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The Regents of the University of California
 

The racial divide: missing from debate

by Michael A. Stoll

For the first time in many election years, issues related to race are conspicuously absent from national debate. The war in Iraq and on terrorism has trumped most discussion on domestic issues, let alone on race and policy. But even if these global concerns were absent, it seems unlikely that a discussion would take place. Many believe that the race problem has been addressed. In the 2002 General Social Survey, a record 71% of whites indicated that conditions for blacks have greatly improved. The implication: Racial affairs need less attention.

Recent empirical investigation of the racial divide in America belies these growing perceptions. Over the past two decades, most measures of social and economic well-being inched along, stalled or reversed for African Americans, especially when viewed in relation to those of whites. Most of the modest economic gains that blacks made during the economic boom of the 1990s were washed away by the recent recession. Worse, over the past decade, when economic robustness was the greatest in 30 years and racial prejudice appeared to be at an all-time low, employment of young black men deteriorated, and they have all but vanished from college campuses. In stark contrast, their ranks among the incarcerated have swelled dramatically.

In 1960s’ civil rights America, debates about racial inequality were motivated by the notion of equality of results. This was reflected in the subsequent implementation of strong and effective affirmative action programs, coupled with antidiscrimination enforcement, which led to African Americans witnessing their greatest-ever social and economic gains. Over time, however, conservative forces, acting partly through the courts, managed to shift the focus of the debate on racial inequality from outcomes to opportunity, dealing a blow to the government’s attempts to level the racial playing field.

This profound shift implied that if equal opportunity exists, any racial inequality in outcomes could be viewed as socially acceptable. Further, given the popular perception of the United States as a meritocracy mostly free of racial prejudice, the nation generally tended to attribute the relatively inferior social and economic standing of blacks to their personal shortcomings. The reality — that blacks were being discriminated against — was thus rejected, along with any discussion of the issue.

Persistent discrimination against blacks in important markets limits their social and economic opportunity. Recent evidence indicates that, although less extensive than in decades past, discrimination against African Americans in such key market sectors as labor, housing and credit (mortgage, car and small business loans) remains a powerful force in lowering their employment and wages as well as their home-, car- and business-ownership rates.

The perception that equality of opportunity and unfettered social and economic mobility of blacks has been achieved must be challenged to restore the race question as part of the national policy debate. Given the historically significant role of slavery and legalized segregation, to say nothing of the racial conflicts that continue to persist among blacks and whites, it seems fair to conclude that the United States will neither achieve its democratic ideals nor its full potential unless deliberate policy attempts are made to include African Americans at the core of the nation’s social, political and economic fabric.

Stoll is associate professor of public policy and associate director of the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. He is the author of a recent report, “African Americans and the Color Line.”