talking About Up-Zoning: Here’s What You Should Know | Enterprise Community Partners
Who Rides Public Transportation
There are clear, race-based inequalities in health insurance and health outcomes
Linking Housing Challenges and Racial Disparities in Covid-19 | Enterprise Community Partners
Transportation Nation | Back of the Bus: Race, Mass Transit and Inequality
To everyone feeling anger and grief | Smart Growth America
The United States of Floyd | The Urbanist
What We’re Reading: Black Lives Matter, Urban Oppression, and Parks FTW | The Urbanist
Statement From CNT on Equity and Systemic Racism | Center for Neighborhood Technology
A Letter to White Urbanists | SPUR
DISMANTLING STRUCTURAL RACISM: A RACIAL EQUITY THEORY OF CHANGE
How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change, Barrack Obama
Stop Killing Us: A Real Life Nightmare - Noteworthy - The Journal Blog
Shared Accountability: The Public-Private Partnership | Urban Institute
13 ways to support Black communities in turbulent times - Technical.ly Baltimore
List of Systemic, Structural, and Historic Racist Injustices
I referenced all of these in the piece:
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/VIOLENCE
Policing
Police brutality
Death by cop disparities
White supremacy
Incarceration rate disparities
Incarceration types disparities
Sentencing disparities
Booking disparities
Prosecutorial disparities
Adjudication disparities
Case resolutions and processing disparities
Bail bonds
Criminalization of blackness
STRUCTURAL RACISM AND SPATIAL INJUSTICE
Covid 19 hospitalization and fatality rates
Health outcomes disparities
Environmental justice (resource quality)
Maternal and infant health disparities
Health access disparities
Health provision disparities
Health insurance coverage disparities
Food insecurity
Food deserts
Digital divide
Educational funding (and quality) disparities
Transportation funding priorities and disparities
Transportation access disparities
Transportation safety (pedestrian and bicyclist injury and fatality rate disparities)
Transportation quality disparities
Housing insecurity
Housing access disparities
Housing cost burden disparities
Homeownership disparities
Credit disparities
Wealth gap
HISTORY OF OPPRESSION
Slavery
Overt racism
Jim Crow
Redlining
Segregation/Separate but “Equal”
Anti-blackness
Implicit Bias
Microaggressions
And SO much more….