Obama

1
Obamas Policy Agenda Implications for Black
Communities and the Role of Philanthropy

• john a. powell
• Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race
  and Ethnicity
• Williams Chair in Civil Rights Civil Liberties,
  Moritz College of Law

ABFE Annual Board Retreat February 10, 2009 New
Orleans, LA
2
Presentation Overview

• The current recession racially disparate
  effects
• The need for racially sensitive policies
• Targeted universalism
• Assessing the current stimulus package
• Implications for communities of color
• How do the issues connect?
• Looking ahead
• Opportunities for foundations

3
The Current Recession Racially Disparate Effects

4

• In this economy, people of color benefit the
  least compared to their white counterparts during
  economic booms and suffer disproportionally more
  during economic downturns. As W.E.B. DuBois once
  said,
• To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race
  in a land of dollars is the very bottom of
  hardships.

http//www.arc.org/images/fr08/compact/ARC_compact
_economy.pdf
5
The Current Recession

• The current recession has affected everyone but
  not all to the same degree.
• Although the U.S. has been in a recession for
  more than a year, people of color have been in a
  recession for nearly five years and have entered
  a depression during the current economic crisis.
• Although the black poverty rate fell 8.5 from
  1989 to 2000, the African American family poverty
  rate increased 2.8 from 2000 to 2007.
• Poverty rates for Hispanic families grew .5 from
  2000 to 2007. The Hispanic family poverty rate
  (19.7) is roughly twice that of the overall
  poverty rate (9.8).

6
The Recession in Racial Terms
Unemployment rates by demographic group projected
to 2010
  20074 Projected 20102
Unemployment Rate (overall) 4.8 10.2
By race/ethnicity  
White 4.3 8.9
Black 8.6 18.2
Hispanic 5.9 13.1
Teenagers  
All 16.4 30.1
Black 30.9 55.7
Hispanic 16.3 35.7
Mishel, Lawrence and Heidi Shierholz. Without
Adequate Public Spending, A Catastrophic
Recession for Some. EPI Issue Brief 248.
1-13-09
7
The Recession in Racial Terms
The Future of Underemployment without Recovery
Package
Mishel, Lawrence and Heidi Shierholz. Without
Adequate Public Spending, A Catastrophic
Recession for Some. EPI Issue Brief 248.
1-13-09
8
This ratio was at a record high of 63.5 in 2000.
Once the 2001 recession and weak economic
recovery hit, these gains were lost and have yet
to be recovered.
Austin, Algernon. What a Recession Means for
Black America. EPI Issue Brief 241. 18 Jan.
2008.
9
The Need for Racially Sensitive Policies

• Targeted Universalism

10
You say crisis, I say opportunity

• You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,"
  Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff,
  told a Wall Street Journal conference of top
  corporate chief executives
• A crisis creates a sense of urgency
• No one can deny that the system is broken
• An opportunity to learn what worked and what did
  not
• Civil War ? Reconstruction
• Depression ? New Deal
• 2008-2009 Recession ? ?

11
Learning From Our Mistakes?

• If we fail to pay attention to populations and
  the resources that communities possess, we are
  likely to repeat the mistakes of the New Deal.
• White Americans may benefit disproportionately
• How do we avoid the New Deal mistakes?
• We must be intentional.
• Policies should be targeted and programs should
  be structured so that they reach certain
  populations and communities.

12
We Need A New Paradigm

• Targeted policies alone are not desirable because
  they appear to show favoritism toward a certain
  group, thus stigmatizing them.
• Universal policies alone are not useful.
• They fail to account for the fact that people are
  situated differently in the economic and social
  landscape of society
• Universal policies are often based on a
  non-universal standard
• Ex Social Security able-bodied white males
  working outside the home full-time for pay
• Thus Targeted Universalism

13
Targeted Universalism

• This approach supports the needs of the
  particular while reminding us that we are all
  part of the same social fabric.
• Universal, yet captures how people are
  differently situated
• Inclusive, yet targets those who are most
  marginalized
• Example goal Every school as a performing school
• What does each school need to get there?
• What does each student, family, teacher,
  community need?
• What are their strengths and constraints?

14
Targeted Universalism

• Targeted Universalism recognizes racial
  disparities and the importance of eradicating
  them, while acknowledging their presence within a
  larger inequitable, institutional framework
• Targeted universalism is a common framework
  through which to pursue justice.
• A model which recognizes our linked fate
• A model where we all grow together
• A model where we embrace collective solutions

15
Ex Economic Stimulus Package

• The economic stimulus package fails to directly
  account for race.
• Yet, race is a key component of many major
  economic issues.
• Ex Subprime/Foreclosure crisis
• People of color are more than three times as
  likely as whites to have subprime mortgages.
• Borrowers of color were more than 30 percent more
  likely to receive a higher-rate loan than white
  borrowers, even after accounting for differences
  in risk.
• Besides considering race-sensitive design,
• we must be concerned about the impacts.

Rogers, Christy. Subprime Loans, Foreclosure,
and the Credit Crisis A Primer. Dec. 2008.
16
(No Transcript)
17
Assessing the Economic Stimulus Plan

The Implications for Communities of Color
18
Analyzing the Stimulus and Our Values

• Questions to consider
• What are our public values for the next century?
  
• Does the stimulus package advance fair investment
  in all people and communities?
• Does it promote economic and environmental
  sustainability?
• Does it have transparent controls for personal,
  institutional, and regulatory accountability?
• Is it sensitive to the needs of racially
  marginalized groups and communities?

19
Money Allocation
20
Assessing the Stimulus Package

• Projections indicate that the stimulus package
  will not impact all groups to the same degree.
• People are not only spatially segregated, but
  segregation also occurs by sector.

21
Stimulus Projected Distribution of Jobs by Race
22
African Americans are underrepresented relative
to their presence in the U.S. population (13).
Hispanics/Latinos, also at 13 of the U.S.
population, are overrepresented.
23
These overestimates/underestimates are often
industry specific. Consider the construction
industry, a key component to the stimulus plans
infrastructure building
Call out of construction sector jobs by race
24
Applying Targeted Universalism

• These shovel ready stimulus package jobs can
  benefit unemployed people of color and women if
  specific incentives and enforcement tools are
  enacted to ensure fair access to these
  opportunities.
• All stimulus projects should require local
  resident hiring goals and create a link to
  community-based groups as the first line contact
  for construction jobs.
• Local hiring requirements are a proven approach
  to bring jobs to under-represented constituencies
  in construction trades. These requirements can be
  applied to permanent jobs as well.

Center for Social Inclusion. Economic Recovery
for Everyone Racial Equity and Prosperity.
Talking Points.
25
An alternative analysis Comparing projected
state spending with the racial demographics of
each state
http//www.racewire.org/
26
Seeing the Connections

• Attempts to address singular issues in isolated
  ways will ultimately fail
• Targeted interventions must recognize the
  interconnected nature of our structures
• While many policy areas can appear distinct, we
  must think of them collectively.
• Ex Transportation
• Is this an urban policy issue?
• An environmental issue?
• A jobs/economic issue?

27
Systems Theory Highlights These Relationships

• Systems Theory is a transdisciplinary model that
  focuses on a web of relationships and processes
  and not on linear, singular causation or the
  intent of one or even a few individuals.
• In a complex systems model, actions and inactions
  have multiple effects, and the delayed or distant
  consequences are often different from more
  proximate effects.
• From a systems perspective, causation is
  cumulative and mutual.
• Outcomes are caused by many actors and
  institutions actions and inactions over time and
  across domains.
• Outcomes are the result of causes that accumulate
  over time and across domains.

28
Visualizing Systems Theory
29
System Interactions
We must pay attention to how people are situated
by looking at multiple indicators and the
relationships that exist between those indicators.
Source Barbara Reskin. http//faculty.uwashingto
n.edu/reskin/
30
Ex Connecting Housing Policy Education Policy

• With lower profits and decreased access to
  capital, fewer corporations are investing in
  affordable housing (construction or renovation)
  while homelessness is on the rise.
• The economic recovery bill passed by the House
  (1-28-09) would temporarily allow state housing
  agencies to exchange some credits for federal
  grants, which they would then distribute to
  developers to support the production of
  affordable rental housing.
• This is an opportunity for us to re-think how we
  target LIHTC projects to high-opportunity areas.

Fischer, Will. Exchange Plan in House Recovery
Bill Offers Best Fix for Low-Income Housing Tax
Credit. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
February 2, 2009.
31
Ex Connecting Housing Policy Education Policy

• LIHTC often concentrates housing units in
  racially isolated school districts.
• This exacerbates the educational challenges
  facing low-income children, particularly children
  of color.

32
Looking Ahead

33
Racially Sensitive Policies

• We must embrace a systems thinking perspective
  when forming policies.
• What do racially sensitive policies look like?
• Targeted They recognize the nature of our
  interconnected structures / larger inequitable,
  institutional framework.
• Pay attention to situatedness They account for
  the fact that people are situated differently in
  the economic and social landscape of society.
• Driven by outcomes It may seem great if
  unemployment is cut in half, but if all the jobs
  go to white males, serious problems remain.

34
Racially Sensitive Policies (cont)

• What do racially sensitive policies look like?
• Transparent - Transparency allows for gauging
  progress and making corrections if necessary.
• Multi-faceted Incentivize a systems approach.
  Reorient how we think about policy.
• Include people of color in the process Their
  input is vital.
• Serve as a bridge to the next economy These
  policies should be the stepping stones for the
  future.

35
Race-Sensitive Policy Analysis of the Stimulus

• How do we make the stimulus fair, sustainable,
  accountable?
• Incentives for inclusion of people of color
• Investment in public transit (prioritize projects
  that connect people to jobs)
• Grants and loans for small and minority-, women-,
  and community-disadvantaged businesses
• Collect data by race and gender to understand
  impacts of economic recovery policy

Wiley, Maya. Economic Recovery for Everyone
Racial Equity and Prosperity, Center for Social
Inclusion, 12/2008.
36
Opportunities for Philanthropy

• The stimulus offers a once-in-a-generation
  opportunity to influence federal and state
  policy.
• Short term
• Foundations need to shape and direct the flow of
  money.
• Intervene in the public dialogue
• Targeting the flow of stimulus money dispersed to
  states
• Connecting education and housing policy through
  the targeted use of LIHTC funds
• Draw on your experience and research
• Present a clear, informed perspective regarding
  communities of color that have been devastated by
  the economic recession

37
Opportunities for Philanthropy

• Long term
• Employ strategic communications regarding race
• Help push national dialogue to overcome the
  common binary of (1) were in a post-racial world
  where race doesnt matter (2) were stuck in
  the past where race is everything
• Emphasize productive discussions around race that
  thoughtfully inform policy design and advocacy
• Capacity building
• Increase the participation of marginalized groups
  in policy design
• Improve data collection, monitoring, and
  evaluation of state and federal programs
• Legal advocacy

38
Questions or Comments? For More Information,
Visit Us Onlinewww.KirwanInstitute.org
39
Appendix

• Obamas Policy Agenda
• Selected notes from www.whitehouse.gov

40
Economy American Recovery and Reinvestment
Plan

• Double the production of alternative energy in
  the next 3 years
• Modernize more than 75 of federal buildings
  improve the energy efficiency of 2 million
  American homes
• Make the immediate investments necessary to
  computerize all of Americas medical records
• Equip schools, community colleges, and public
  universities with 21st century classrooms, labs,
  and libraries
• Expand broadband across America
• Invest in the science, research, and technology
  that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new
  discoveries, and entire new industries

http//www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/economy/
41
Urban Policy

• Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
• Fully fund the Community Development Block Grant
• Increase access to capital for underserved
  businesses
• Strengthen core infrastructure, including roads
  and bridges
• Increase the supply of affordable housing
  throughout metropolitan regions
• Reduce recidivism by providing ex-offender
  supports
• Foster healthy communities playgrounds, parks

http//www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/urban_policy/
42
Education

• Zero to Five Plan- a comprehensive plan that
  places emphasis on early care and education so
  children are ready to enter kindergarten
• Expand Early Head Start and Head Start
• Increase access to affordable, high-quality child
  care and after school programs
• Reform No Child Left Behind lessen emphasis on
  standardized tests
• Make math and science education a national
  priority
• Address the dropout crisis
• Simplify the application process for financial
  aid in higher ed

http//www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/education/
43
Healthcare

• Strengthen employer coverage, make insurance
  companies accountable, and ensure patient choice
  of doctor and care without government
  interference
• Provide affordable, accessible health care for
  all Americans, build on the existing health care
  system, and use existing providers, doctors, and
  plans
• Promote public health - Require coverage of
  preventive services
• Make health insurance work for people and
  businesses, not just insurance and drug companies
• Reduce costs and save a typical American family
  up
• to 2,500

http//www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/health_care/
44
Environment

• Invest in alternative and renewable energy, end
  our addiction to foreign oil, address the global
  climate crisis and create millions of new jobs
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that
  can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road
  by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are
  built here in America
• Ensure 10 of our electricity comes from
  renewable sources by 2012, and 25 by 2025
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program
  to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 by 2050

http//www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_enviro
nment/