Prof' john a' powell

1

Increasing Philanthropic Effectiveness By
Looking Through a Racial, Spatial
Regional Equity Lens A presentation for the
Philanthropy and Regional Equity Working
Retreat, 8 March 2004

• Prof. john a. powell
• Kirwan Institute for the Study of
• Race Ethnicity

2
The problem of equality is so tenacious
because, despite its virtues and attributes,
America is deeply racist and its democracy is
flawed both economically and socially justice
for Black people cannot be achieved without
radical changes in the structure of our society
exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the
whole structure of our society. It reveals
systemic rather than superficial flaws and
suggests that radical reconstruction of society
itself is the real issue to be faced Rev.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

3

The face of racism looks different today than it
did thirty years ago. Overt racism is easily
condemned, but the sin is often with us in more
subtle formsof spatial racismSpatial racism
refers to patterns of metropolitan development in
which some affluent whites create racially and
economically segregated suburbs or gentrified
areas of cities, leaving the poor -- mainly
African Americans, Hispanics and some newly
arrived immigrants -- isolated in deteriorating
areas of the cities and older suburbs.
Francis Cardinal George, OMI Archbishop of Chicago
4
Defining Equity

• Equity is not equality or treating each person
  in exactly the same way.
• Equity brings society into balance.
• Equity requires investment in all our human and
  communal resources to maximize our potential as
  individuals, families, communities and a nation.

Ford Foundations Initiative on Race, Equity,
Community Philanthropy in the American South
5
Equity Challenges Existing Forms of Racism

• We have seen a move away from legal racism and
  personal prejudice to a racial hierarchy that is
  enforced through institutional/structural means.
• de jure segregation ? de facto segregation

6
Racial Disparities and Inequity

• Although racial attitudes are improving steadily,
  racial disparities persist on every level.
• Inequity arises as disenfranchised groups are
  left out of the democratic process.

7
Spatial Racism and Inequity

• The government plays a central role in the
  arrangement of space and opportunities.
• These arrangements are not neutral or natural
  or colorblind.

• Social and racial inequities are geographically
  inscribed.
• There is a polarization between the rich and the
  poor that is directly related to the areas in
  which they live.

8
Example of Governments Role

• If a neighborhood is to retain stability, it is
  necessary that properties shall continue to be
  occupied by the same social and racial classes.
  A change in social or racial occupancy generally
  contributes to instability and a decline in
  values.
• Excerpt from the 1947 FHA underwriting manual.

9
Cumulative Effects of Spatial Racism

• Zoning laws prevent affordable housing
  development in many suburbs.
• Municipalities subsidize the relocation of
  businesses out of the city.
• Transportation spending favors highways,
  metropolitan expansion and urban sprawl.
• Court decisions prevent metropolitan school
  desegregation.
• School funding is tied to property taxes.

10
Sprawl in the United States

• Suburban population doubled
• between 1950 and 1970

1950
1970
Suburbs
Central Cities

• By 2000 the suburbs
• contained over 2/3 of the
• metropolitan population
• Only 1/3 remained in the
• central cities

11
Effects of Sprawl

• By pushing good jobs, stable housing, and
  educational opportunities further into the
  suburbs, sprawl creates segregated, impoverished
  areas of the central city and inner-ring suburbs
  that are locked off from access to meaningful
  opportunities.

12
Fragmentation and Inequity

• In 1942, we had 24,500 municipalities and special
  districts in
• the U. S. By 1992, that number had more than
  doubled to 50,834.
•  
• Regions are now governed by an average of 90
  local
• governments.
• It is the control that matters for equity
•  
• Zoning
• Planning
• Taxation
• Education
• Public Services

As many cities are moving quickly towards
becoming majority-minority areas, those same
cities are seeing their political decision making
capacities become less and less
13
Fragmentation, Segregation,and the Tax Base

• People of color in segregated areas of the region
  tend to own homes with lower values.
• Municipalities rely on the tax base to provide
  essential services, often including public
  education, and the tax base is tied to home
  values.
• These municipalities struggle to provide for a
  higher need population.

14
Fragmentation and Jobs

• A 2001 Brookings Institution study found a
  significant relationship between fragmentation
  and job decentralization in the 100 largest metro
  areas.
• Job decentralization harms access to employment
  for residents of the central city and inner-ring
  suburbs.
• See Job Sprawl Employment Location in U.S.
  Metropolitan Areas (2001) (Brookings
  Institution).

15
Transportation and Jobs

• Jobs have moved away from the labor pool in many
  metropolitan areas, making connecting job-seekers
  with jobs a challenge.
• 58 of all welfare participants in the nation
  live in central cities.
• 70 of all new jobs are in the suburbs.
• 40 of all suburban jobs cannot be reached by
  public transportation.

16
Educational Inequity

• Resources available are tied to property values.
• Racial segregation in schools strongly
  corresponds to economic isolation in schools.
• The more fragmented the region is, the more
  racially segregated are the public schools,
  according to research by David Rusk.

17
Educational Inequity

• In 86 of states, school districts with the
  greatest numbers of poor children have less money
  to spend per pupil than districts with the fewest
  poor children.
• There is a large gap between the resources
  available to districts with a majority of
  students of color and districts with a student
  population a majority of white students.

18
Regional Variations inEquity

• Land use and equity issues vary across the U.S.
  and Canada.
• Unique problems but common underlying themes of
  causation.
• Structures impacting these issues also vary by
  geography.
• Regional variations require regional solutions.
• We must understand where we are
• We must develop a template to look at equity
  issues on a regional and structural level.

19
Regional Variations in Equity

• Northeast Midwestern U.S. (Rust Belt)
• Declining urban centers, overall population loss
  (population redistribution to suburban/rural
  areas).
• Highly fragmented local government structures.
• Very high degree of segregation.

20
The Northeast and Midwest

• Baltimore, MD Concentrated poverty and
  segregation.
• Milwaukee, WI Governmental fragmentation,
  segregation and income disparities.
• Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, MI Segregation and
  disparities in educational resources.

21

• Concentrated Poverty in the Baltimore Region
• The accompanying map illustrates the high
  concentration of African Americans in Poverty
  (displayed in red) in the Baltimore region
• The map on the following slide indicates that low
  income housing tax credit projects are further
  concentrating impoverished residents in these
  areas

22
African American Population Distribution and Low
Income Housing Tax Credit Projects in the
Baltimore Area (Dark Colors Highest
Distribution) (Blue Dots LITC projects)
23

• Milwaukee, WI Governmental Fragmentation,
  Segregation and Income Disparities
• The Milwaukee region has one of the most
  fragmented local government structures.
• Over 20 local government units operate in
  Milwaukee County alone.
• Milwaukee is also one of the most segregated
  places in the nation. (82 of Milwaukees African
  American residents would need to relocate to
  fully integrate the region.)
• Milwaukees segregated inner city neighborhoods
  are economically depressed.
• Median household income for Milwaukees central
  city neighborhood were 60 of the regional median
  household income in 2000.

Source Lewis Mumford Center, http//www.albany.ed
u/mumford/
24
African American Population Distribution in the
Milwaukee Area in 2000 (Dark Colors Highest
Distribution)
25
Non-White Hispanic Population Distribution in the
Milwaukee Area in 2000 (Dark Colors Highest
Distribution)
26
Median Household Income in the Milwaukee Area in
2000 (Dark Colors Highest Incomes)
27
The Rust Belt

• Most Rust Belt regions share Milwaukees
  problems.
• The Detroit consolidated metropolitan area has
  over 300 local land use authorities
• The Cincinnati metropolitan region has over 340
  government jurisdictions

28

• Battle Creek, MI Segregation and Educational
  Equity
• Segregation in the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo
  area in Michigan has resulted in African American
  students being forced into poorer school
  districts with fewer resources.
• In Battle Creek, MI the Battle Creek school
  district has the largest proportion of the
  African American population
• The following figures indicate that poverty rates
  are highest and growth the slowest in the Battle
  Creek school district

29

Source National Center for Education Statistics
30

31

32
Regional Variations in Equity

• The Southern U.S.
• Rapid population growth in certain areas
• Issues of rural poverty, high African American
  land ownership in rural areas (but stagnating
  assets), little wealth or growth.
• School segregation not as severe as in the East
  and Midwest
• Issues of residential segregation and impacts of
  sprawl still a problem.

33
The South High Degree of Racial Ethnic Rural
Poverty

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found
  rural minority populations much more likely to be
  living in areas of concentrated poverty than
  rural whites.
• One half of poor rural African Americans and
  Native Americans are found in high poverty rural
  areas, 1/3 of all poor rural Hispanics are found
  in areas of high poverty.
• In contrast, only 1/8 of poor rural non-Hispanic
  Whites live in high poverty rural areas.
• (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic
  Research Services)

34
The South High Degree of Racial Ethnic Rural
Poverty

• The following map indicates rural areas of high
  poverty for African Americans, Native Americans
  and Hispanic populations
• High poverty African American rural areas are
  concentrated in the south from Louisiana to North
  Carolina (area in blue).
• 39 of African Americans living in these rural
  counties were in poverty in 1999, almost twice
  the rate of poverty for African Americans in
  southern metropolitan areas.
• (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic
  Research Services)

35
High Rural Poverty by Race in America 1999
36
Atlanta, Georgia Growth Sprawl

• Population growth and segregation.
• An average of 69,000 residents moved to the
  Atlanta region per year during the 1990 to 1996
  and Atlantas urban area increased by 47 in this
  6 year period
• Atlantas African American residents remain
  segregated in the Atlanta region.
• Nearly 1/3 of Atlanta regions people of color
  reside in the City of Atlanta, while only 6.3 of
  the regions white residents reside in the city.

Source Sprawl Atlanta, Social Equity Dimensions
of Uneven Growth and Development (1999),
Environmental Justice Resource Center, Clark
Atlanta University
37
Atlanta, Georgia Growth Sprawl

• Housing challenges are greater for African
  Americans in the Atlanta region.
• African Americans are twice as likely experience
  discrimination in Atlantas suburban housing
  market than in the City of Atlanta.
• Employment and Poverty Changes
• Atlantas northern suburbs contain more than 50
  of the regions jobs, while the citys share of
  regional employment declined by 25.
• Over 84 of Atlantas poor live in high poverty
  areas. Almost ½ of Atlantas poor live in extreme
  high poverty neighborhoods.

Source Sprawl Atlanta, Social Equity Dimensions
of Uneven Growth and Development (1999),
Environmental Justice Resource Center, Clark
Atlanta University
38
Regional Variations in Equity

• The West
• Very rapid growth, growing denser (but still
  problems due to sprawl).
• Rapidly becoming more diverse, but racial
  inequities still persist.

39
The West Growth and Increased Diversity,
Racial/Ethnic Disparities Persist

• California
• Inequity is still prevalent in many California
  regions.
• Despite the unique differences of California (and
  other western states), indications of regional
  racial inequity and the impacts of sprawl are
  evident.

40
California Poverty Segregation

• Poverty rates are 2 to 3 times as high for
  African Americans and Non-white Latinos in
  Californias ten largest cities (U.S. Census
  Bureau)
• Less residential segregation than in the Midwest
  and Northeast
• Concentrations of poor African American and
  Latino residents in core urban areas persists

41
California Affordable Housing

• Housing affordability crisis for racial and
  ethnic groups.
• The Brookings Institute found housing
  affordability for L.A.s working poor to be one
  of the primary threats to the L.A. region,
  finding the region faces a serious housing
  crisis
• From Sprawl hits the wall Confronting the
  Realities of Metropolitan LosAngeles (2001)
  http//www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/la/co
  lor.htm

42
Poverty Race by Race/Ethnicity in 2000 for
Largest California Cities Poverty is 2 to 3
times as high for African Americans and Latinos
in Californias Major Cities
Source Census 2000, Prepared by Center for
Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity,
Stanford University
43
Residential Dissimilarity Scores for Major CA
Metro Areas 2000 (Scores above 60 are considered
a high degree of segregation)
Source Lewis Mumford Center, http//www.albany.ed
u/mumford/
44
California of Households by Race/Ethnicity,
Paying More than 30 of Income for Rent in 2000
Source U.S. Census Bureau
Housing Affordability Issues are Impacting
African Americans and Latinos more than
Non-Latino Whites in California
45
Regional Variations in Equity

• Canada
• Spatial element to Canadian diversity.
• Minority populations found in Ontario and British
  Columbia
• In 2001, the largest concentration of minority
  residents were in Toronto (36.8 of population
  minority) and Vancouver (36.9 of population
  minority) (2001 Canadian Census)
• Best structural arrangements to address issues,
  easier to promote a regional solution.
• Fewer issues related to locally based funding,
  fiscal inequities dealt with through a more
  national approach
• Toronto Region Advocates working to eliminate
  structural barriers to regionalism

46
Equity Demands that We Think in Terms of
Opportunity

• Opportunity structures are the resources and
  services that contribute to stability and
  advancement.
• Fair access to opportunity structures is limited
  by segregation, concentration of poverty,
  fragmentation, and sprawl in our regions for
  low-income households and families of color.
• Because opportunity structures exist as a web a
  multi-faceted, equity-centered approach is needed.

47
(No Transcript)
48
Opportunities Lead to Equity

• Parents who have access to affordable housing
  have more money to spend on transportation.
• More money spent on transportation provides them
  with access to a broader range of jobs.
• A better job provides more money, which provides
  their children with better educational
  opportunities.
• Well-fed children with stable housing will do
  better in school.
• Having access to greater educational
  opportunities and doing better in school allows
  these children to achieve regular employment.

49
Opportunity-Based Housing

• Affordable housing must be deliberately and
  intelligently connected to high performing
  school, sustaining employment, necessary
  transportation infrastructure, childcare, and
  institutions that facilitate civic and political
  activity.
• Housing is a component of a larger set of
  interrelated
• structures that are both affected by housing and
  have impacts for the attainment of safe, stable
  housing.

50
Regionalism Leads to Equity

• Proponents of regionalism believe that resources
  should be administered at a regional
  rather than a city or federal level.
• Regionalism recognizes that the economy,
  infrastructure (transportation, utilities, etc.)
  and the labor market function on a regional
  level.
• A region usually includes a city and its suburbs.
• Regionalism is recognizes how the spatial
  orientation of todays economy is not longer
  locally focused

• Local Initiatives are NOT enough

51
Why Regionalism?

• Key social justice concerns are being acted on by
  regional forces, such as fragmentation,
  segregation, and the concentration of poverty.
• Neighborhoods and cities cannot solve social
  justice problems alone, or they will see their
  viability diminish relative to other parts of the
  region.
• It is imperative that communities be at the table
  for a regional approach to redress social justice
  concerns.
• Regional approach does not automatically solve
  problems but does create a framework where a
  solution is possible

52
Regionalism Potential Outcomes

• Tax-Base Sharing Plans (Twin Cities)
• Fair Share Housing Laws (Montgomery County)
• Metropolitan-Wide School Districting
  (Charlotte-Mecklenburg)
• Anti-Sprawl Initiatives (Portland)
• Regional Public Transportation
• (Indiana Interfaith Group)

53
Regionalism Potential Problems

• Regionalism without an explicit racial equity
  component can cause communities of color and
  low-income communities to be further marginalized
  through
• Gentrification,
• A relocation, rather than an elimination, of
  racialized concentrated poverty,
• Exclusion of people of color from planning and
  decision-making,
• Dilution of political power and social fabric.

54
Federated Regionalism as Solution
By giving minorities a greater voice in regional
policy, federated regionalism addresses the
current racialized and fragmented jurisdictional
structure.

• Requires entities in a metro region to cooperate
  on some issues, while remaining autonomous on
  others.
• Acknowledges racial issues that underlie
  political polarization.
• Allows minorities to remain politically cohesive.

55
Racial, Spatial, and Regional Equity

• Equity requires us to restructure systems and
  institutions that result in racial disparities.
• Equity requires us to take the particular
  racialization of space into account when
  fashioning remedies.
• Equity requires us to link the creation of
  opportunities to regional solutions that
  explicitly take race into account.

56

• VISIT WWW.KIRWANINSTITUTE.ORG