Education and economic inequity persist as profound challenges in major U.S. cities affecting Black and Brown youth. Without access to quality education, Black and Brown students face worse lifelong outcomes. When children do not have basic functional literacy, they experience hardships such as being less likely to gain employment (particularly skilled roles), less likely to earn a livable wage, and less likely to use preventative health services (Mulcahy et al. 2019). Relatedly, students who are not functionally literate are more likely to interact with the criminal justice system and experience depression (Mulcahy et al., 2019).  Furthermore, the reliance on property taxes for school funding exacerbates disparities, as communities with lower property values often have less funding for their schools, perpetuating the cycle of educational inequity. This Capstone addresses housing disparities as a contributor to educational inequity and demands urgent attention and comprehensive solutions from the federal government to simultaneously tackle both housing and education disparities. This research assignment delves into the persistent challenges of education and economic inequity faced by Black and Brown youth in major U.S. cities (Mulcahy et al., 2019). The profound impact of limited access to quality education on the lifelong outcomes of Black and Brown students is evident, as functional literacy serves as a crucial determinant of their future prospects. The consequences of inadequate education range from reduced employability and lower wages to increased interactions with the criminal justice system and higher rates of depression (Mulcahy et al., 2019). The reliance on property taxes for school funding further exacerbates these disparities, perpetuating the cycle of educational inequity. This Capstone project aims to address housing disparities as a significant contributor to educational inequity, emphasizing the urgent need for comprehensive solutions from the federal government to simultaneously tackle housing and education disparities. Utilizing the BlackCrit Framework, which centers antiblackness, challenges the neoliberal-multicultural imagination, and advocates for Black liberatory fantasy, the research seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of the complex intersectionality of race, education, and housing, advocating for transformative changes to break the cycle of systemic inequity (Sexton, 2016; Rose, 2019).

Understanding Property Taxes in the U.S. 

In the 20th century, property taxes evolved into a crucial revenue source for local governments, particularly for funding education and essential services. The early 1900s marked the emergence of property taxes as the primary revenue stream for state and local governments, constituting over 80% of state and local tax revenue and playing a pivotal role in financing public services, including education and infrastructure development (How Property Taxes Work, 2011). Historically, property taxes applied to two kinds of property: real property, which includes land and buildings, and personal property, which includes moveable items such as cars, boats, and the value of stocks and bonds. Despite the introduction of income and sales taxes at the state and federal levels in the mid-20th century, property taxes retained their significance in supporting local governance, with real property taxes becoming the dominant form from the latter half of the 20th century into the 21st century (Fisher, 2022).

Today, real property taxes are instrumental in funding local governments and schools, contributing approximately 75% of local tax revenue nationwide (Fisher, 2022). This revenue supports a wide array of services, including education, police and fire protection, healthcare, and infrastructure. Housing appraisals determine property taxes. Property assessments—determining the market value of a property—follow a cyclical process based on state or local laws. Tax assessors employ methods such as sales comparison, cost method, and income method to calculate assessments, with the assessed value influencing the property tax amount. Challenges arise from inequities in property assessments and disparities in property values. Criticisms center on the contribution of property assessments to housing appraisal inequity, as they may not accurately reflect a property’s true value. Such disparities can result in uneven tax burdens on homeowners and exacerbate socioeconomic inequalities within Black and Brown communities. Recent studies, such as the work by Howell and Korver-Glenn (2020), shed light on the intricate relationship between housing appraisals, socioeconomic factors, and funding disparities. The research indicates that home characteristics, including house size and quality, as well as neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, contribute to the inequality in home values between predominantly white neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color.

The research findings highlight a stark contrast in the trajectory of home values, with the average home value in white neighborhoods experiencing a substantial increase of $225,000 from 1980 to 2015. In contrast, communities of color witnessed a considerably smaller increase of $31,000 during the same period. This discrepancy underscores the persistent disparities in wealth accumulation and property values based on racial demographics. Metropolitan areas with higher Black and Latinx populations face a higher disparity in home values between white neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color. This correlation emphasizes the systemic challenges faced by communities of color in accessing equitable housing opportunities and quality services in their community that are based on local taxes.

The Evolution of Education Funding Disparities

Since the 1970s, local school districts in the United States relied on local property taxes as a primary funding source for public education and communities have raised concerns about the resulting disparities in the quality of education. This issue gained national attention, sparking a debate on equal access to educational opportunity. Serrano v. Priest (1971) in California marked a turning point, challenging the state’s reliance on local property tax and arguing that it disadvantaged students in lower-income districts (Stanford University, 1971). This recognition triggered a national debate on the importance of equal access to educational opportunity. The Court found that the state of California’s school finance system, which depended on local property taxes, violated the Equal Protection Clause due to significant funding disparities (Stanford University, 1971).

The Serrano case spurred a series of legal challenges across the country, including San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (TX, 1973), Robinson v. Cahill (NJ, 1973), Levittown v. Nyquist (NY, 1982), Abbott v. Burke (NJ, 1985-2011), and Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York (NY, 2001-2006). These cases collectively questioned the constitutionality of education finance systems heavily reliant on property taxes, asserting that they perpetuated inequalities in educational opportunities based on the wealth of the local community. Today, disparities persist despite legal interventions and changes to state control of school finances. Communities across the country are currently engaged in ongoing legal battles to secure equitable funding for their schools, emphasizing the enduring challenges associated with the historical reliance on local property taxes.

(Stanford University, 1971)

Following the reconning in the 1970s, the role of the local property tax in financing public education in the United States has remained stable—most states have not changed how they use property taxes to funding public schools. This stability has been attributed to the fact that local property taxes do not fluctuate as much as some other local and state taxes. From1988–1989, property taxes contributed 35.8% of total K–12 funding, a figure that slightly increased to 36.2% from 2018–2019. The resilience of the property tax base over time compared to income or taxable sales. Presently, real property tax rates vary widely across the country, with states using models involving property valuation, determination of taxable value, and application of tax rates. Unintended consequences of exemptions and deductions result in less taxable revenue for funding local schools, highlighting the need for policymakers to address these issues to achieve more equitable education funding.

(NCES, 2019)

The reliance on property taxes to fund education has created an inequitable burden on communities, particularly those advocating for low property taxes to maintain housing affordability. In 2020, state and local governments collectively generated $600 billion in revenue from property taxes, constituting 17% of general revenue. While states collected $19 billion (1% of state general revenue), local governments, including school districts, amassed $581 billion (30% of local general revenue) from property taxes (Tilsley, 2017).

However, the reliance on property tax revenue varies among states, creating disparities in funding. Real property tax rates differ widely across the country. States employ various mechanisms to influence taxable values and taxpayer payments, including limits, exemptions, deductions, and credits, making it difficult to address inequity without some sort of federal oversight that aims to bridge the gap. Some states, like New Jersey, derive over 20% of their revenue from property taxes, burdening local communities. In contrast, states such as Louisiana collect less than 10% of their revenue from property taxes, resulting in a different financial landscape (elaborate?) (State and Local General Revenue, Percentage Distribution, 2023).

Source: (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023)

Academic Disparities and Funding Inequity

In general, local revenue from property taxes remains within the jurisdiction where it is raised, contributing to significant disparities in funding between wealthier and less affluent school districts (Baker et al, n.d.). This funding model allows wealthier districts to generate more school revenue even at lower tax rates, exacerbating educational inequalities. Education is widely recognized as a cornerstone for societal progress. However, persistent academic disparities between affluent and low-income students underscore a critical issue within the education system. Affluent students, privileged with greater access to educational resources, consistently demonstrate enhanced academic performance, higher graduation rates, and increased opportunities for advanced education. Conversely, low-income students face systemic barriers, including limited access to quality schools, resources, and extracurricular activities, resulting in lower academic attainment and graduation rates. Furthermore, many affluent districts, capable of raising substantial local revenue, often receive a share of state aid that exceeds their actual needs for adequate spending. This scenario frequently leads to the most affluent districts within a state receiving significantly more funding than higher-poverty districts, contributing to unequal opportunity gaps across the nation (Baker, Di Carlo, and Weber 2022).

The academic disparities faced by low-income students manifest in enduring consequences throughout their lives. Limited educational opportunities translate into reduced access to well-paying jobs and constrained career paths, perpetuating cycles of poverty and restricting upward mobility. Challenges in accessing higher education further limit opportunities for personal and professional growth. Academic achievement is intricately tied to socioeconomic status, creating a noticeable gap between affluent and low-income students. Evidence suggests that high-poverty districts may face inefficiencies in budget planning, particularly in human resource and personnel processes (Liu and Johnson 2006). These districts often struggle to fill teaching vacancies and hire late, potentially missing out on highly qualified candidates (Sorensen and Ladd 2020). Revenue volatility, rather than poor management alone, may play a significant role in these challenges. To address these disparities and their long-term consequences, targeted interventions are imperative. Equitable distribution of resources, increased access to quality education, and tailored support for low-income students through appropriate funding can effectively bridge the academic gap. This necessitates a comprehensive approach to reshape funding structures and prioritize educational equity.

Timeline of Significant Events in Housing and Education 

1865:  End of Slavery: The Civil War ends, and slavery is abolished with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

1866:  Civil Rights Act of 1866: The Act grants all citizens the same rights enjoyed by white citizens, including the right to own property. 

1919-1939: Redlining Emerges: The practice of redlining begins as the Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps neighborhoods based on racial composition, limiting mortgage lending to predominantly white areas. 

1934: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is established to provide federal insurance on home loans, but it institutionalizes redlining practices. 

1954: Brown v. Board of Education: The Supreme Court decision declares racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, challenging the “separate but equal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. This decision influenced discussions on racial equality in other areas, including housing. 

1957: Little Rock Nine: Nine African American students are integrated into Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, facing intense opposition, and demonstrating the resistance to desegregation. 

1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964: Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, including public schools. 

1965: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): The ESEA is enacted to address educational inequalities by providing federal funding to schools serving low-income students. 

1968: Fair Housing Act: The Fair Housing Act is signed into law, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, or national origin. 

1971: Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: The Supreme Court upholds busing as a tool for achieving desegregation in public schools. 

1974: Miliken vs Bradley: The 5-4 Supreme Court held that school district lines cannot be redrawn for to combat segregation unless the redrawn lines were the product of discriminatory acts by school districts. 

1977: Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): The CRA is enacted to address discriminatory lending practices and encourage financial institutions to meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate. 

1990s-2000s:  

Subprime Mortgage Crisis: Disproportionate targeting of minority communities leads to a wave of foreclosures, exacerbating existing disparities in homeownership. 

De facto Segregation: Despite legal efforts to desegregate schools, de facto segregation remains a significant issue in many school districts, often reflecting neighborhood segregation patterns. 

2001: No Child Left Behind (NCLB): NCLB emphasizes standardized testing to assess student performance and holds schools accountable for academic progress, but it also exacerbates educational inequalities. 

2009:  Housing and Economic Recovery Act: The Act includes provisions to address the foreclosure crisis and improve access to affordable housing. 

2015: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH): The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implements a rule to strengthen the Fair Housing Act and promote housing equality. 

2020:

COVID-19 Pandemic: The national pandemic highlights existing housing inequalities, with marginalized communities disproportionately affected by job losses and housing insecurity. 

Black Lives Matter Protests: Protests against racial injustice draw attention to systemic inequalities, including those in housing, prompting renewed efforts to address housing equity. 

Remote Learning Disparities: Remote learning during the pandemic highlights disparities in access to technology and resources, disproportionately affecting students in low-income communities. 

2023: Ongoing Efforts for Equity: Various initiatives, policies, and community-led efforts continue to address educational disparities and promote equity in public education. The state of public education remains a dynamic and evolving landscape. Communities across the country are fighting to combat gentrification and unfair housing practices. 

Effects of Redlining, Segregation, and Gentrification on School Districts

The complex relationship between property tax, housing inequity, and public education in the United States is deeply rooted in history, creating a tapestry of systemic disparities that persist to this day. The early reliance on local property taxes in the American education system inadvertently established an unequal educational landscape, laying the foundation for ongoing systemic disparities. Examining the historical timeline, particularly key events, and legislation, unveils the intricate connection between housing inequity and educational disparities. 

The journey begins in 1865 with the end of slavery, a pivotal moment marked by the ratification of the 13th Amendment. The reluctance of many to fully accept the freedom of Black individuals prompted the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This pivotal legislation granted all citizens, regardless of race, the same fundamental rights, including the right to own property, previously enjoyed exclusively by whites. Despite these legislative efforts the emergence of redlining perpetuated discriminatory practices in housing. Redlining is the practice of systematically denying mortgages, loans, and lines of credit to Black people (Egede 2023).  The Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) mapped neighborhoods based on racial composition, limiting mortgage lending to predominantly white areas. While neighborhood segregation was widely accepted, some community advocates believed that desegregating schools was pivotal for Black students, so that they could have access to quality education. The landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, challenging the doctrine of “separate but equal.” This influential decision not only transformed education but also influenced discussions on racial housing equality as neighborhoods began to change with the desegregation of schools. However, the resistance to desegregation, exemplified by the Little Rock Nine in 1957, underscored the challenges faced in achieving genuine integration.  The rise of activism and anti-discrimination protests that characterized the early1960s lead to new legislation aimed at combating racism. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation that emerged in response to decades of racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 further addressed discrimination by prohibiting it based on race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, including public schools. Simultaneously, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 aimed to rectify housing discrimination, but its impact fell short of eliminating the deeply rooted issues caused by redlining and discriminatory housing practices. 

In the 1970s, the Supreme Court decisions in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and Miliken v. Bradley navigated the complexities of desegregation, with the latter decision emphasizing the challenges in redrawing school district lines for combating segregation. Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board aimed to hasten the pace in which schools were being integrated, stating that busing was a valid way to integrate schools and combat segregation. However, this did not address the issue of neighborhood segregation and was ultimately made moot by the Miliken v. Bradley decision. Miliken v. Bradley decided that school districts could not be drawn with the specific purpose of desegregation unless it was clear that the district was segregated because of intentional discriminatory acts. The impact of this decision is evident today with school districts more segregated today than they were in 1990 (Pendharkar, 2023). 

There is a similar trend in housing. Following several laws, such as the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, that sought to address discriminatory lending practices, disparities persist. The 1990s and 2000s witnessed the subprime mortgage crisis, which disproportionately affected minority communities and exacerbated existing disparities in homeownership. Efforts were made in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2009 to address the foreclosure crisis and improve access to affordable housing. Considering modern-day issues, the intertwining of income segregation, housing access, and educational disparities becomes even more pronounced when considering racial bias in housing practices. The segregation related to income and housing access creates starkly different environments between high-income and low-income districts, exacerbating existing disparities. White families are often able to find housing in more affluent districts than Black families, even when their incomes are identical. Discriminatory housing practices persist, as evidenced by studies indicating that Black families may live in lower-income areas than white families with identical incomes (Reardon et al. 2015). 

 Gentrification, marked by the influx of middle-class white residents into lower-income Black and Brown communities, introduces a new layer of challenges for public schools. The rise of school choice legislation amidst gentrification exacerbates the disruption to neighborhood schools. As wealthier families exercise the option to send their children to schools outside the local district through school choice programs, the neighborhood schools experience a decline in enrollment and subsequent divestment. This trend disproportionately disadvantages Black and Brown students, as the changing demographics fail to align with increased investments in local educational institutions. 

High-income Black families are more likely to reside in less affluent neighborhoods than their white counterparts (Owens 2018). The disparities extend beyond income levels, with Black households consistently living in lower-income neighborhoods compared to white households of similar income levels across the board (Logan 2011; Reardon et al. 2015). These inequities are fueled by racial discrimination and prejudice in the housing market, differences in wealth across racial lines, and racially stratified residential preferences (Pattillo 2005).  Moreover, Black middle-class neighborhoods tend to be geographically closer to low-income neighborhoods, a phenomenon not mirrored in white middle-income neighborhoods (Sharkey 2014). The complexity deepens as school districts encompass larger geographic areas than single census tracts. Therefore, Black middle- or high-income families may find themselves residing in predominantly lower-income school districts, even when they live in higher-income neighborhoods. The interconnected nature of housing inequity and educational disparities demands comprehensive and sustained efforts to dismantle systemic barriers and pave the way for a more equitable future. Addressing racial bias in housing practices is crucial for fostering not only a fairer housing market but also a more just and inclusive education system. 

Current Landscape, etc.

Across the United States, a concerning trend emerges as districts with higher proportions of students of color consistently receive substantially less state and local revenue compared to districts with fewer students of color. This disparity highlights the continuity of systemic inequities in present day educational funding. In the 2019–20 school year, 24 states relied predominantly on state government funding, 17 states and the District of Columbia primarily on local government funding, and 9 states lacked a single dominant revenue source (NCES 2019). Property taxes are the largest single source of revenue for most districts in the nation. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2019-2020 school year 81% of all local funding for education came from property taxes.

In many Black and Brown neighborhoods, homes are appraised at values lower than their actual worth; Black neighborhoods are valued roughly 21% to 23% below what their valuations would be in non-black neighborhoods (Perry& Rothwell 2022). This discrepancy in property values translates to a profound funding disparity in public schools, where districts serving a majority of students of color receive 16% less state and local revenue compared to districts with fewer students of color (Morgan, 2022). This financial shortfall hampers the educational opportunities and outcomes for Black and Brown youth. The economic disparity is most noticeable in metropolitan areas where the intersections of gentrification, segregation, and redlining worsen these challenges.

(NCES 2021) 

(National Center for Education Statistics, 2022) 

Quality public education systems have the power to ameliorate the issues plaguing Black and Brown young people; however, it requires a fully funded public education system. Since 2020 Schools across the nation have suffered budget cuts on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, and student outcomes continue to suffer (Hechinger Report, 2020). Currently, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has proposed cutting over 80% of federal funding to K-12 education, widening the gap in underserved school districts (Barnum, 2023). 

Persistent funding gaps in American schools disproportionately impact low-income students of color.  The revelation that the wealthiest 25% of school districts spend $1,500 more per student than the poorest 25% underscores the systemic inequalities embedded within the education system (American University, 2020). By relying heavily on property taxes for school funding, which inherently varies between affluent and impoverished areas, school districts perpetuate funding disparities from the outset. This fundamental flaw leads to a stark reality where affluent areas have well-funded schools while low-income areas grapple with inadequately funded educational institutions. District sizes further compound funding discrepancies. Predominantly white districts are often smaller in size and receive $23 billion more than districts predominantly serving students of color (EdBuild, 2016). This funding disparity not only reflects the structural biases in resource allocation but also contributes to the perpetuation of racial and socio-economic inequalities. The consequence is that children in need of additional support to overcome barriers to academic achievement are consistently shortchanged, creating a systemic hindrance to their educational success. 

An analysis of national spending data in schools across the United States revealed that 53 districts spend a statistically significant lower amount of state and local money on high-poverty schools compared to lower-poverty schools (Hechinger Report, 2020). In an additional 263 districts, the spending levels show little to no correlation with the number of students in poverty, ignoring the heightened needs often present in low-income schools. This is significant because studies have proven that low-income students need additional support to have their needs met in school. Affluent districts that are smaller, better funded, and predominantly white, consistently outperform lower-income districts across the states (NAEP 2022). This disparity is not merely an academic concern; it is deeply rooted in discriminatory housing practices, low income, and limited mobility factors such as access to public transportation. The barriers faced by Black and Brown families in moving into these affluent districts create a stark contrast in opportunities for educational success. 

The smaller size of these affluent districts plays a pivotal role in shaping the learning experience. With better funding and fewer students, these districts can provide a higher quality of education and support. The result is a notable difference in academic achievement, creating a cycle where better outcomes lead to more resources, further perpetuating the educational advantage of these districts. The nexus between discriminatory housing practices, educational funding disparities, and academic outcomes is undeniable. The impact of funding gaps on the quality of education received by students in different districts highlights the urgent need for comprehensive reforms. 

Spotlight: Miami

Miami, Florida, grapples with a stark educational divide shaped by a funding model that disproportionately favors affluent neighborhoods, perpetuating systemic inequalities. Areas such as Coral Gables benefit from elevated property tax revenue, enabling schools to offer advanced STEM programs, extracurricular activities, and robust counseling services. In stark contrast, neighborhoods like Liberty City face significant challenges with deteriorating school infrastructure, outdated resources, and limited access to technology, further amplifying educational disparities. Florida’s education landscape ranks 45th in the nation in terms of fiscal effort to fund schools (Gutierrez, 2023). Miami serves as a notable example of the detrimental impact of gentrification on Black and Brown communities, with roots tracing back to the 1960s construction of Interstate 95. This project displaced over 10,000 people in historically Black communities like Overtown, setting the stage for future gentrification (Race, Housing, and Displacement in Miami, 2020). In contemporary times, the gentrification crisis unfolds as rising property prices in Wynwood trigger a ripple effect, drawing developers’ attention to neighboring Little Haiti. With approximately 82% of Little Haiti residents being renters, they become susceptible to increased rent prices and the looming threat of displacement (U.S. Census). The gentrification of Miami compounds long-standing challenges for residents, including displacement, inadequate transportation, and limited access to quality healthcare. While education funding in Florida, where the federal government contributes 11%above the national average (NCES 2022)—theoretically offers some relief, the systemic issues associated with gentrification persist, exacerbating disparities in educational outcomes for Black and Latino students. Miami students, while outperforming counterparts in other large cities, still face significant disparities, with Black and Latino students scoring 37 and 18 points, respectively, below their white peers in Reading on the most recent NAEP exams. The case of Miami underscores the multifaceted impact of gentrification on public schools and the broader community, necessitating a nuanced and comprehensive approach to address the systemic inequalities that persist. The intersection of education finance, gentrification, and racial disparities requires urgent attention to create an equitable and inclusive educational landscape for all Miami students.

Spotlight: Trenton

Trenton, New Jersey, grapples with stark educational disparities rooted in a school funding formula heavily reliant on local property taxes. Affluent neighborhoods, notably West Trenton, benefit from higher property values, translating into well-funded schools equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, updated technology, and a diverse range of advanced placement courses. In contrast, economically disadvantaged areas, like East Trenton, face considerable challenges, including aging infrastructure, outdated textbooks, and larger class sizes, hindering students’ access to quality education. A report by Baker and Weber (2022) underscores the alarming disparities in New Jersey’s school systems, especially those with majority Black and Hispanic or Latinx students from low-income neighborhoods. These districts emerge as the most underfunded in the state, leaving educators struggling to provide quality education. In Trenton, the report reveals that without fully funding the school-aid formula, the spending gap per student would be nearly $22,000, further exacerbating the financial challenges faced by the school district. Black and Hispanic/Latinx children in communities with lower property values face systemic issues resulting in lower local capacity to raise revenues for schools. The deliberate racist practices of “redlining” and “block busting” have contributed to segregated communities with artificially lower property values. Importantly, these practices are not relics of the past; the generational wealth taken from residents of these communities continues to have profound effects on school funding today (Sitrin, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed and intensified these patterns of institutionalized racism, resulting in poverty-related education disparities and substantial racial inequities in school resources (Baker & Weber, 2021). The urgent need to address these systemic issues is underscored by the profound impact on the educational opportunities and outcomes of Trenton’s students. A comprehensive and equitable approach to school funding is imperative to break the cycle of disparity and ensure every student in Trenton receives the quality education they deserve.

Spotlight: Detroit

Detroit, Michigan, epitomizes stark education disparities, notably driven by a funding model intricately linked to local property taxes. Affluent neighborhoods, exemplified by areas like Grosse Pointe, enjoy substantial funding, leading to well-equipped schools with modern technology, specialized programs, and experienced teachers. However, in neighborhoods such as Brightmoor, challenges persist with deteriorating school infrastructure, outdated resources, and a shortage of qualified educators, thereby intensifying the educational divide within the city. Michigan faced considerable challenges even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of these challenges was further exacerbated during the pandemic, with students performing worse than many states. On the 2022 NAEP test, Detroit students’ average scale score dropped significantly more than the national average, and reading scores are now seven points lower than they were nearly two decades ago (NAEP). Addressing these disparities requires significant investments to close the funding gap, particularly for low-income students, English Learners, and students with disabilities. Michigan’s school funding formula has been criticized as one of the most regressive in the country (Tilsley, 2017). Research indicates that, on average, the state’s highest poverty districts receive 5% less state and local funding than the lowest poverty districts, despite serving a student population with significantly greater needs. Michigan’s funding system was inequitable and inadequate, with per-pupil funding declining by 22 % between 2002 and 2015 when adjusted for inflation, according to a report from Michigan State University. As of 2024, districts are navigating the final year of spending federal relief funding allocated for COVID-19 recovery. The end of this critical funding poses a risk to many districts, especially given the ongoing post-pandemic crises affecting student achievement, attendance, and mental health, as indicated by state and national data. Without additional state investments, districts face a potential average cut of $1,200 per student in the 2024-25 school year due to declining enrollment and the cessation of the Elementary and Secondary Emergency School Relief (ESSER) funds. This funding loss will impact higher poverty districts the most, threatening critical needs that have been supported by these funds. Last year Michigan took a historic step with the Opportunity Index, a weighted funding formula designed to invest more in districts with higher concentrations of poverty, however the state has not committed to fully funding the recommended amount. To close the funding gap and effect transformative change, it is crucial to fully fund the Opportunity Index, ensuring up to 47% more investment for students in districts with the highest concentrations of poverty.

Spotlight: St. Louis

In St. Louis, Missouri, educational disparities are starkly evident, driven by a funding model heavily reliant on local property taxes. Affluent neighborhoods, exemplified by places like Clayton, benefit from smaller class sizes, well-maintained facilities, and a rich array of extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, this contrasts sharply with areas like North St. Louis, where resource shortages, larger class sizes, and insufficient investment in teacher professional development contribute to significant disparities in academic achievement and future opportunities for students. An in-depth analysis of all 24 St. Louis County and St. Louis City public school districts unveils a concerning trend related to economic development tax abatements, particularly tax increment financing (TIF). Over the past six years alone, these abatements have cost students in the St. Louis area more than a quarter of a billion dollars (With et al., 2024). The financial impact is devastating for students, with St. Louis area schools losing at least $260.7 million to tax abatements in the six fiscal years from 2017 through 2022, with a disproportionate burden on students of color. On average, white students lose $179 per year, while their Black counterparts lose more than three times that amount – $610 per year (With et al., 2024). TIF emerges as the costliest abatement program, affecting both St. Louis Public Schools and all schools countywide (With et al., 2024). To address these systemic issues, many advocates recommend shielding school funding from the impact of tax abatements. This can begin to rectify the financial disparities that perpetuate educational inequalities in St. Louis.

 The gravity of the situation becomes even more apparent when examining standardized test performance. According to Missouri state data, public schools in St. Louis rank poorly on standardized tests, with white children being five times more likely than Black children to attend schools where meeting math and language arts standards is the norm (St. Louis City School District (2020-21) | Saint Louis, MO, n.d.). Amid these challenges, there emerges a beacon of hope in the form of ActivateSTL, an initiative started by Tiara Jordan-Sutton, a Black woman who, having attended mostly white schools, recognized the stark differences in educational experiences. Now, she is dedicated to empowering Black parents in St. Louis to advocate for equitable access to quality educational resources for their children (ACTIVATE STL, n.d.). This grassroot effort exemplifies the resilience and determination within the community to address the root causes of educational disparities and work towards a more equitable future.

In Miami, Florida, Trenton, New Jersey, Detroit, Michigan, and St. Louis, Missouri, educational disparities are glaringly evident, shaped by funding models heavily reliant on local property taxes. Affluent neighborhoods benefit disproportionately, enjoying well-equipped schools with modern facilities and technology, while economically disadvantaged areas face aging infrastructure, outdated resources, and larger class sizes. These disparities are exacerbated by systemic issues such as gentrification and deliberate racist practices like redlining and blockbusting, which have perpetuated segregated communities with artificially lower property values.

In Miami, gentrification compounds long-standing challenges, displacing communities and exacerbating educational disparities. Despite Florida’s above-average federal education funding, Black and Latino students still lag behind their white counterparts in academic performance. In Trenton, New Jersey, the school funding formula exacerbates disparities, with majority Black and Hispanic/Latinx students in low-income neighborhoods facing underfunded schools. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed and intensified institutionalized racism, widening poverty-related education disparities. In Detroit, Michigan, disparities persist due to regressive funding formulas, with high-poverty districts receiving less funding despite greater student needs. Without additional investments, districts face significant funding cuts, threatening critical needs and exacerbating disparities. Similarly, in St. Louis, Missouri, tax abatements disproportionately burden students of color, exacerbating educational inequalities. Despite challenges, grassroots efforts like ActivateSTL demonstrate resilience and determination within communities to address systemic issues and advocate for equitable access to quality education.

The cases of Miami, Trenton, Detroit, and St. Louis underscore the urgent need for comprehensive and equitable approaches to education funding. Shielding school funding from the impact of tax abatements, fully funding recommended amounts, and investing in districts with higher concentrations of poverty are crucial steps toward addressing systemic inequalities and creating an inclusive educational landscape for all students.

Policy Recommendations 

The landscape of education in the United States is marred by persistent disparities, particularly evident in the funding models linked to local property taxes. Wealthier districts, buoyed by their ability to raise substantial funds locally, stand in stark contrast to their less affluent counterparts grappling with lower tax rates. This dichotomy, underscored by academic achievement gaps between affluent and low-income students, is a critical issue demanding comprehensive policy solutions. This Capstone delineates a set of recommendations advocating for an enhanced role of the federal government in education funding. By addressing the intricate relationship between housing and education, redefining resource allocation criteria, expanding federal funding, and introducing innovative measures, the research proposes a holistic approach to mitigate disparities and foster educational equity.

1. HUD and ED Collaboration – Joint Task Force: Congress should pioneer the establishment of a joint task force between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Education (ED). This collaborative effort aims to holistically address property value issues arising from affordable housing programs, ultimately impacting school funding. By fostering synergy between these two departments, a comprehensive approach can be developed to address housing and education disparities simultaneously.
2. Redesign Title I Allocation: The Department of Education should champion a redesign of Title I allocation, specifically targeting communities with the most vulnerable students. This would look like simplifying the application process and redesigning grant disbursement to ensure that the largest percentage of funding goes to school districts with the highest percentages of students in need. This policy solution seeks to direct federal resources to school districts facing the most significant challenges, ensuring that funds are allocated where they are needed most and promoting equity in education.
3. Expand Federal Education Funding: Legislators should advocate for an expansion of federal education funding, focusing on communities historically impacted by redlining and those successful in lawsuits related to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. This initiative aims to rectify the enduring effects of historical injustices by providing additional resources to communities that have faced systemic barriers.
4. Voucher System for Under-Served Communities: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should introduce a voucher system as a supplementary measure to counteract low property appraisals in underserved communities. This system aims to provide additional financial support to schools in areas where property values are disproportionately low, ensuring that underfunded schools have the necessary resources to deliver a high-quality education.

In conclusion, these policy recommendations emphasize the imperative for an enhanced federal role in education funding. By fostering collaboration between HUD and ED, redesigning Title I allocation, expanding federal funding, and introducing a voucher system, we can strive towards dismantling systemic barriers, fostering educational equity, and creating a more inclusive and just educational landscape for all students. These initiatives represent a bold step forward in the pursuit of a fair and equitable education system, acknowledging the pivotal role of the federal government in shaping the future of our nation’s learners.

References

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American University. (2020, September 10). Inequality in Public School Funding | American University. Soeonline.american.edu. https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/inequality-in-public-school-funding/#:~:text=By%20relying%20largely%20on%20property

Baker, B. D., Di Carlo, M., & Oberfield, Z. W. (2023). The Source Code: Revenue Composition and the Adequacy, Equity, and Stability of K-12 School Spending. https://www.shankerinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/REVreport_final.pdf

Baker, B., & Weber, M. (2021, September 13). Separate and Unequal: Racial and Ethnic Segregation and the Case for School Funding Reparations in New Jersey. New Jersey Policy Perspective. https://www.njpp.org/publications/report/separate-and-unequal-racial-and-ethnic-segregation-and-the-case-for-school-funding-reparations-in-new-jersey/

Baker, B., & Weber, M. (2022, February 2). New Jersey School Funding: The Higher the Goals, the Higher the Costs. New Jersey Policy Perspective. https://www.njpp.org/publications/report/new-jersey-school-funding-the-higher-the-goals-the-higher-the-costs/

COE – Public School Revenue Sources. (2022, May). Nces.ed.gov. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cma/public-school-revenue

EdBuild. (2016). EdBuild | 23 Billion. Edbuild.org. https://edbuild.org/content/23-billion

Egede, L. E., Walker, R. J., Campbell, J. A., Linde, S., Hawks, L. C., & Burgess, K. M. (2023). Modern Day Consequences of Historic Redlining: Finding a Path Forward. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 38(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08051-4

Fisher, R. (2022). September 2021 Property Taxes: What Everybody Needs to Know Working Paper WP21RF1.

Florida, R., & Pedigo, S. (2019). TOWARD A MORE INCLUSIVE REGION Inequality and Poverty in Greater Miami REPORT. https://carta.fiu.edu/mufi/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/04/Final-Brief-Toward-a-More-Inclusive-Region.pdf

Gutierrez, B. (2023, January 10). Disparate public-school funding greatly affects students’ achievements. News.miami.edu. https://news.miami.edu/stories/2023/01/disparate-public-school-funding-greatly-affects-students-achievements.html

How Property Taxes Work. (2011, August 11). ITEP. https://itep.org/how-property-taxes-work/

Howell, J., & Korver-Glenn, E. (2020). The Increasing Effect of Neighborhood Racial Composition on Housing Values, 1980–2015. Social Problems. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spaa033

Logan, J. R. (2011). Separated and Uequal: The Neighborhood Gap for Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in Metropolitan America. Boston, MA: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Mathewson, T. G. (2020, October 31). New data: Even within the same district some wealthy schools get millions more than poor ones. The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/new-data-even-within-the-same-district-some-wealthy-schools-get-millions-more-than-poor-ones/

Morgan, I. (2022, December). Equal Is Not Good Enough: An Analysis of School Funding Equity Across the U.S. and Within Each State. Edtrust.org. https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Equal-Is-Not-Good-Enough-December-2022.pdf

Mulcahy, E., Bernardes, E., & Baars, S. (2019). The relationship between reading age, education and life outcomes LKMco -The education and youth “think and-action” tank. https://cfey.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-relationship-between-reading-age-education-and-life-outcomes.pdf

Owens, A. (2017). Income Segregation between School Districts and Inequality in Students’ Achievement. Sociology of Education, 91(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040717741180

Pendharkar, E. (2023, June 7). Public Schools Are Still Segregated. But These Tools Can Help. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/public-schools-are-still-segregated-but-these-tools-can-help/2023/06

Perry, A., & Rothwell, J. (2021, November 17). Biased appraisals and the devaluation of housing in Black neighborhoods. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/biased-appraisals-and-the-devaluation-of-housing-in-black-neighborhoods/

Prosperity Now. (2016, October). Racial Wealth Divide in Miami. Prosperitynow.org. https://prosperitynow.org/sites/default/files/resources/Racial_Wealth_Divide_in_Miami_RWDI.pdf

Race, Housing, and Displacement in Miami. (2020, November 2). ArcGIS StoryMaps. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0d17f3d6e31e419c8fdfbbd557f0edae

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Rix, K. (2023, December 12). St. Louis Advocacy Group Trains Parents, Students to Improve Struggling Schools. The74million.org. https://www.the74million.org/article/st-louis-advocacy-group-trains-parents-students-to-improve-struggling-schools-2/

Roda, A., & Steward Wells, A. (2013, February). School Choice Policies and Racial Segregation: Where White Parents’ Good Intentions, Anxiety, and Privilege Collide. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1086/668753.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A991614cd28825d3429e65311e0062feb&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results&acceptTC=1

Samms, B. (2022, March 21). Racial Discrimination in Home Appraisals Is a Problem That’s Now Getting Federal Attention. ITEP. https://itep.org/racial-discrimination-in-home-appraisals-is-a-problem-thats-now-getting-federal-attention/

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Sitrin, C. (2020, October 3). New Jersey spent 35 years and $100B trying to fix school inequity. It still has problems. POLITICO. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/03/new-jersey-school-inequity-problems-425494

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The post Exploring the Nexus of Property Taxes, Housing Disparities and Educational Access for Black and Brown Youth in Major U.S. Cities appeared first on Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023 stands as a beacon of transformative legislation in a paramount stride towards rectifying historical injustices and fostering economic equity. In the pursuit of social justice, the United States has a duty to its Black citizens to acknowledge its legacy of slavery, racism, and discriminatory practices as well as actively work towards dismantling systemic barriers to cultivate avenues for their sustainable prosperity. 

This capstone illuminates the rich history of Black ingenuity in American agriculture, emphasizing significant contributions made by enslaved Africans and their descendants. Additionally, the capstone examines instances throughout history that have impeded Black Americans’ ability to accumulate generational wealth to further support the case for reparations. It also analyzes the framework of other reparations programs to evaluate how the Justice for Black Farmers Act compares in its goal of redressing the historical injustices of slavery and reshaping the trajectory of economic justice for Black farmers and their families. The objective of this capstone is to present a compelling argument for Congress to take further action in addressing the historical injustices and systemic racism faced by Black Americans in the United States by introducing and advancing legislation like the Justice for Black Farmers Act and the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act.

Introduction

A History of African Ingenuity in American Agriculture Through Food   

The significant contributions of enslaved Africans to American agriculture have largely been discounted and ignored due to a lack of records created and kept by slaveholders, who often wrote only to justify enslavement. Contrary to persistent claims that African Americans benefitted from being kidnapped, tortured, and kept in captivity, plantation owners relied heavily upon the agricultural knowledge that West Africans brought across the Atlantic[1]. According to Farming While Black byLeah Penniman, the co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, enslaved herbalists possessed a profound and intimate knowledge of native and naturalized plants, their medicinal uses, and their spiritual dimensions.[2] Additionally, many sustainable farming practices and staple foods have roots in African wisdom as enslaved Africans played a pivotal role in the growth and expansion of plantation agriculture and beyond.

The history of agriculture in America remains incomplete without acknowledging the contributions of Black people. Of those many contributions, one of the most well-documented and historically significant grains in the Western Hemisphere is rice.

Rice cultivation in North and South Carolina arose through the indigenous West African knowledge of growing Oryza glaberrima.[3] Because rice was not indigenous to the Americas, slaveowners had no knowledge of how to grow it. Oryza glaberrima, known as African Black Rice, was domesticated from its wild ancestor Oryza barthii roughly 3,000 years ago in West Africa, independently of the Oryza sativa in East Asia.[4]

In 1974, Historian Peter Wood published Black Majority, a book that analyzed the coastal South Carolina plantation economy.[5] The book also revealed that the emergence of rice as a primary cash crop in America was heavily influenced by West Africans having grown rice before crossing the Middle Passage. He also argued that this made West Africans an “attractive skilled labor force” for Europeans. Building on Wood’s research, Historian Daniel C. Littlefield published Rice and Slaves in 1981.[6] The book delved into the specific regions in West Africa where rice was planted. Littlefield’s documentation revealed the preferences of slave-owning rice planters for enslaved Africans of specific ethnic groups, underscoring their awareness of African skilled rice cultivation.

Since these seminal publications, numerous transformative works have explored the African origins of rice cultivation in the United States. Notable examples include Black Rice by Judith A. Carney and Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora by Edda L. Fields-Black.[7]^‚[8]

In 2007, rice geneticist Anna McClung and molecular geneticist Robert Fjellstrom examined the USDA Rice Germplasm Collection for the RM190 gene that controls starch content within the Carolina Gold variety of rice – aptly named for becoming the most valuable export for plantation owners by 1720.[9] Their findings revealed that the Carolina Gold variety had 42 molecular markers similar to that of the Bankoram variety collected in 1972 from a seed bank in Ghana. This promising result mirrored the many hypotheses made by scholars before them: that the cash crop likely came from West Africa similarly to the enslaved Africans who singlehandedly fueled its husbandry and profoundly transformed rice production in the United States.[10] So-much-so that the bow-tied, rice mascot Uncle Ben, though retired in 2020, still stands as an enduring memory of that legacy.[11]

The rice crop found its way to other parts of the world by being interwoven into the braids of African women and girls.[12] Black mothers would braid grains and seeds into their children’s hair to ensure their survival through the Middle Passage. In addition to rice, enslaved Africans also brought with them an incredibly diverse assortment of crops. Among them were okra, kidney and lima beans, watermelon, yams, guinea melon, millet, sorghum, sesame, and several legumes.[13] Today, many foods associated with Southern cuisine originated in Africa. Only a few examples, out of many, begin to paint a clear picture: American food is African food.

Silent Sowers of Skilled Labor: The Art of Sustainable Farming Techniques

Much like our natural landscapes exhibiting rich species diversity, West Africans developed intercropping and polyculture strategies that mirrored the healthy plant relationships all around them.

The Hausa farmers developed at least 156 systematic combinations of crops including no-till polycultures of root crops, legumes, and grains planted on ridges.[14] The Abakaliki farmers in Nigeria employed a method of mixed cropping by creating mounds, where they strategically planted various crops. Yams were planted on the elevated tops, rice in the furrows, and on the lower sections of the mounds were maize, cassava, okra, and melon. This mounding technique was beneficial because it increased the volume of soil available for rooting crops.[15] They additionally practiced the intercropping of egusi melon with sorghum, cassava, coffee, cotton, maize, and bananas. This not only represented an early form of integrated pest management but also effectively suppressed weeds.[16]

The Ovambo people of Northern Namibia and Southern Angola practiced a distinctive agricultural technique involving field demarcation, brush clearing, and the construction of rectangular mounds measuring approximately 10 feet in length, 5 feet in width, and one foot in height. The mounds’ pathways also doubled as an irrigation system. The Ovambo people incorporated various nutrients into the mounds like manure, ashes, and termite earth to increase soil fertility. Furthermore, after millet harvests, they would practice rotating fallows, allowing cattle and goats to graze on the brush and replenish the soil through depositing additional manure. The Susu-Jalonke speakers of Guinea also planted their crops in mounds to decrease soil erosion which was a common practice throughout West and West Central Africa.[17]

While impossible to enumerate every individual West African polyculture and identify all the specific Indigenous West African peoples who pioneered them, it is crucial to emphasize the extensive variety that exists. To put this into perspective, in 2021, Polycultures constituted a significant 80 percent of the cultivated area in West Africa.[18]

Irrigation Techniques

Ancient Egyptians created the first significant irrigation systems in the world, over 5,000 years ago. Since then, African farmers have long used techniques like bunding and canals to manage surface water. In the Rio Nunez region of Guinea, farmers would manage waterlogged soils by digging an intricate irrigation system of dikes as well as canals to move fresh water.[19]

Senegambia, Guinea, Mandinka, Baga, Mende, Tenne, and Wolof are all along what is considered the “rice coast” of Africa. Past evidence of farmers developing technologies for the production and processing of rice further reveal that the Carolina rice industry was built on the skills and wisdom of enslaved Africans. There remains evidence of sluices, canals, floodgates, embankments, and dikes that are identical to those in West African mangrove rice production.[20] The complex irrigation and dam systems built by enslaved farmers for rice production, transformed as much as 236,000 acres of untouched land into about 120,000 acres (about the area of San Antonio, Texas) of tidal rice fields and roughly 116,000 acres of inland rice fields. Many of those enslaved farmers were Gullah people, descended from what is now Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, and Angola.[21]

Black Visionaries and Agricultural Advancements

In addition to their skilled labor in land stewardship, West Africans and their descendants made many significant technological contributions to U.S. agriculture. While Eli Whitney is widely recognized for inventing the mechanized cotton gin, history often overlooks the enslaved farmer who inspired him, known only as “Sam.” The basic principle for the cotton gin was rooted in African technologies dating back to the 5^th century C.E.[22] 

A myriad of other inventions and design improvements by Black farmers includes Henry Blair’s wheelbarrow seed planter (1834) and mechanical cotton planter (1836), George Washington Murray’s eight patents for planters, cultivators, and fertilizer distributors (1894), Joseph Smith’s lawn sprinkler (1897), John A. Burr’s lawnmower with traction wheels and rotary blades (1899), Leonard Julien’s sugar cane planter (1966) and numerous others.[23]^{, [24],} [25]^{, [26]}

While many more Black farmers left an indelible mark on history, enslaved Black people were denied the right to obtain patents by the government. Instead, any inventions they crafted legally belonged to and were claimed by their masters.[27] The true extent of Black antebellum inventions remains a mystery, leaving us to ponder and grieve the countless innovations lost to history. What can no longer be debated is that agriculture in America is deeply rooted in Black culture.  

Something slow moves through him, watched by hills.

Something low within each rock receives

His noonday wish, then crumbles rich; so fills

Each furrow that the prairie year upheaves.

His arm has lain with boulders. His copper hand

Has mused on roots, uncaring of barbed wire.

His fist has closed on thistle, and dug the land

For corn October snows have whelmed entire.

Something flows within him in stubborn streams,

And in parted foliage something lives

In upright green, stirred by the rhythmic gleams

Of his hoe and spade. From worn-out arms he gives;

The earth receives, turns all his pain to soil,

Where he believes, and testifies through toil.

• James A. Emanuel, “For a Farmer”

Understanding the Justice for Black Farmers Act and Barriers to Passage

Prior to the introduction of the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023 (S.96, H.R.1167), a bill by the same name was brought before the U.S. Senate by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) on November 30, 2020 (S.4929). At the time, the unicameral bill had only two other Democrat cosponsors: Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). The bill was not enacted into law.[28]

A second, bicameral bill bearing the same name (S.300, H.R.1393) was introduced by Senator Cory Booker and House Representative Alma Adams (D-NC-12) on February 8, 2021, and February 26, 2021, respectively. The bill garnered support in the Senate from seven Democrat cosponsors in addition to Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT), and 30 Democrat cosponsors in the House. However, the second opportunity to foster economic development for Black farmers and the broader Black community did not result in the bill being enacted into law.[29]^{, [30]}

On January 26, 2023, Senator Cory Booker introduced the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023 in the Senate while Representative Alma Adams introduced its counterpart in the House of Representatives on February 24, 2023. The bill garnered support in the Senate from 10 Democrat cosponsors in addition to Senator Bernard Sanders, as well as 33 Democrat cosponsors in the House.[31]^{, [32]}

The bill is multi-pronged, with notable provisions including:

• Equity commission in the USDA: The bill proposes the establishment of an equity commission within the USDA to examine discrimination by the agency against Black farmers and ranchers as well as recommend actions to end the systematic disparities in their treatment.
• Farm Conservation Corps: The bill proposes the creation of a Farm Conservation Corps designed to equip young adults from socially disadvantaged groups with the skills necessary to pursue careers in farming and ranching.
• Support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The bill seeks to allocate funding to HBCUs to enable them to initiate and expand courses of study that are specifically focused on careers in agriculture or related disciplines.
• Farmland Ownership and Succession Program: The bill proposes an increase in the authorization of appropriations for a program to resolve issues relating to ownership and succession of farmland through provisions of land grants. This includes expanding credit assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

The 2023 bicameral bill marks the third iteration, spanning across a multi-year effort, to bring the subject of the historical discrimination against Black farmers before the eyes of Congress. This landmark legislation serves as a reparations measure for Black farmers, seeking to rectify a historical pattern of discrimination within the USDA that resulted in the loss of millions of acres of farmland and the depletion of hundreds of billions of dollars in intergenerational wealth for Black farmers and their families.

A conservative estimate reveals a $326 billion loss of land for Black farmers during the 20^th century, in which the price of farmland increased 52 times the average in 1990, severely suppressing wealth-building opportunities for African Americans.[33]^, [34]

Still Just a Bill: The Trouble with Anti-Reparations Sentiments and Rampant Myths

The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023 may very well be the most comprehensive piece of agricultural justice legislation proposed in modern American history that aims to correct the racial inequities faced by Black Americans. Congress ignoring this bill, across three separate years, warrants a serious inquiry as to why. What sets apart a bill supporting Black descendants of enslaved Africans in the U.S is primarily the inclusion of the word “Black”. This distinction is significant due to the historical and ongoing systemic injustices faced by Black Americans. Additionally, the bill faces opposition from widespread anti-reparations sentiments in the U.S., further complicating its passage and implementation.

According to a 2021 Pew Research Center study, 77 percent of Black Americans supported reparations for the descendants of enslaved people in the U.S in stark contrast to 18 percent of white Americans who shared the same view. Interestingly, 50 percent of white individuals acknowledged that the legacy of slavery significantly affects Black people in the U.S, either to a fair extent or to a great degree. The partisan gap also remained as its own chasm. Forty-eight percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said descendants of enslaved people should be repaid in some way while 49 percent said they shouldn’t be repaid. By comparison, 91 percent of Republicans and GOP leaders said descendants should not be repaid.[35]

While the U.S issued an apology for slavery and segregation in 2009, the American government has yet to provide any reparations to the descendants of enslaved people.[36] When it comes to addressing the historical injustice of chattel slavery, and its significance in wealth building for the U.S and its white citizens, the U.S. has proven unwilling to grapple with the sheer enormity of its injustice.

The disconnect between acknowledging the adverse effects of slavery on the Black community while opposing monetary compensation for Black Americans reveals a disconcerting truth: a mere acknowledgement of the harms done has not fueled a widespread public demand for reparations except within the community that has historically suffered from those injustices.

The argument of reparations isn’t solely centered on slavery; it encompasses the treatment of Black Americans during the Jim Crow era and the persisting impact of institutionalized racism. Those Black people and their kin are still living and contending with the enduring effects of past and current systemic inequities.

“If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress. If you pull it out all the way out, that’s not progress. Progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they haven’t even pulled the knife out much less heal the wound. They won’t even admit the knife is there.”

 – Malcolm X

Reparations for Me but Not for Thee

As America continues to debate over the deservedness of Black Americans to receive reparations, a historical irony emerges; slaveowners in Washington D.C. were compensated with reparations after enslaved Black people were freed. Each slaveowner was paid up to $300 for every emancipated slave, an amount that equates to nearly $8,000 or a total cost of almost $25 million in 2021. Reparations were extended even to individual slaveowners outside the U.S., as documented in records from countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, and more.[37]^{, [38]}

When discussing national-level legislation involving reparations for African Americans, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act (H.R.40) is a significant proposal that cannot be overlooked. Originally introduced in 1989 by Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI-1), it takes its name from the phrase “40 Acres and a Mule”.[39] The bill was introduced in Congress after the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which paid reparations to Japanese Americans forced into internment camps by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.[40]

H.R.40 sets out to establish a commission to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans by doing the following:

• Compiling evidence of slavery in the U.S.;
• Studying the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery;
• Analyzing discriminatory policies against freed African slaves and their descendants; and
• Providing recommendations for the U.S. to recommend and fix the effects of slavery and discrimination faced by African Americans, including through apology and reparations.[41]^{, [42]}

From 1989 until his resignation in 2017, Representative John Conyers Jr. introduced the bill, every year for nearly three decades, but it never successfully passed.[43] 

Hope still lingers as Senator Cory Booker and the late Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18) had steadfastly championed the bill since 2017. H.R.40’s most recent iteration was introduced in the Senate on January 24, 2023, and in the House of Representatives on January 9, 2023. The bill has garnered support in the Senate from 24 Democrat cosponsors in addition to Senator Bernard Sanders, as well as a substantial 130 Democrat cosponsors in the House.[44]^{, [45]} It remains to be seen whether Congress will continue to pass this bill by for another three decades.

Can’t Spare the Expense: Big Numbers are Scary

Providing reparations to offset $326 billion worth of land lost to Black farmers appears modest when considering the perspectives of economists like Robert S. Browne. Browne estimates that the income produced by enslaved people for their slaveowners amounted to $4.7 trillion in modern money, roughly translating to $175,000 (in 2022) for every Black American living today.[46] Furthermore, estimates given by economist William Darity range between $13 and $14 trillion.[47] Representative Cori Bush (D-MO-1) has also echoed the sentiment that $14 trillion in reparations will eliminate the racial wealth gap.[48]

In June 2023, the Brattle Group presented a report during the University of the West Indies and The American Society of International Law’s Second Symposium on Reparations Under International Law. This groundbreaking report, believed to be the first attempt at quantifying the damages incurred both during and after chattel slavery, estimated reparations to be over $100 trillion dollars (about $310,000 per person in the US).[49]

In addition to these figures, many are now arguing that financial compensation is insufficient as it only addresses the financial aspect of slavery. A growing dialogue emphasizes the need for diverse solutions such as student loan forgiveness, down payment grants, and systemic changes to properly address hundreds of years and more of historical injustices towards Black Americans.[50]

The crux of these mind-shattering estimates potentially contributes to the second reason for the overwhelmingly negative sentiments surrounding reparations for African Americans: compensating Black Americans adequately would necessitate an all-encompassing financial and societal commitment, for a near incalculable debt, from a nation that refuses to fully acknowledge just how much of a building block that chattel slavery was for the American economy.

Slavery’s Silver Lining Myth

Another possibility as to why Congress continues to pass over the Justice for Black Farmers Act is the persistent viewpoint in the United States that slavery was a positive good. The discourse surrounding chattel slavery in America often remains notably disconnected from acknowledging its profound and inherent evil.

The pro-slavery stance emerged in response to the growing anti-slavery movement in the late 18^th century. One of the more notable advocates for slavery was U.S Senator John C. Calhoun, who delivered a speech in 1837 staunchly supporting it. Calhoun vigorously defended slavery by making legal arguments about the Constitution protecting states’ rights to preserve slavery. Additionally, he provided a moral defense to slavery by claiming that it was a more humane method of organizing labor compared to the conditions wage laborers faced in industrial cities in Europe and the U.S.[51]

While greatly diminished, these viewpoints persist today. Discussing chattel slavery and its effects on Black Americans is still particularly sensitive. Perhaps this sensitivity and hesitancy to consider reparations for Black Americans can, in part, be attributed to the fact that at least 100 members of the 117th Congress are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people, comprising at least 8 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of Republicans in Congress.[52]

“One cannot escape the question by hand-waving at the past, disavowing the acts of one’s ancestors, nor by citing a recent date of ancestral immigration. The last slave holder has been dead for a very long time. The last soldier to endure Valley Forge has been dead much longer. To proudly claim the veteran and disown the slave holder is patriotism á la carte.”

― Ta-Nehisi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

Losing Ground: The Legacy of Land Larceny and a Vanishing Heritage

While challenges in enacting the Justice for Black Farmers Act persist, a history of landgrabs and handouts guaranteed that white U.S. settlers would be entrenched in a system of privilege and power. This process was facilitated, in part, by legislative measures that empowered the U.S government to strip Native Americans of their land rights and redistribute that land to white settlers. One such law was the Indian Removal Act of 1830.[53] In a further effort to promote settlement, Congress enacted the Distribution-Preemption Act of 1841, which recognized squatters’ rights and permitted white settlers to claim 160-acres of land. In 1843, white settlers residing in the Willamette Valley established a provisional government, allowing them to claim up to 640-acres of land despite treaties having been signed with Native Tribes.[54] 

The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 granted portions of Oregon territory to white settlers in 320-acre parcels, at little to no charge, provided they were qualifying adult U.S citizens. White male citizens 18 years of age and older who resided on the property on or before December 1, 1850, were granted 320-acres of federal land. Married couples would receive an additional 320-acres in the wife’s name.[55] The Homestead Act of 1862 allocated 270 million acres to white smallholders, constituting 10 percent of all U.S land, and generating trillions of dollars in wealth for beneficiaries and their descendants. The total number of acres believed to have been distributed under the Homestead Act of 1862 was 270,000,000.[56]^, [57]  

Broken Promises: 40 acres and a mule

On January 16, 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued orders to allot land to some freed Black families, which was a part of a war order known as Special Fields Orders No. 15. The order would confiscate Confederate land located along the rice coast of the U.S, from Charleston, South Carolina to the St. Johns River in Florida, including Georgia’s Sea Islands and the mainland thirty miles in from the coast. This would redistribute roughly 400,000 acres of land to newly freed Black families in forty-acre segments. Local Black ministers and leaders in the Southeast, some of whom had been slaves themselves, were called upon to confer with General Sherman and President Lincoln’s Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to discuss the topic of emancipation and what they wanted for their people.[58]

Following Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on April 14, 1865, his successor, President Andrew Johnson, overturned the war order as well as similar provisions included in the Freedmen’s Bureau bills intended to safeguard the welfare of millions of enslaved people being freed by the war. On May 28, 1865, Johnson, a sympathizer of the Confederacy, issued a proclamation of pardon and amnesty to citizens in the South who would take an oath of allegiance. As part of the pardon process, the land promised to Black families was rescinded and returned to white landowners, many of whom were Confederates.[59] What is considered to be the first act of reparations to enslaved Black people ended in betrayal.

“The South lost … and that is good … and that hateful flag needs to come down … and reparations need to be offered and if none of that can happen … well … let there be poetry.”

― Nikki Giovanni, Acolytes

The Legacy of Land Larceny and a Vanishing Heritage: A Continuation

After the US Civil War, emancipated Black farmers began taking the agricultural landscape by storm, in the face of severe backlash. However, Black farmers tended to be tenants rather than owners as tenant farming and sharecropping became the new way of life. In 1920, the agricultural census recorded nearly 1 million Black farmers.[60] However, since the 1920s, there has been a rapid decline in number of Black farm owners and, in 1982, the U.S Commission on Civil Rights reported that only 33,000 remained.[61] Lingering white supremacy and racial bias within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) facilitated and further solidified a sharp, 98 percent decline in Black farmers between 1920 and 1997.[62] The 2017 Census of Agriculture further revealed a stark reality: Black farmers only accounted for 1.3 percent of the nation’s total farmers, owning a mere 0.52 percent of American farmland.[63] 

Throughout the 20^th century, white Americans forcibly displaced thousands of Black residents from their communities through various means. Sometimes this was done through violent white mobs, such as the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and other similar atrocities.[64]^{, [65]} Other methods took on a more ostensibly legal appearance as seen in the expulsion of the Black community of Harris Neck, Georgia. Over the span of 75 years, Black residents had cultivated a thriving economy on land deeded to a former slave in 1865. Black residents made their living through fishing, hunting, and harvesting oysters. In 1942, the federal government issued a two-week notice for Black residents to vacate the area. Upon their doing so, their homes were destroyed, and an Air Force was built atop the ashes.Today, the site stands as the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge which works, in a way, to pit environmental conservation against the righting of a historical injustice.[66]^{, [67]}

“It’s not just a matter of having lost the land and the wealth that came with it. It’s a matter of the fact that we lost a way of life that we should have been able to pass on to our children and to their children, but which we can’t because of what was taken from us.

 – Harris Neck, Georgia native Wilson Moran as quoted by Aberjhani in The American Poet Who Went Home Again

Another method used to take land out of the hands of Black Americas was through tax sales where their land was then auctioned off. Many Black people were not able to afford their annual property taxes while living on a fixed income, causing them to go into default. This led to their properties being put up for auction by the government.[68]  

One of the main causes for property loss is due to heirs’ property where descendants of landowners inherit land from their family, usually without a will or formal estate strategy. The involuntary transfer of land to white settlers from Black Americans, facilitated through the loss of heirs’ property, was intensified by the history of mass expulsions they experienced.  

White people further took advantage of poorly documented ownership and heirs’ property with the help of the Torrens Act. Developed by Sir Robert Torrens and first implemented in Australia in 1858, the bill was meant to “enhance the certainty of title to land and simplify dealings involving land.”[69] When it was introduced in the United States, however, it became a loophole facilitating the forced removal of Black Americans from their homes through partition sales where sales were allowed to take place when one property owner wanted to sell but the others did not.[70] 

The Torrens Act was used to justify sales taking place without notifying family members or other co-owners of the land. Upon finalization of the sale, the buyer became a protected entity from any legal recourse by the owners who did not consent to the sale. According to the 2001 Agricultural Census, an estimated 80 percent of Black-owned farmland had been taken in the South since 1969, with approximately half being lost through partition sales.[71]  

African American farmers continue to encounter institutional barriers that hinder their access to crucial financial support and resources essential to accruing wealth. Real estate continues to assert itself as the most important driver of wealth accumulation. It was the single largest financial asset for both Gen X and Millennials with values of $13.6 trillion and $5 trillion dollars, respectively. Among Baby Boomers, it is only second to stocks and mutual funds, valued at $18.3 trillion dollars.[72]

Property ownership has been firmly ingrained into American culture, so much so that a staggering 74 percent of U.S. adults believe that it is an integral part of the American Dream. Homeownership was assigned a greater value than any other indicator of economic stability, surpassing considerations such as a comfortable retirement, a successful career, and even a college degree.[73]

Land is the only real wealth in this country and if we don’t own any then we’re out of the picture.

• Ralph Paige, Federation of Southern Cooperatives

Sown Seeds of Discontent: The USDA’s Discrimination Against Black Farmers

The history of discrimination by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) against Black farmers is a troubling narrative that has further exacerbated the loss of land for Black farmers over several decades. Black farmers and ranchers had been purposefully disenfranchised by laws and policies rooted in systemic biases characterized by the unequal distribution of farms loans, assistance, and other resources.  

Understanding this history is vital to recognizing the pertinent and persistent struggle for equity within the agricultural sector and the ongoing efforts to confront the legacy of marginalization and racism faced by Black farmers in the United States.  

Pigford v. Glickman 

Pigford v. Glickman was a class action lawsuit filed in 1997 by Timothy Pigford, a Black farmer from Cumberland County, North Carolina, against the USDA. The lawsuit alleged that the organization had discriminated against African American farmers in its dissemination of farm loans and assistance spanning from January 1983 to February 1997. The nominal defendant in the case was Dan Glickman, who served as the Secretary of Agriculture at the time.[74]  

Prior to the class action lawsuit, a 1994 study commissioned by the USDA revealed that the largest loans were awarded to either corporations or white males. The study further revealed that loans granted to Black males were, on average, 25 percent less than those granted to their white counterparts. Additionally, 97 percent of disaster relief funds were awarded to white farmers while Black farmers received under 1 percent of these funds between 1990 and 1995.[75]  

Initially, Pigford was joined by 400 African American plaintiffs. After the filing of the lawsuit, Pigford sought blanket mediation to secure compensation for what was believed to be upwards of 2,000 Black farmers who had experienced discrimination at the hands of the USDA. However, the U.S. Department of Justice denied this request, asserting that each case needed to be investigated separately. 

Although the case had been settled by Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit had considerable shortfalls. Far exceeding the initially estimated 2,000 affected Black farmers, over 22,720 applications were heard and decided upon. Sixty-nine percent of them were approved. By January 2009, $995 million was credited to applicants including $760 million disbursed as cash awards capped at $50,000. However, approximately 73,800 petitions had been filed late, of which only 2,131 were approved.[76]^{, [77], [78]}   

Pigford II Settlement 

As a part of the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress enacted legislation that set aside $100 million for compensation for claimants in the Pigford II settlement. On December 8, 2010, then-President Barack Obama signed new legislation into law that would allocate an additional $1.15 billion for these claims, bringing the total available compensation to $1.25 billion.[79]

Similarly to the Pigford I settlement, claimants suffered from the court’s gross underestimation of how many claims would be filed. Out of nearly 40,000 submitted claims, only 17,665 were approved.[80] Most of the claimants received payouts of $50,000 or less. The issue with both Pigford settlement cash awards being limited to $50,000 is that it only amounted to 10 percent of what the average mid-sized farm spends in a year. Overall, less than three percent of claimants received debt relief, and it wasn’t until 2013 that successful claimants in the Pigford II settlement received their settlement awards.  

Unfortunately, the Pigford settlements did not solve systemic discrimination, the marginalization of Black farmers and ranchers, nor did it change existing discriminatory policies within the USDA. In fact, several studies conducted by the Government Accountability Office detailed the persistence of discrimination towards Black farmers and ranchers, well after both settlements, in addition to USDA employees undermining civil rights claims by producing faulty data.[81]  

The cycle of economic disenfranchisement perpetuated by the USDA’s historical practices has not only undermined the economic vitality of Black farming enterprises but has hindered the potential for African American families to establish a legacy through agriculture despite their ancestors’ inseparability from the flourishing of United States agriculture. 

Numbers Don’t Lie: The Legacy of US Financial Agencies

Black Americans have long aspired to cultivate generational wealth and realize their unique interpretations of the American Dream. They have more than earned their right to it. However, despite having rightfully earned this opportunity, historical patterns reveal a systemic denial of these aspirations on a broad scale. Long before and long after the discrimination Black farmers faced in Pigford v. Glickman, Black Americans continue to be denied for credits, loans, and financial assistance across sectors.

In December 2023, Navy Federal Credit Union, the nation’s largest credit union which lends to military servicemembers and veterans, exhibited a significant disparity in mortgage approval rates. Distinctly, more than 75 percent of white borrowers who applied for a new conventional home purchase mortgage were approved in 2022, contrasting sharply with the less than 50 percent approval of Black borrowers who applied for the same loan.

Despite many other banks approving white applicants at higher rates, the nearly 29 percentage point gap in Navy Federal’s approval ratings was the widest of any of the 50 lenders providing the most mortgage loans in 2022. This disparity even remained amongst white and Black applicants who had similar incomes and debt-to-income ratios.[82]

The financial sector’s economic practices have direct, yet hidden, ties to slavery beyond the USDA. Companies like Aetna, Bank of America, New York Life, and Wells Fargo all have ties to slavery through selling policies that would ensure slaveowners would be compensated if their slaves were injured or killed. Later in the 19^th century, U.S. banks and southern states would sell securities that helped to fund the expansion of slave-operated plantations. In 2005, JP Morgan admitted that at least two of its subsidiaries – Citizens’ Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana – accepted enslaved Africans as collateral if plantation owners defaulted on their loans.[83]

Although the abolition of slavery occurred in 1865, its lasting economic impact continues to persist in various forms. The deep-rooted legacy of slavery has woven itself into the fabric of society, influencing economic structures and opportunities for the African American community. It is more than past time to examine and establish a comprehensive framework for reparations.

Analyzing The Framework of Reparations Programs

In recent years, a notable surge in the initiation of reparations programs has been witnessed across various regions in the United States. These reparations initiatives vary in scope, addressing a range of historical wrongs done toward the descendants of enslaved Africans in the U.S.

The Evanston, Illinois Reparations Model  

In 2019, the Evanston City Council adopted Resolution 126-R-19, titled A Resolution Establishing a City of Evanston Funding Source Devoted to Local Reparations which dedicated the first $10 million dollars generated from the City’s Municipal Cannabis Retailers’ Occupation Tax (set at 3 percent on gross sales of Cannabis) to fund local reparations initiatives. Specifically, the funds would be designated for housing and economic development programs for Black Evanston residents. Moreover, the city also permitted that, beyond the allocated tax revenue, the fund was open to donations from external entities such as organizations, corporations, and individuals established by the City Council.[84]

In June of the same year, the City of Evanston government passed Resolution 58-R-19, titled Commitment to End Structural Racism and Achieve Racial Equity. In doing so, the City recognized the government’s role in perpetuating racial disparities through many regulatory and policy-oriented tools, including the following:

• Declaring the City of Evanston to be an anti-racist city that “condemns the actions, speech, and attitudes of those who promote hate against any race, ethnicity, or other basis in an effort to interfere with the unalienable rights of any human being.”
• Requiring the elected council to participate in Racial Equity training.
• Joining the Government Alliance for Racial Equity.[85]

In November 2019, Evanston’s City Council voted in favor of “A Resolution Establishing a City of Evanston Funding Source Devoted to Local Reparations,” officially becoming the first municipality in the country to pledge public money to reparations for Black residents. By November 2021, the city anticipated $1 million in the fund, within its first year, through both cannabis sales and personal donations.[86]

The program, although incorporating government education in racial equity training and allocating funds for housing and economic development, falls short in providing direct compensation to descendants of chattel slavery in America. Presently, the program has amassed only $400,000, prompting economist William Darity to assert that the program serves as a mere distraction from the genuine concept of reparations, referencing its narrow focus on state and private initiatives. In December 2023, the council said it would also set aside an additional $10 million over 10 years from tariffs on real estate sales over $1.5 million to offset the program’s sluggish start. [87]

The Georgetown University Reparations Model

In April of 2019, a two-thirds majority of the Georgetown University student body voted to increase their tuition to benefit descendants of the 272 enslaved Africans, whose sale by the Jesuits overseeing the institution nearly two centuries ago, played a crucial role in rescuing the University from bankruptcy. The initial transaction in 1838 involved the Jesuits receiving $115,000, which, when adjusted for inflation, equates to approximately $3.3 million today.[88]

The decision to add $27.20 in fees was deliberate, symbolizing the number of enslaved Africans sold, while also being mindful not to impose an excessive financial burden on the students. In 2016, Georgetown University took significant steps toward acknowledging and addressing its historical ties to slavery by agreeing to give admissions preference to the descendants of the 272 enslaved Africans as well as the school offering up a formal apology for its role in slavery. Furthermore, the university took on an initiative to rename buildings named after slaveowners and traders. Two buildings on campus underwent renaming, serving as a tangible acknowledgement of the lives of enslaved Africans and fostering awareness through contributing to the educational environment that confronts historical truths.[89]

As of 2023, the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Trust has received a total funding of $42 million, including $10 million in new funds from Georgetown and $17 million from the Jesuits. Those contributions supplement the $1 million dollar implementation grant from Georgetown and a $15 million grant from the Jesuits given at the foundation’s inception in 2021. These donations were intended to support the foundation’s goals, including providing a scholarship for descendants spanning early childhood through postsecondary educations, helping elderly and infirm descendants, as well as funding efforts in racial healing and reconciliation.[90]

The San Francisco’s Reparations Model

In 2023, more than 100 recommendations were brought before San Francisco lawmakers, to provide reparations to Black people for decades of racist treatment by the city government. The reparations draft plan released in December 2023, is said to be unmatched in specificity and breadth.[91]

Detailed requirements for eligibility are provided as follows:

• An individual who has identified as Black/African American on public documents for at least 10 years.
• 18 years of age or older.

Applicants must meet at least two criteria from the following list and must have the supporting documentation:

• Born in San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and has proof of residency in San Francisco for at least 13 years.
• Migrated to San Francisco between 1940 and 1996 and has proof of residency in San Francisco for at least 13 years.
• Personally, or the direct descendant of someone incarcerated by the failed War on Drugs
• Record of attendance in San Francisco public schools during the time of the consent decree to complete desegregation within the school system.
• Descendent of someone enslaved through US chattel slavery before 1865.
• Displaced, or the direct descendent of someone displaced, from San Francisco by Urban Renewal between 1954 and 1973.
• Listed, or the direct descendent of, a Certificate of Preference holder.
• Member of a historically marginalized group that experienced lending discrimination in San Francisco between 1937 and 1968 or, subsequently, experienced lending discrimination in formerly redlined San Francisco communities between 1968 and 2008.

Crafted by the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee, the groundbreaking proposal spans nearly 60 pages, offering a comprehensive framework of detailed objectives and actions guided by quantitative data. Amongst its key provisions, the proposal urges the City and County of San Francisco to issue a formal apology, establish an independent office of reparations, as well as create and fund a committee of community stakeholders. The report’s thoroughness is evident in its multifaceted approach, further encompassing objectives and actions in areas such as education, economic empowerment, health, housing segregation, arts and culture, discrimination in labor, environmental inequality, criminal justice, and more.[92]

The proposal comprises over 100 recommendations for reparations, among which, Black residents would receive a one-time payment of $5 million to eliminate all personal debts. Additionally, Black residents would be able to collect an annual income of $97,000 for 250 years. The plan also aims to convert public housing units into condominiums with a $1 buy-in for qualifying residents.[93]

The Justice for Black Farmers Act vs. The Reparations Framework

The above reparations programs are designed with the explicit goal of reshaping the existing model of centralized power. Each model presents a unique blend of shared principles encompassing the following key elements:

• Compensation: Purely monetary, acknowledging the economic toll of past wrongs and seeking to redress financial inequalities through the restoration of lost economic opportunities, earnings, economically accessible damages, etc.
• Education: Recognizing the need to ensure programs are implemented to educate; whether that be involving organizations, individuals, and/or communities in the dedicated study of historical injustices and/or providing education/professional development to individuals and community members directly impacted by said historical injustices.
• Restitution: More specifically, involving the act of giving something back that has been lost or stolen or the restoration of something to its rightful owner (i.e. property, employment, place of residence, liberty, etc.)

To comprehensively assess the efficacy of this framework, it is important to examine how well the Justice for Black Farmers Act aligns with the key elements of compensation, education, and restitution. Through this, we can gauge the effectiveness of the Act in embodying the reparations ethos for Black farmers and ranchers — particularly in how reparations are being translated into actionable policies to bring about meaningful change.

Note: Make photo into a real Venn-diagram graphic

The Justice for Black Farmers Act presents itself as a comprehensive reparations framework, as it has embraced a multi-faceted approach, not merely acknowledging past wrongs but also actively striving to dismantle contemporary barriers. The above framework signifies a profound commitment to the enduring stabilization of the Black farming community, encompassing three pivotal components of other reparations programs — compensation, education, and restitution. Together, these elements form a robust reparations framework for several reasons.

Firstly, the provisions for compensation are inherently dynamic, as the monetary reparations are allocated to serve both personal and institutional purposes. On a personal level, the compensation takes the form of credit assistance, providing direct financial support to individuals affected by discrimination from the USDA. Simultaneously, on an institutional level, the allocation of compensation to forming conservation and renewable energy programs, along with the establishment of the Farm Conservation Crops plays a crucial role in ensuring that future generations are equipped with the resources and support needed to build a more equitable future in the agricultural sector. These measures collectively address the economic toll inflicted on the Black community through providing tangible means to rectify financial inequalities.

Secondly, the emphasis on education within the Justice for Black Farmers Act is two-fold. In part, the bill allocates funding to HBCUs, serving as a catalyst to channel young minds toward careers in agriculture and environmental fields. This aspect aligns with the conventional view of education, focusing on removing barriers for and empowering youth. However, education also plays a crucial role in reparations by recognizing the necessity of informed and empowered communities. The establishment of the USDA Equity Commission stands as a testament to this broader educational goal. This commission compels the institution to navigate the complexities of its history and implement meaningful change through informed decision-making and accountability. Furthermore, the creation of an equity commission ensures that the institution undergoes a process of self-reflection, serving as a mechanism for cultivating institutional awareness and responsibility. 

Lastly, restitution goes beyond monetary compensation, aiming to restore what has been unjustly taken from Black Americans and their families. The Justice for Black Farmers Act incorporates provisions for land grants, allowing eligible individuals to claim up to 160 acres. These provisions attempt to address the historical promise of “40 acres and a mule” that was never fulfilled. However, it is important to note that the allocation of land is not freely given. Under the Act, the Secretary of Agriculture may assist eligible Black individuals in identifying available agricultural land in the United States suitable for purchase. Additionally, eligible individuals are granted access to a direct loan under section 502 of the Housing Act of 1949.[94]

Conclusion 

Proposed Amendments and a Call-to-Action 

The enactment of the Justice for Black Farmers Act holds many potential benefits for Black Americans, chief among them being their economic development. The decision by Congress to refrain from revisiting the Justice for Black Farmers Act represents a missed opportunity to strengthen the prospects of Black families in their pursuit of generational wealth and economic autonomy. This inaction is a disservice to the Black American community, particularly in the context of the historical injustices that have disproportionately affected them.

The Justice for Black Farmers Act carries the potential to transform farming into a viable option for Black Americans, creating opportunities for them to reconnect with their ancestral ties to the land and engage fully in the sustainable agriculture practices passed down to them. Beyond this, the Act addresses the need for healing from the historical trauma associated with Black communities’ relationship with the land. In doing so, the Act also fosters accessibility to healthier foods through promoting food sovereignty. Farming is not new to Black people and their widespread participation in cultivating food will allow them to reclaim agency and ownership over their food systems, build community, and actively resist oppressive structures.

With all of that said, however, the bill is still shy of providing adequate redress to Black Americans in many areas. While the Act would mark a historic step toward providing reparations to Black farmers in America, it is crucial to recognize that its impact does not extend to the other descendants of chattel slavery in the United States. To comprehensively address the deep-seated legacy of slavery in the United States, it is imperative that the Justice for Black Farmers Act be passed and implemented in tandem with broader initiatives, such as H.R.40, which advocates for reparations for all Black Americans. Combining these efforts ensures a more equitable approach to redress the historical injustices faced by Black Americans. It acknowledges the need for reparations to extend beyond the agricultural sector and the current narrow focus on discriminatory actions by the USDA, encompassing a broader scope of individuals impacted by systemic discrimination and oppression, as well as the innumerable, varied hardships faced by Black Americans, particularly the legacy of slavery, sharecropping, land theft, and many other atrocities in a deeply American context.

Additionally, another issue we encounter is that we are still diluting the redress meant for Black farmers and ranchers through participation of all other groups of underserved farmers – going as far as to potentially supersede the original intended group, in some instances. As a nation, we must reach an uncoupling of our discomfort from what is perceived as exclusion and recognize it as simply re-paying a debt to a specific people. 

Without this uncoupling, there has never been a fully executed plan to deliver redress to Black people, more specifically, the descendants of chattel slavery in the United States; a people with a well-documented justice claim specific to American agriculture. This is not to say that other underserved groups do not deserve justice, compensation, and other means to ensure their quality of life is enhanced and their human rights secured. However, I believe it only meaningfully possible to accomplish that feat through specificity that targets a particular group’s relationship with the United States. For each underserved group, that relationship differs in intensities, durations, and nature. All-in-All, the Justice for Black Farmers Act is still not fully a bill for Black farmers let alone Black people despite carrying our namesake.

It is not only the responsibility of the United States to right historical wrongs, both past and ongoing, but to create spaces where we can engage in truth-telling. Progress as a nation is unattainable without sincere acknowledgement and redress of factors impeding our advancement. I urge Congress to reexamine the Justice for Black Farmers Act in an effort to make known the importance of reparative justice as an essential component of the broader pursuit of justice. I argue that, with further preparation, the Justice for Black Farmers Act could be equally crucial for benefitting Black lineages who have suffered while educating and fostering accountability for the beneficiaries who have unfairly profited from systemic injustices.

[1] Planas, A. (2023, July 20). New Florida standards teach that black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-florida-standards-teach-black-people-benefited-slavery-taught-usef-rcna95418 

[2] Penniman, L. (2018). Plant Medicine. In Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. (pp. 191) Chelsea Green Publishing Co. 

[3] Cuellar, R., Teichner, E., & Hendricks, L. (2022, May 31). Oryza glaberrima: The Environmental Impacts of Slavery. StoryMaps.

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[6] Littlefield, D. C. (1981). Rice and slaves ethnicity and the slave trade in Colonial South Carolina. Louisiana State Univ. Pr. 

[7] Judith, J. A. (2002). Black Rice: The African origins of rice cultivation in the Americas. Harvard University Press. 

[8] Fields-Black, E. L. (2008). Deep Roots Deep Roots: Rice farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora. Indiana university Press. 

[9] Stokstad, E. (2007, November 16). American rice: Out of Africa| science | AAAS. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/american-rice-out-africa 

[10] Linares, O. F. (2002). African rice (Oryza glaberrima): History and future potential. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(25), 16360–16365. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.252604599 

[11] Carney, J. (2003). The African antecedents of Uncle Ben in U.S. rice history. Journal of Historical Geography, 29(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhge.2002.0450 

[12] Carney, J. A. (2004). ‘With grains in her hair’: Rice in colonial Brazil. A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies, 25(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039042000220900  

[13] Handley-Cousins, S. (2020, July 26). Slavery & Soul Food: African Crops and Enslaved Cooks in the History of Southern Cuisine. DIG: A History Podcast. https://digpodcast.org/2020/07/26/soul-food/ 

[14] Penniman, L. (2018). Crop Planning. In Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land (pp. 123). essay, Chelsea Green Publishing Co. 

[15] Agboola, A. A. (2017). Crop mixtures in traditional systems. United Nations University. https://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80364e/80364E08.htm 

[16] Penniman, L. (2018). Crop Planning. In Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land (pp. 123). essay, Chelsea Green Publishing Co. 

[17] Penniman, L. (2018). Restoring Degraded Land. In Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land (pp. 75). essay, Chelsea Green Publishing Co. 

[18] Altieri, M. A. (2001). Agriculture, traditional. Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, 119–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-384719-5.00005-8 

[19] Penniman, L. (2018). Tools and Technology. In Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. (pp. 141) Chelsea Green Publishing Co. 

[20] Penniman, L. (2018). Crop Planning. In Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. (pp. 105) Chelsea Green Publishing Co. 

[21] Martin, R. (2023, December 11). Gullah. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gullah-people 

[22] Lakwete, A. (2005). Inventing the cotton gin: Machine and myth in Antebellum America. Johns Hopkins UP. 

[23] Tobacco Farm Life Museum. (2021, February 9). Agricultural Innovations: African American inventors. https://www.tobaccofarmlifemuseum.org/post/agricultural-innovations-african-american-inventors 

[24] Our Weekly LA. (2011, April 27). Black history fact of the week: Joseph H. Smith. Our Weekly. https://www.ourweekly.com/2011/04/28/black-history-fact-of-the-week-joseph-h-smith/ 

[25] Bellis, M. (2019, October 2). How John Albert Burr innovated modern lawn mowing. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/green-lawns-john-albert-burr-4072195 

[26] Harris, B. B. (2019, February 10). BHM: Inventor of the sugar cane planter, Leonard Julien Sr. WBRZ. https://www.wbrz.com/news/bhm-inventor-of-the-sugar-cane-planter-leonard-julien-sr- 

[27] Matchar, E. (2019, February 27). The first African-American to hold a patent invented “dry scouring.” Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/first-african-american-hold-patent-invented-dry-scouring-180971394/ 

[28] Congress.gov. (2020). Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/4929/text?r=2&s=1 

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[47] Robb, G. (2023, January 12). Reparations for Black Americans will cost up to $14 trillion and ‘could finally lead to closure,’ economist Sandy Darity says. MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/reparations-for-black-americans-will-cost-up-to-14-trillion-and-could-finally-lead-to-closure-economist-sandy-darity-says-11673541432 

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The post From Slavery to Sovereignty: The Economic Importance of the Justice for Black Farmers Act appeared first on Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Amidst the dire landscape of maternal health disparities and the profound challenges within maternal healthcare for Black women in America, there is a need for critical exploration beyond the conventional discussions of mortality and morbidity during childbirth. The perinatal journey of Black mothers must be studied to unravel the dynamic relationship between their health outcomes and the scarcity of Black healthcare practitioners, notably physicians. Through this lens, the multifaceted repercussions of the insufficient representation on the well-being of Black mothers can be illuminated. Historical factors contribute to systemic biases in maternal healthcare quality and outcomes for Black mothers. Despite constituting 13% of the U.S. population, Black physicians represent a mere 5% of the healthcare workforce, a stark reality fueled by systemic barriers to medical education and the medical profession (Howard, 2023).

Over the years, various ways in which racism adversely affects maternal health have been recognized. This research concentrates on the obstacles to quality healthcare that Black women encounter due to an inadequate supply of Black physicians capable of offering them culturally concordant care as fellow Black individuals. Shifting the attention to the critical role of healthcare provider diversity in the fragile patient-physician relationship, this Capstone illustrates the positive impact of increasing the number of African American physicians.

For the systematic review conducted in this capstone project, the predetermined criteria for selecting relevant publications were based on their purpose and scope in relation to the topic of racial disparities in maternal healthcare or the disparity of Black physicians in America. The quality assessment of these publications focused on evaluating how well the studies were designed, conducted, and reported, and their ability to provide relevant data. Data extracted from each study included information and statistics necessary to calculate and compare rates of infant or maternal mortality or morbidity, as well as the number of Black and underrepresented minorities in medicine at different phases of academia leading to becoming a physician. Additionally, the timing of the study and the uniqueness of the information and data collected were considered in the assessment process.

This capstone project delves into the intersection of racial disparities in maternal healthcare and the lack of physician diversity – specifically Black healthcare providers, aiming to answer the question: What is the impact of Black healthcare providers on America’s maternal mortality crisis, and how does the diversity within the physician workforce influence the quality of maternal healthcare for Black women? The thesis of this study contends that by examining the contributions of Black physicians, identifying barriers to education and training for Black individuals pursuing healthcare professions, and advocating for policy measures to address racial disparities in maternal healthcare, America can effectively mitigate the maternal mortality crisis affecting Black women in the United States. Through a comprehensive meta-analysis of existing literature, this research endeavors to illuminate effective strategies to amplify the impact of Black healthcare providers and ultimately improve maternal health outcomes for Black women.

Overview of Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality

Examination of Historical Factors Contributing to Systemic Biases

Exploring the historical determinants in U.S. history that contribute to systemic biases is crucial for comprehending the roots of healthcare disparities experienced by Black individuals in America (Taylor J. K., 2020). Reproductive oppression serves as a poignant example deeply ingrained in historical instances, illustrating systemic racism within the U.S. healthcare system. A demonstrative case is the exploitation of enslaved Black women’s bodies in the establishment of obstetrics and gynecology (Taylor J. K., 2020). During the antebellum period, the insidious practice of “forced-mating” was a crucial element of reproductive control, immortalizing the subjugation of enslaved women (Taylor J. K., 2020). These acts extended to sexual exploitation, sterilization, and eugenic control, all contributing significantly to the oppression of Black women (Taylor J. K., 2020). Notably, there were no protective laws for enslaved women against these atrocities imposed by slave owners. Practices such as the imposition of birth control on low-income Black women, often as a prerequisite for social welfare programs, have had lasting impacts (Taylor J. K., 2020).

The dismissal of Black women’s pain further compounds the issue of reproductive control, contributing significantly to the alarming state of maternal health among Black women (Taylor J. K., 2020). The control over Black women’s reproductive rights, established during enslavement, stands as an early template for reproductive control (Taylor J. K., 2020). Examining these historical factors unveils the intricate role of systemic racism—an overarching system where public policies, institutional practices, and cultural representations collaboratively perpetuate racial inequities. This systemic bias continues to influence the quality of care that Black women receive in the U.S. healthcare system today.

Since 1619, with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in America, through the intentional shortcomings of Reconstruction, the era of Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and beyond, prejudiced beliefs about Black people have been institutionalized in laws and the policies and practices of social institutions (American Public Health Association, 2020). Systemic racism encompasses the exhaustive ways in which societies sustain racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems, impacting various aspects such as housing, education, employment, media, health care, and criminal justice (American Public Health Association, 2020). These systems, reflecting historical and cultural biases, reinforce discriminatory beliefs, values, and resource distribution across interconnected institutions.

The lack of equitable access to high-quality healthcare is attributable to these systemic frameworks, encompassing various dimensions of American history and culture, which perpetuate privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages linked to “color” (Taylor, 2020). Addressing systemic racism targeted at the Black community can contribute to alleviating inequalities that generations of African Americans have endured through the impact of racist practices embedded in systems such as U.S. healthcare (American Public Health Association, 2020). Although racism affects all people of color, the distinct 400-year history and continued perpetuation of Black racial subjugation in the United States are undeniable (American Public Health Association, 2020). This decades-long history of mistreatment, experimentation, and exploitation by the medical establishment persists, resulting in inferior treatment practices and substandard medical care, particularly evident in maternal health today.

How Institutional Racism Manifests in Maternal Healthcare 

The medical profession has been intertwined with the institution of slavery since its inception. This deeply ingrained systemic bias has significantly influenced maternal health outcomes within the U.S. healthcare system. The experience of Black motherhood is directly intertwined with the historical network of oppression, shaping contemporary treatment across the industry (Tobin-Tyler, 2022). The use of ethnocentric bias by physicians in various incidents in American history have contributed to the distrust of medical practitioners within Black communities, significantly influencing how these communities perceive healthcare and the provider-patient relationship.

Black motherhood and maternal health have endured centuries of challenges.

Medical mistreatment for Black mothers is shaped by stereotypes, conserving biases among healthcare providers. Stereotypes portraying Black motherhood as neglectful, aggressive, and super reinforce misguided beliefs that Black women experience less pain and require less care (Tobin-Tyler, 2022). Despite the numerous instances of unethical practices targeting Black communities that have occurred, including the excruciatingly painful experimental surgeries performed on enslaved Black/African American women without anesthesia, such stereotypes continue to impact Black women today (American Public Health Association, 2020). Highlighting the extensive history of medical exploitation, it is important to acknowledge that numerous groundbreaking surgical techniques were developed through experiments conducted on the ailing bodies of enslaved women, subjecting them to repeated trials until either a cure or death occurred (American Public Health Association, 2020).

The progression of gynecology from the era of American slavery underscores the enduringly delicate connection between Black individuals and the field along with its practitioners. This trepidation not only disempowers Black mothers during their birthing experiences but also deepens their estrangement from a healthcare system that has long disregarded their voices. Recognizing the significance of culture in healthcare is crucial. Culture- encompassing the integrated pattern of human behavior, including thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious, or social group- holds relevance for ethnic minority patients in the United States (Owens, 2019). This context is especially notable as these patients often find themselves in race-discordant relationships with physicians (Cooper, 2003).

The research conducted by The Institute of Medicine on the overall impact of racial and ethnic concordance in the physician-patient relationship highlighted the important connection between race/ethnic concordance and the participatory decision-making (PDM) style of the patient (Cooper, 2003). More recently, Schut’s study on racial disparities in provider-patient communication echoed those patients engaged in race-concordant relationships with their physicians, who consistently rated their physicians as significantly more participatory compared to patients in race-discordant relationships (Schut, 2021). Notably, in these studies, Black respondents with Black physicians were more inclined to rate their physicians as excellent across various aspects, including overall satisfaction, respectful treatment, clear explanations of problems, attentive listening, and accessibility (Cooper, 2003); (Schut, 2021). Both studies viewed the notable differences in the communications with patients from diverse socioeconomic groups, specifically, patients from lower-class backgrounds who appeared hesitant in asking questions, not due to a lack of interest in medical matters, but rather because the social distance between them and their physicians discouraged verbal assertiveness (Cooper, 2003; Schut, 2021).

The inadequacy of healthcare provider diversity exacerbates the impact of the Maternal Mortality Crisis in the U.S., affecting Black mothers and babies (American Public Health Association, 2020). Systemic racism ingrained in maternal healthcare further compounds this challenge by influencing the underrepresentation of Black doctors (Cooper, 2003). Black individuals encounter barriers in entering and receiving proper training to become physicians, contributing to the scarcity of Black healthcare professionals in the field. This dearth of representation not only hinders the diversity of the healthcare workforce but also perpetuates the disparities in maternal healthcare experienced by Black women (Takeshita, et al., 2020). Moreover, the absence of Black physicians limits the potential positive impact of race concordance on Black patients, as they are not afforded the experience of having a healthcare provider who shares their racial background, further contributing to the existing disparities (Schut, 2021). Increasing the quantity and proportion of African American physicians has the potential to improve communication between patients and physicians and improve existing inequities in maternal healthcare for African Americans (Rao, 2007).

Recognizing the impact of historical factors is imperative for devising interventions that target the root causes of disparities and pave the way toward a more equitable maternal healthcare system for Black mothers (Taylor, 2020). Addressing these historical inequities can cultivate a healthcare environment that prioritizes the well-being of all individuals, irrespective of their racial or ethnic backgrounds. It is crucial to educate healthcare providers about this racist history and implement tangible measures to address their personal biases, fostering trust with Black patients. With the United States having the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries (Tikkanen, 2020), surpassing ten times the rates of some other high-income countries such as Australia, Austria, Israel, Japan, and Spain, which all hovered between 2 and 3 deaths per 100,000 in 2020 (Simmons-Duffin, 2023), it is important to revisit, create, fund, and advocate for new policy interventions that wield significant influence over the structural racism embedded in the maternal healthcare experiences of Black women.

The Role of Healthcare Providers

The Pivotal Role Physicians Play in Healthcare Experience

The foundation of trust in the patient-physician relationship is contingent on the physician’s commitment to “universalism,” which emphasizes treating all patients equally without consideration of specific attributes or ascribed traits (Procter, 2008). Without universalistic patient care, suspicion and caution may overshadow trust and confidence in the relationship (Cooper, 2003). Black individuals, when given the freedom to choose their physician, tend to prefer physicians who share their racial or ethnic background (Greenwood, 2020). This preference may be attributed to increased cultural sensitivity from race-concordant physicians and a greater alignment of cultural values, beliefs, and experiences between ethnic minority patients and physicians (Cooper, 2003; Schut, 2021).

van Ryn (2002) reviewed providers’ roles in contributing to racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare disclosing that provider beliefs about patients and their behavior during encounters are independently influenced by a patient’s race/ethnicity. van Ryn (2002) emphasized the significance of reciprocity in the patient-physician relationship, considering the impact of patient expectations and judgments of physicians, contextualized within sociodemographic factors like age, gender, and social class (van Ryn, 2002).

Additionally, scholarship on race-concordant patient-provider relationships can enhance our understanding of cultural competence constructs (Cooper, 2003). Physicians conduct numerous medical interviews with minimal formal training in communication skills. Each conversation is wrapped in emotion handling, recognizing psychological issues, and adopting a problem-solving approach, all without an increase in the overall duration of medical visits (Cooper, 2003; Schut, 2021). Therefore, cultural connection is not merely a symbolic aspect, but a crucial determinant of quality of care.

Effective communication, stemming from shared cultural understanding, builds trust, influences healthcare decision-making, and plays a pivotal role in planning interventions that positively shape the patient’s overall health outcomes. The current US healthcare system’s disparities in patient-centered communication, reveal that physicians provide less information, less supportive communication, and less proficient clinical performance to Black patients, and those from lower economic classes, compared to their more advantaged counterparts (van Ryn, 2002).

Additional studies revealed that physicians tend to hold more negative perceptions of African Americans and individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups across various dimensions compared to whites and higher SES patients. A study from the Institute of Medicine found that ethnic minority, low-literacy, and low SES patients experience lower levels of patient-centered communication and greater verbal passivity with physicians than whites and patients with higher education levels ​ (Cooper, 2003; Shen, 2018)​. The impact of social class on how patients present themselves and articulate their problems holds significance for the medical treatment they receive​ (Shen, 2018).

Due to the higher likelihood of African American patients being in race-discordant relationships with physicians compared to white patients, they experience shorter visits, less positive affect, and a lower perception of participatory decision-making. For instance, African American patients were often perceived as less intelligent, more prone to high-risk behavior, and less likely to adhere to medical advice ​ (Schut, 2021). This pervasive disparity and bias in healthcare can lead to the dismissal of valid symptoms and concerns, impacting the treatment process, causing trauma, and disempowering Black women during critical moments in their lives. 

Within the maternal healthcare landscape, the influence and power of physicians are particularly noteworthy, differentiating their impact from other healthcare professionals such as nurses, midwives, physician assistants, and doulas. Although the entire healthcare team is important to the mother’s birthing experience, physicians, especially those who are Black, bear a unique responsibility and hold significant power in shaping the quality of critical care for mothers during childbirth. The complexity of medical decision-making in situations involving life-threatening complications during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, including emergency interventions such as cesarean sections, underscores the pivotal role of physicians in ensuring positive maternal outcomes (Cooper, 2003; Schut, 2021). The distinct expertise and authority that physicians bring to these high-stakes scenarios contribute to the overall healthcare experience and play a crucial role in addressing maternal health disparities, particularly for Black mothers, underscoring the critical impact of provider-patient relationships on maternal care and outcomes and highlighting the urgent need to address disparities in physician diversity to enhance communication and quality of care for Black women. This expansion enhances patient identification with their physician and gives Black patients the opportunity to cultivate shared perceptions and perspectives on health.

Provider-Patient Relationships Impact Maternal Care and Maternal Outcomes

Twenty-two percent of Black women avoid doctor visits due to gender-based discrimination, while a similar percentage of Black Americans expressed avoidance due to fears of racial discrimination (Tobin-Tyler, 2022). Implicit biases in maternity care for Black women are magnified in provider-patient encounters, rooted in a historical context of stereotyping, dismissing, and undervaluing Black mothers. The “Listening to Mothers” study in 2018 revealed that Black women were more likely than their white and Latinx counterparts to report discrimination during maternity care and birthing experiences, with many recounting instances of not being believed when expressing pain (Tobin-Tyler, 2022). There is a positive impact on infant mortality with racial concordance, as demonstrated by Creanga’s (2014) study on the performance of racial and ethnic minority-serving hospitals on delivery-related indicators (Creanga AA, 2014). This research underscores survival rate disparities between Black and white newborns during childbirth, proposing that addressing these differences may be achieved through racial concordance between physician and newborn (Creanga AA, 2014). When Black newborns are attended to by Black physicians, the mortality gap they experience, compared to white infants, is significantly reduced, particularly in more complex cases and hospitals with a higher volume of Black newborns (Creanga AA, 2014).

While this suggests a potential correlation, it remains unclear whether a similar positive effect exists for maternal mortality and morbidity among Black mothers and their Black physicians, as specific research in this context is lacking. Understanding that provider-patient relationships are positively influenced by race concordance, particularly between Black mothers and Black physicians, further reinforces the need for exploration of this correlation. However, conclusive evidence regarding the existence of racial concordance between Black physicians and Black mothers in the specific context of maternal mortality requires additional research. The detailed interplay between provider-patient relationships, cultural competency, and Black physician’s impact on maternal care and outcomes necessitates a more in-depth exploration to guide strategies for addressing healthcare disparities by promoting equity in the physician workforce diversity. As ethnic groups are projected to comprise 40% of the U.S. population by 2035 and 47% by 2050, this underscores the urgency for healthcare providers, systems, and policymakers to adapt care to meet the diverse cultural and linguistic needs of this growing population (Cooper, 2003; Schut, 2021).

The Impact of Black Physicians

Contributions of Black Physicians

While research underscores the positive impact of racial and gender alignment between patients and healthcare providers on patient experiences, the stark reality remains that Black physicians constitute only 5% of the healthcare workforce, while Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population. (Tobin-Tyler, 2022). Persistent stereotypes about Black women, particularly mothers, contribute to an insensitive medical system that labels them as non-compliant or difficult, further straining their relationship with healthcare providers and jeopardizing their health. Explicit bias exists, but scholars argue that implicit anti-Black biases in healthcare are more widespread and insidious (Staton LJ, 2007). This leads to unintended and sometimes unconscious discrimination by physicians, contradicting their explicit intentions to provide excellent care regardless of patient race or ethnicity (Tobin-Tyler, 2022).

Cultural competency, a cornerstone of effective healthcare, takes on a profound dimension when considered in the context of Black physicians providing care to Black patients. The inherent racial concordance and shared lived experiences between Black physicians and Black mothers create a natural foundation for cultural competency. This unique alignment not only enhances communication and rapport through trust and understanding, but also empowers Black mothers to actively engage in their healthcare decisions, ultimately leading to improved maternal health outcomes (Schut, 2021).

Research shows that individuals who consult doctors of the same race are more likely to opt for preventive care services, including invasive procedures (Fleisher, 2019). Though policymakers seek to expand preventive care to vulnerable populations, it will not matter if Black people do not visit with a doctor they trust. Black physicians play a significant role in the medical field, with one of the most notable impacts being the rise in Black patients seeking care and openly discussing their health concerns when they encounter a physician of the same race. A county-level health data study conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration found that, on average, a 10% rise in the presence of Black primary care physicians was linked to an extended life expectancy of 30.6 days for Black individuals (Peek, 2023). Patients under the care of racially concordant physicians exhibit a greater inclination to consent to screenings and express concerns, suggesting potential benefits in reducing health disparities. Moreover, there is evidence of a direct correlation between health and wealth, showcasing that representation in healthcare leads to better health and fewer medical bills (Hall, 2021).

A cross-sectional analysis from the Press Ganey Outpatient Medical Practice Survey lends additional support to the clinical advantages associated with racially concordant patient-physician interactions. It revealed improvements in communication, patient care, and outcomes, underscoring the necessity for robust support in the training of underrepresented minority medical students and residents (Takeshita, et al., 2020). Notably, Black patients receiving care from white or Asian physicians tended to rate their physicians less favorably, underscoring the crucial importance of racial/ethnic concordance.

When applied to the context of maternal mortality, the rise of racially concordant physicians assumes a pivotal role in addressing the gap that disproportionately affects Black women in the U.S. maternal healthcare system. Here, the disconnect, unwillingness from a non-Black physician or healthcare team, neglect, or lack of personal responsibility often contribute to the inequitable experiences of Black patients, resulting in high maternal mortality and morbidity rates persisting for the past two decades (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Enhancing physician workforce diversity and delivering healthcare with cultural sensitivity in racially/ethnically discordant patient-physician interactions emerge as imperative steps toward addressing disparities in maternal care and outcomes (Takeshita, et al., 2020).

Beyond their contribution to cultural competency, there are many Black Physicians who have played a significant role in the history of healthcare and medicine such as Daniel Hale Williams III, MD one of the first people to successfully perform open-heart surgery; Marilyn Hughes Gaston, MD who published a groundbreaking study that led to the creation of a national sickle cell disease screening program for newborns; and William A. Hinton, MD who created a new blood test for diagnosing syphilis that was adopted by the U.S. Public Health Service (American College of Healthcare Executives, n.d.).

Their groundbreaking achievements extend beyond the health benefits for individuals within the Black community, highlighting the positive impact achievable when aspiring Black physicians overcome systemic barriers to enter the medical field. Despite ingrained obstacles in educational and healthcare systems designed to exclude them, these achievements prompt contemplation of the innovative inventions, health solutions, and cures that might be conceived by aspiring Black physicians. The question arises: is it justifiable to hinder these potentially brilliant minds from contributing to the field and saving countless lives, solely based on their race?

How Black Educators Inspire an Increase in Physician Diversity

A study by Johns Hopkins University (2021) reveals the significant positive impact of racial concordance in education. The research demonstrates that low-income Black students with at least one Black teacher in elementary school exhibit a higher likelihood of graduating from high school and considering college (John Hopkins University , 2021). The study found that having a Black teacher in 3rd through 5th grades substantially reduced the probability of dropout for Black students by 29%, and for very low-income Black boys, this reduction was even greater at 39% (John Hopkins University , 2021). Moreover, the findings highlight that spending just one year with a teacher of the same race positively influences educational outcomes, narrowing the persistent gaps in educational attainment (John Hopkins University , 2021). This evidence supports the notion that racial concordance, whether in education or healthcare, can play a crucial role in improving outcomes for Black individuals.

Additional research conducted by Young (2020), found that Black women teachers (BWTs) play a crucial role in addressing both the educative and socioemotional needs of students, particularly benefiting Black girls who encounter specific challenges in U.S. public schools. These teachers, equipped with experiential and professional knowledge, contribute to mitigating challenges such as the school-to-prison pipeline. Through ethnically and gender-matched mentorship and academic support, BWTs aim to reverse negative trends and provide crucial support for Black girls in K-12 classrooms (Young, 2020). Additionally, BWTs offer substantial instructional support to all students, adopting a culturally responsive lens in the learning process, with notable effectiveness, particularly for Black students (Young, 2020).

The issues faced by Black girls in education, such as being perceived as insubordinate or facing challenges when expressing their concerns, parallel the struggles that Black women encounter in healthcare settings (Young, 2020). This resemblance is evident in the tendency to dismiss or overlook the voices of Black women, whether it be in educational institutions or healthcare facilities. In education, the impact of these challenges can shape the future trajectory of a student’s life. Similarly, in healthcare, such dismissals may have critical consequences, influencing the health and well-being of Black mothers and their babies. The study underscores the urgent need for targeted policies to increase diversity in U.S. physicians, ensuring a more inclusive healthcare workforce that can address the unique experiences of Black women.

Research unequivocally demonstrates the positive impact of Black teachers on Black female students. Analogously, the instructional support provided by Black women teachers extends to all students. Drawing a parallel in the healthcare domain, the diversification of physicians with Black representation promises enhanced care across diverse racial backgrounds. While the benefits of Black physician diversity extend to the broader population, the urgency is pronounced in addressing the disproportionately high mortality rates among Black women. Ensuring equitable experiences and averting maternal morbidity or mortality cases necessitate an increased presence of Black doctors caring for Black patients.

Leveraging insights from research affirming the positive influence of Black women teachers on the academic success of Black girl students, alongside evidence highlighting the beneficial impact of racial concordance in Black physicians on infant mortality and the enhanced quality of care within physician-patient relationships, draws parallel reasoning for advocating increased physician diversity. Specifically, the inclusion of more Black doctors has the potential to elevate the standard of care for Black patients, thereby addressing critical issues in maternal healthcare in the United States. However, the attainment of these essential benefits relies on the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at recruiting, preparing, supporting, and training Black individuals pursuing careers as physicians, coupled with the removal of barriers specific to education and training for Black individuals who aspire to careers in the healthcare profession.

Black Physician’s Specific Contribution to Improved Maternal Health for Black Mothers 

Research consistently demonstrates the significant contribution of Black physicians to improved healthcare outcomes of Black patients. This phenomenon holds important implications for the overall improvement of health statistics among Black mothers, with their pivotal contribution of decreasing maternal mortality rates among Black mothers, being summarized by their (1) cultural competence, (2) trust and relationship building, (3) desire to address disparities in care and (4) ability to overcome stereotypes and biases.

Black physicians often bring cultural competence and a nuanced understanding of the unique challenges faced by Black mothers. This cultural awareness facilitates more effective communication and personalized care. Trust is a critical factor in healthcare, and Black physicians often excel in establishing trustful relationships with Black patients. This trust can lead to increased patient engagement, adherence to medical advice, and better overall health outcomes (Cooper, 2003). Black physicians are more attuned to addressing healthcare disparities that disproportionately affect Black mothers. Their advocacy for equitable and comprehensive care helps mitigate existing disparities in maternal health. Black physicians can navigate and challenge systemic biases and stereotypes that may impact the quality of care provided to Black mothers. Their presence in healthcare settings contributes to a more inclusive and unbiased healthcare environment.

Acknowledging that not all Black physicians share the inclination or capability to address disparities in healthcare or overcome stereotypes and biases is essential. Like anyone else, they are human beings, and these abilities are profoundly influenced by their upbringing, life experiences, and self-perception. A recent incident involving Dr. Jackie Walters from Bravo’s reality show “Married to Medicine” exemplifies how even within the Black medical community, there can be perpetuation of harmful stereotypes (Asare, 2023). Dr. Jackie’s comments, suggesting that African American women are more dramatic and may not be taken seriously during pregnancy, underscore the complexity of addressing disparities solely through diversity initiatives (Asare, 2023). Drawing a parallel to discussions on Black-on-Black crime, where systemic racism is recognized as a root cause, it becomes evident that negative implicit biases among some Black physicians may result from their environment and experiences, further exacerbated by systemic biases within medical education (Taylor Z. , 2020). While acknowledging the limitations of diversity alone, it is undeniable that increasing the number of Black physicians presents an opportunity to improve statistics, particularly in critical areas like the maternal mortality crisis. Although complete resolution may not be attainable, enhancing diversity within the medical profession can undeniably lead to improved statistics, thereby saving lives.

Efforts to address implicit biases and promote cultural competency must align with broader systemic changes for equitable healthcare outcomes. However, in the realm of obstetrics and gynecology, there are Black physicians actively addressing the historical disparities in healthcare experienced by Black women in America. Recognizing the need for tailored and compassionate care, Black doctors are taking proactive steps to reclaim their community’s health through telemedicine. One notable initiative, “Our Culture Care,” connects Black women with the healthcare they need and deserve. Patient testimonials reflect the positive impact of this initiative, with individuals expressing gratitude for the understanding and validation they receive from Black doctors. Testimonials such as “This was my first experience, and it was everything I’ve been looking for…” and “OMG! I felt so heard and that my questions are valid…” underscores the importance of culturally competent care in creating a space where patients feel seen, heard, and valued (Culture Care, 2024). The enthusiastic response, as seen in comments like “LOVED IT! I think this service is super necessary and useful,” highlights the significance of initiatives like “Our Culture Care” in addressing healthcare disparities and fostering a sense of empowerment within the Black community through telemedicine.

While existing research suggests a positive association between the presence of Black physicians and improved maternal health outcomes for Black mothers, it is crucial to emphasize the need for further investigation to substantiate these hypotheses. For example, exploring the potential impact of increased representation of Black physicians on preterm birth rates among Black mothers could be a valuable avenue for future research. Similarly, the idea that Black physicians may contribute to a reduction in complications during childbirth for Black mothers utilizing large-scale healthcare databases, presents a promising area for further exploration. Investigating the replicability of these findings and establishing a more comprehensive understanding of the potential impact could be essential for future research endeavors. Future research focused on the impact of increased Black physician representation could contribute to more inclusive research, effective interventions, and enhanced healthcare experiences, ultimately working towards improved health statistics for Black patients, particularly in the realm of maternal health.

Considering the potential benefits of increased physician diversity in improving maternal health outcomes, it is imperative to advocate for and foster a more diverse medical workforce. The expansion of physician diversity not only provides a broader pool of practitioners to gather data but also holds the promise of positively influencing the overall landscape of maternal healthcare. By fostering an environment where Black physicians can build unique, trusting relationships with Black patients, the research suggests a pathway to mitigating the deadly statistics associated with the Black maternal mortality crisis. The findings underscore the potential for transformative change in maternal healthcare through increased diversity, fostering a healthcare landscape that is more culturally competent, inclusive, and ultimately lifesaving for Black mothers in America.

Barriers to Education and Training of Black Individuals Pursing Healthcare Professions

The unjust barriers hindering the education and training of Black individuals pursuing healthcare professions result in a decrease in physician diversity. This decrease not only exacerbates disparities in maternal healthcare for Black mothers but illuminates the current challenges towards increasing diversity. Obstacles hindering the education and training of Black individuals pursuing healthcare professions include financial constraints, limited knowledge about medicine, insufficient encouragement at home or in school, negative peer attitudes toward academic excellence, and the absence of Black role models as major impediments (Rao, 2007). The 2007 Qualitative Inquiry Study emphasizes the importance of augmenting the number of African American physicians to improve patient-physician communication and relationships (Rao, 2007). Additionally, examining disparities in medical school admissions, educational resources, and mentorship opportunities highlights the underrepresentation of African Americans in medicine (Rao, 2007).

Students expressed the belief that increasing the number of African American physicians could enhance patient-physician communication and relationships, emphasizing the need for greater exposure to medicine in schools, guidance from a younger age, and increased availability of role models (Rao, 2007). With African Americans representing only 4.4% of all U.S. physicians and surgeons in comparison to the proportional ideal ratio of 2180 Black physicians per 100,000 people, the statistics reveal the importance of achieving diversity in the physician workforce for high-quality medical education and improved healthcare access for underserved populations (Rao, 2007)​.

The numerous barriers that impede the educational and training paths of Black individuals aspiring to enter healthcare professions is particularly evident in standardized testing, which has a historical association with racism, posing a challenge for the inclusion of Black and other underrepresented minorities in medicine and hindering their successful matriculation and training to become physicians. A Stanford University study revealed that underrepresented in medicine (URIM) students experience a higher decline in interest in pursuing pre-medical studies after the initial two years of college compared to their white and Asian peers (Barr, 2008).

First-generation minority and low-income students face numerous challenges in their college journey, including financial, academic, and social barriers (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Being the first in their families to navigate college admission, financial aid, and coursework presents unique challenges, and these students often find themselves navigating their undergraduate degrees independently, lacking guidance from parents unfamiliar with the higher education system (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Additionally, the expenses associated with the medical school application process pose a substantial deterrent for prospective Black medical students, with a recommended budget ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Access to medical school is a financial hurdle specifically for aspiring Black students as they are disproportionately burdened by higher pre-medical school debt (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Many Black students expressed concerns about their ability to afford the high tuition associated with medical school. They also perceived securing the grades required for scholarships as challenging, intensifying the daunting nature of financing higher education. Furthermore, students believed that physicians frequently accumulate debt and spend a significant portion of their careers repaying loans (Rao, 2007). Financial challenges create barriers that particularly impact students from underrepresented backgrounds, contributing to the limitations in physician workforce diversity across specialties and geographic locations (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020).

Accountability Measures- What Can be Done?

Fostering a more diverse and culturally competent healthcare workforce is essential for creating a healthcare system that recognizes and addresses the specific needs of Black women and other women of color, reducing the impact of bias and racism. Focusing on increased representation of Black students in medicine, involves a multifaceted approach. Initiatives such as Pre-Health Advisor Training, targeted Physician-Student Interactions, Application Preparatory Classes, Post-Baccalaureate Programs, and the establishment of Mentoring/Peer Groups play crucial roles (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Additionally, fostering opportunities through Medical School Early Assurance Programs and BS/MD Programs/Direct Medical Programs (DMP) can significantly contribute to cultivating a more diverse and inclusive physician workforce. These strategic interventions collectively aim to address the barriers faced by Black students pursuing medical careers and promote sustained efforts towards greater representation (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020).

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play a crucial role in addressing the disparities in physician diversity by fostering the next generation of Black healthcare professionals (Norris, 2009). Increasing the number of HBCU medical schools and augmenting their funding is imperative to bolstering the representation of Black physicians in the medical field. Currently, only four other HBCUs host medical schools, collectively producing more than half of all Black doctors (Harrison, 2023). Morgan State University and Xavier University of Louisiana are set to join this cohort, becoming the fifth and sixth HBCUs to establish medical schools, respectively (Harrison, 2023). These institutions offer Black medical students a supportive environment conducive to their academic and personal growth, instilling in them a heightened sense of belonging and confidence (Norris, 2009). With Morgan State aiming to enroll 125 students in its medical school in Fall 2024 and Xavier slated to launch its program in 2025, the expansion of HBCU medical schools presents a promising avenue for increasing the number of Black student doctors and ultimately diversifying the physician workforce (Harrison, 2023). Therefore, it is imperative to advocate for the expansion of HBCU medical schools and the allocation of increased funding. These measures are crucial for augmenting the number of seats in medical school classes, ultimately leading to a rise in the number of Black student doctors and, consequently, Black physicians.

Additionally, solutions to the disparities in physician workforce diversity, include the removal of economic barriers. Tailored solutions should concentrate on scholarship and financial support, as well as funding and grants. Establishing scholarship programs explicitly designed for Black students can play a pivotal role in alleviating the financial challenges associated with medical education. These scholarships should encompass tuition, living expenses, and other related costs, ensuring that qualified individuals are not dissuaded from pursuing a career in medicine due to financial constraints. Additionally, the implementation and promotion of more accessible and well-advertised loan forgiveness programs for medical doctors, especially targeted toward Black students upon completing medical school and entering residency, can further empower them to commence their medical practice and contribute to their communities without the burden of overwhelming student debt.

Supporting Black-led healthcare initiatives is crucial for promoting diversity in the healthcare workforce. Encouraging Black youth interest in healthcare is a key step in addressing workforce diversity disparities. Initiatives should focus on exposing middle and high school students to the medical field through mentoring, academic enrichment programs, and extracurricular activities. Providing mentorship and guidance programs can counteract the scarcity of African American physician role models, offering students valuable insights into the medical profession and fostering their aspirations. Allocating funding and grants to organizations that focus on mentorship, educational outreach, and community engagement can help create a supportive ecosystem for aspiring Black healthcare professionals. Additionally, encouraging research on racial disparities within the medical field is essential for understanding the root causes of underrepresentation and developing targeted interventions.

Establishing robust monitoring and reporting mechanisms within healthcare institutions is vital for holding them accountable for diversity and inclusion. These mechanisms should track the recruitment, retention, and advancement of Black physicians, ensuring transparency and identifying areas that require improvement. Furthermore, evaluating diversity and inclusion policies can help healthcare organizations assess their effectiveness and make necessary adjustments to foster a more inclusive environment.

Implementing cultural competency programs is essential for preparing healthcare providers to meet the diverse needs of their patients. These programs should focus on enhancing providers’ understanding of cultural differences, dismantling stereotypes, and fostering inclusive healthcare practices. Additionally, specialized training should be provided to healthcare professionals to better understand and address the unique needs of Black mothers, especially in maternal care.

Dismantling stereotypes in maternal care is vital for reducing disparities in healthcare outcomes for Black mothers. Advocacy efforts should aim to challenge biased perceptions and ensure that healthcare providers approach maternal care without preconceived notions. Eradicating the structural racism, economic inequality, and bureaucratic indifference that impact the physician workforce diversity necessitates not only the enforcement of current laws and the creation of new ones but also investment in systems and services that promote health throughout one’s life (Tobin-Tyler, 2022). Recognizing the importance of cultural competence and integrating it into medical practices can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system. Ongoing education and advocacy initiatives should emphasize the significance of understanding and addressing the cultural and social factors that impact healthcare outcomes.

Implicit bias training and other shifts in medical culture present an opportunity for legislators to ensure accountability within systems for both individual and systemic discriminatory practices resulting in racially disparate outcomes. To achieve accountability, health systems must actively collect and disclose pertinent data based on race, establishing enforceable measures for acceptable conduct standards. Regularly gathering this information, aligning it with federal quality metrics and/or value-based payment mechanisms, and mandating transparency to the public can serve as incentives for hospitals and healthcare systems to reform their practices (Tobin-Tyler, 2022).

Promoting diversity in healthcare extends beyond fulfilling quotas; it entails purposefully cultivating an inclusive atmosphere that embraces diverse backgrounds, beliefs, ethnicities, and perspectives within the medical profession (Associated Medical Schools of New York, 2020). Establishing an antiracist healthcare system is imperative for ensuring equitable and unbiased treatment of people of color, particularly Black patients. This transformative approach involves not only increasing the representation of Black physicians but also implementing unprejudiced healthcare system reforms.

Policy Recommendations

In response to the critical need for transformative measures in addressing physician workforce diversity disparities that significantly impact maternal health outcomes, the following policy recommendations provide a widespread legislative framework aimed at fostering equity, accessibility, and cultural competence within the healthcare system including (1) legislation on scholarships and financial support, (2) allocating funding and grants for Black-led healthcare initiatives, (3) healthcare system accountability laws, (4) early medical school pipeline and admissions programs, and (5) cultural competent legislation for healthcare providers:

1. Enact laws that allocate funding for scholarships and financial aid programs aimed specifically at increasing accessibility to medical education for underrepresented minorities. This includes addressing economic barriers by providing grants, tuition assistance, and loan forgiveness programs to reduce the financial burden on aspiring Black physicians.
2. Allocate funding and grants to support initiatives led by Black healthcare professionals and organizations, focusing on addressing racial disparities in healthcare outcomes, conducting research on racial disparities, and developing strategies to improve healthcare access and quality for minority communities. Additionally, increasing the number of HBCU medical schools and augmenting their funding to build new schools of medicine, continue operations at established HBCU medical schools, and increase the number of medical school “seats” available for incoming students in each medical class is essential for fostering diversity and addressing healthcare disparities.
3. Implement legislation that establishes monitoring and reporting mechanisms within healthcare institutions to track progress in diversity and inclusion. Mandate regular evaluations of diversity and inclusion policies, holding institutions accountable for creating environments that promote workforce diversity and equity.
4. Push policies encouraging the development of early medical school pipelines and admission programs. Support initiatives that expose Black youth to healthcare careers through mentorship, academic enrichment programs, and early exposure to the medical field. These programs should aim to foster interest in healthcare professions among underrepresented minorities.
5. Authorize requirements for cultural competence training programs for healthcare providers. These programs should focus on understanding the unique needs of Black mothers, dismantling stereotypes in maternal care, and fostering a culturally sensitive healthcare environment. Implementing such legislation ensures that healthcare professionals are equipped to provide quality care to diverse patient populations.

Conclusion

Physician workforce diversity impacts the disparities in maternal health outcomes, uncovering the complex intersections of race, cultural competence, and systemic bias within the healthcare system. There is an urgent need for a concerted effort to address these disparities, with a particular focus on Black maternal health, which has long borne the brunt of inequities. The call to action is two-fold: Firstly, a resolute advocacy for increased representation of underrepresented minorities- specifically Black individuals- within the healthcare workforce is imperative, recognizing the transformative influence that diverse healthcare providers can have on patient outcomes. Secondly, the implementation of proposed solutions, ranging from targeted scholarships and mentorship programs to cultural competency training, holds the key to dismantling the structural barriers that perpetuate disparities. Advancement in continued research and evaluation to achieve health equity is crucial. Rigorous examination of the effectiveness of interventions, coupled with ongoing data collection and analysis, will guide the refinement of strategies, and ensure a sustained commitment to achieving equitable maternal health outcomes for all.

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In the United States, one in five Black individuals experience hunger with food insecurity primarily because of poverty, limited food availability, and systemic inequalities (Dennard et al., 2022). Hunger and poor nutrition pose immediate health risks and hinder cognitive development and economic mobility, all of which minimize the individual’s ability to thrive (Drewnowski, 2022). Examining the challenges Black communities encounter reveals that relying solely on traditional agriculture and food distribution methods is not enough to address the complexities of food insecurity and hunger. Urban farming, which encompasses the cultivation, processing, and distribution of agricultural products in urban and suburban areas. Various urban farming initiatives have positively impacted Black and low-income communities by enhancing access to nutritious food and providing valuable nutrition education. In addition, research has explored the potential of artificial technology (AI) technology to revolutionize the agricultural industry to combat food insecurity. Despite recognizing the individual promise of urban farming and AI technology, a significant knowledge gap exists regarding the combined impact of these innovations on Black farmers and communities. People of color own only 3% of all U.S. agricultural land, with Black farmers representing just 1% of the 3.4 million farmers in the country (Meredith, 2022; Worthy, 2022).  In addition, challenges such as historical land dispossession, discriminatory lending practices, limited resource access, and racial inequalities persistently serve as barriers for Black farmers (Ackoff et al., 2022). These structural impediments not only hinder the adoption of technological advancements like AI but also contribute to the declining number of Black farmers who support Black communities nationwide.

Community members and organizations have widely acknowledged and benefited from the substantial advantages of urban farming initiatives. However, research on the impact of urban farming in Black communities is lacking, leaving a gap in statistical evidence that substantiates these experiences. Similarly, research exploring the integration of AI technology in agriculture has primarily focused on broader applications, with insufficient attention to its implications for Black farmers. This knowledge gap underscores the need for further research to understand the impact of urban farming and AI technology on Black communities and to address the systemic challenges they face in adopting such initiatives.

This capstone, serving as a comprehensive literature review, uses previous literature to navigate the landscape of food insecurity in Black communities and explore the potential benefits of urban farming and AI-driven solutions for these communities. We need to critically examine the challenges and consequences associated with pushing forward initiatives that involve AI in agriculture in Black communities. By understanding the nuanced interplay between technological innovation and systemic challenges, this capstone aims to pave the way for more informed and equitable approaches to addressing food insecurity within Black communities.

Food Security and Urban Farming

Food Security in Black Communities 

At the 1996 World Food Summit, the United Nations Committee on World Food Security defined food security as “when all people constantly have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (The World Bank, 2024). Prior research (Cummins et al., 2005; Siegner, 2018) on fresh food access in low-income areas concentrated on food deserts (geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, nutritious food options is restricted or nonexistent) and the lack of grocery stores. However, scholars and policymakers have recognized that simply placing a grocery store in a former food desert has minimal impact on residents’ fruit and vegetable intake. Low-income households often maintain their purchasing patterns even after the opening of a new supermarket, opting for familiar, affordable options over healthier alternatives (Devitt, 2019). This tendency is influenced by factors such as financial constraints, limited awareness of healthier options, and a preference for familiar foods.

Focusing on food deserts overlooks the deeper factors that create food insecurity (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022). Increasingly, society acknowledges historical and structural challenges like poverty, racism, and divestment in specific communities as fundamental causes of unequal access to affordable, nutritious food for the Black community (McClintock, 2008; McClintock et al., 2018). As a result, food sovereignty leader Karen Washington coined the term food apartheid, which describes a comprehensive framework that systematically undermines Black self-determination in controlling food, perpetuating unhealthy food saturation, predatory marketing, and supporting a discriminatory corporate-controlled food system (Colson-Fearon & Versey, 2022). 

In the mid 20^th century, common practices like redlining, along with white flight, actively promoted racial segregation (Crowe et al., 2018). Though redlining is not legally practiced today, other discriminatory practices, like mortgage lending discrimination, still perpetrate housing discrimination (Crowe et al., 2018). These practices have led to continuous racial and ethnic segregation, particularly evident in high-poverty neighborhoods where over a third of residents are Black (Jargowsky, 2014; Crowe et al., 2018).  The growth of suburbs is intertwined with the historical placement of grocery stores, as grocery companies were attracted to suburban areas by white middle-class families with substantial buying power (Donohue, 1997; Pothukuchi, 2005). In contrast, urban neighborhoods lacked space for large stores and faced stringent regulations, depopulation, and safety concerns (Pothukuchi, 2005; Crowe et al., 2018). These factors along with the perception of urban crime, kept large grocery stores out of urban neighborhoods (Pothukuchi, 2005). The prevailing notion in the grocery industry has been that suburbs offer safer and more profitable markets, leading to “supermarket redlining” (Crowe et al., 2018; Eisenhauer, 2001). This practice has distanced urban residents, particularly in Black communities, from access to diverse, affordable, and healthy food options, confining them predominantly to convenience stores (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022). Even when there is market demand, supermarket redlining creates a scarcity of grocery stores in central urban areas (Crowe et al., 2018).

In 2022, the official poverty rate for Blacks living in America was 17.1% (Schider, 2023). Nam et al. (2015) revealed that economic factors such as income, homeownership, and education determine poverty levels, consequently impacting food security. In contrast, higher income, increased educational attainment, and stable homeownership significantly elevate the likelihood of achieving food security (Nam et al., 2015). These determinants disproportionately affect the Black community (Nam et al., 2015). Financial inequities often force individuals and families within low-income communities to prioritize immediate needs over long-term health, leading to compromised dietary choices and reliance on cheaper, less nutritious options (Nam et al., 2015). Higher grocery prices compound these hurdles (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022; Crowe et al., 2018). The rejection of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and limited food options in local neighborhoods prompt residents to seek alternatives in areas less accessible without private vehicles or reliable public transportation (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022; Crowe et al., 2018). Safety concerns also deter community members from shopping at local stores, citing encounters with stray animals, navigating unsafe routes at night, perceived threats on public transportation, or harassment from loiterers (Crowe et al., 2018; Cummins, 2005). Collectively, these factors restrict Black individuals’ access to local food sources and exacerbate the ongoing struggle for adequate nutrition within these communities (Crowe et al., 2018).

Addressing the entrenched historical and structural barriers underlying food insecurity in Black communities is essential for meaningful change. Despite the enduring influence of economic factors, housing discrimination, and systemic inequalities on food security, urban farming emerges as a potential decentralized solution. Urban farming has positively impacted access to food and community development. In the quest for a more equitable and sustainable food system, urban farming is crucial to fostering resilience and transforming the food security landscape for Black communities.

Urban Farming   

Urban farming emerged in its modern form during the 1970s to intertwine social justice objectives with environmental sustainability (Aurora University, 2019). Urban agriculture aims to increase access to healthy, locally grown food, especially for underserved communities (Covington, 2022; Machuka, 2022). Growing and distributing food in urban areas allows for more direct access to fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat products, which can improve food security and nutrition. Initially rooted in community gardens, where residents collectively cultivated small plots of land, urban farming has evolved significantly (Seigner et al., 2018). It now includes rooftop and warehouse farms utilizing unused urban space, hydroponic systems growing plants in nutrient-rich water, aeroponic setups nurturing crops through misting, and aquaponic facilities interweaving aquaculture with hydroponics (Machuka, 2022; Sayner, 2022). This evolution in farming represents a shift towards more efficient and sustainable agriculture methods. In addition, the approaches to urban agriculture help overcome spatial limitations and optimize resource use in densely populated areas (Machuka, 2022).  

Benefits 

As a decentralized food production system, urban farming yields many benefits, from fostering community empowerment and improved health outcomes to economic sustainability and environmental advantages. Urban agriculture initiatives significantly combat food insecurity and systemic disparities by empowering communities with local food control, promoting self-reliance, and offering tangible solutions for accessing nutritious food (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022; Oh & Lu, 2023). Advocates argue that investing in urban agriculture could be more economically viable than attempting to attract supermarkets into neighborhoods (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022). The local food economy also benefits as locally grown products are purchased within the city, circulating money within the community, and reducing overall costs due to decreased transportation and preservation expenses (LeJava & Goonan, 2012). 

Health outcomes among community members also improve as access to fresh, nutritious produce increases, potentially mitigating health disparities in Black communities (Noonan et al., 2016). Practical experience with fresh food positively influences dietary habits, enhancing overall consumption patterns and nutritional knowledge within Black communities and effectively creating educational hubs that promote nutrition awareness (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022; LeJava & Goonan, 2012; Nolet, 2017).  

Urban farming creates job opportunities and fosters skill development by providing training and internships for youth and the unemployed (LeJava & Goonan, 2012; Nolet, 2017). Studies have shown that transforming vacant lots into green urban spaces through urban agriculture initiatives reduces crime rates and instills a sense of community pride (LeJava & Goonan, 2012). From environmental and economic perspectives, urban farming significantly decreases transportation distances, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and costs associated with food transportation from various regions (Colson-Fearon &Versey, 2022; LeJava & Goonan, 2012).  

Due to urban farms’ proximity to customers, urban farms minimize food packaging materials, reduce transportation and storage costs, and reduces global pollution (Kamprad, 2021). Urban farming initiatives mitigate stormwater flows that strain municipal sewage systems by absorbing rainwater into the soil (LeJava & Goonan, 2012). To further minimize the impact of stormwater flow, urban farming utilizes rain barrels and rainwater for irrigation in rooftop gardens. (LeJava & Goonan, 2012) Also, urban gardens and farms contribute to cooler urban temperatures by providing open spaces and vegetation, which regulates excessive local heat (LeJava & Goonan, 2012). 

Barriers 

Urban farming offers numerous advantages to urban communities and enhances food security; however, its implementation faces barriers such as navigating legal complexities, obtaining start-up funds, acquiring land, overcoming environmental obstacles, and addressing staffing needs.

Legal constraints, such as varying regulations imposed by city zoning and homeowners’ associations (HOAs), hinder urban agriculture practices (Kopiyawattage et al., 2019). In numerous urban areas, restrictions prohibit commercial agriculture on smaller land plots, the sale of agricultural produce in residential zones, and the keeping of livestock in residential areas or districts (LeJava & Goonan, 2012; Zambrano-Prado et al., 2021). Understanding and complying with local laws and processes have posed significant challenges for farmers, often leading growers to opt out of practicing agriculture in urban areas due to fears of jeopardizing their businesses (Kopiyawattage et al., 2019). 

The scarcity of quality urban land poses a significant obstacle to producing healthy, locally grown food (Machuka, 2023). Dense urban populations leave limited space for agricultural activities, presenting complications for community members and farmers. Acquiring and maintaining suitable, affordable land for urban agriculture becomes difficult in low-income neighborhoods where land ownership may be restricted (Machuka, 2023). Funding challenges are even greater than those of land acquisition. Urban farmers require staffing, seeds, soil, water, and, in some cases, advanced technologies (Machuka, 2023). Limited nonprofit and government funding for these projects can restrict the access to financial support for farming materials and resources, ultimately diminishing crop yields and quality (Kopiyawattage et al., 2019; Machuka, 2023). 

Concerns about the environment related to soil and water quality emerge when implementing urban agriculture practices. Urban soils often carry various pollutants, including heavy metals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals (Machuka, 2023). This soil contamination poses health risks for farmers and consumers. Therefore, soil testing before planting is crucial. Soil testing will ensure appropriate measures are implemented to remediate contaminated soils (Machuka, 2023). Additionally, farmers must consider that excessive use of fertilizers, insecticides, and manure can contaminate water sources and potentially seep onto adjacent properties or into local water bodies (LeJava & Goonan, 2012). Water availability poses another challenge. Urban farmers must consider the need to balance the demand for water in urban agricultural settings with the strain it might impose on municipal systems, which are often near capacity (Castilo et al., 2013; LeJava & Goonan, 2012). 

A substantial demand for most urban farming initiatives is recruiting and retaining skilled staff or volunteers. A capable workforce with expertise is necessary for the success and sustainability of these projects (Machuka, 2023; Kopiyawattage et al., 2019). Executing food production effectively and efficiently requires significant training (Castilo et al., 2013). For example, when urban soil exhibits low quality, growers may need more expertise to enhance soil health or implement best management practices for irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticide use (Kopiyawattage et al., 2019; Papanek et al., 2023). However, urban growers often need more knowledge regarding production systems, plant lighting, and root-zone environments (Papanek et al., 2023). These knowledge deficits could lead to improper resource allocation, increased costs, and ecological inefficiency within the system. Moreover, obtaining USDA Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) certification is often required for selling food through many distribution channels, ensuring food safety is a priority (Castilo et al., 2013). Unfortunately, many growers remain unaware of the required certifications and government regulations. The distance between training centers and local communities further compounds the issues of obtaining certifications and abiding by government regulations, further hampering the success of urban farming and food distribution (Castilo et al., 2013; Papanek et al., 2023).

Urban Farm Initiatives in the United States  

In response to the growing need for sustainable food sources in urban landscapes, various innovative initiatives and organizations have emerged. These range from community-driven rooftop gardens and neighborhood cooperatives to mission-centric for-profit enterprises utilizing hydroponic and aquaponic systems. However, there remains a noticeable gap in research regarding the impact of these urban farming initiatives on Black communities. Despite this limitation, these initiatives demonstrate the success and positive impact of urban farming, epitomizing resource efficiency and a shared commitment to transforming urban food landscapes and providing healthy, affordable food for those with limited access. 

Growing Power 

In 1993, professional basketball player and son of sharecroppers William Allen bought the last remaining farm in Detroit, Michigan, located 4 miles from the nearest grocery store and five blocks from the closest public housing projects (Hagey et al., 2012; Satterfield, 2018). Allen then created a national nonprofit and land trust organization, Growing Power, which provided northern Milwaukee communities with better access to healthy, high-quality, affordable food and fostered a more sustainable, equitable food system (Hagey et al., 2012; Satterfield, 2018). Growing Power’s programmatic focus was composting and youth mentorship (Satterfield, 2018). Allen began this project with wood garden beds and later added aquaponics (Hagey et al., 2012; Satterfield, 2018). This project eventually grew to 14 greenhouses, livestock pens, and hoop house stands filled with salad greens, arugula, beets, tilapia, perch, beehives, hens, ducks, goats, and turkeys (Hagey et al., 2012). A defining characteristic of Growing Power was the holistic feedback loops of the farm (Satterfield, 2018). The organization produced food using a sophisticated, organic system that relied on recycled waste from local restaurants, breweries, farms, coffee houses, and worms to help generate nutrient-rich compost that helped crops thrive (Satterfield, 2018). Growing Power distributed the food and refurbished soil to retail stores, restaurants, farmers’ markets, schools, and a community-supported agriculture program (Satterfield, 2018). In addition, decorative plants were used for landscaping and then sold to schools and community centers, funding the program’s continuation (Satterfield, 2018).   

Growing Power worked with the local juvenile justice system, training, and rehabilitating children by planting flowers in vacant lots, whereby, according to Allen, they might have otherwise been used for selling drugs (Satterfield, 2018). The organization began fostering schools and community gardens throughout the city. Students learned how to read, write, and grow vegetables (Satterfield, 2018). In the early 2000s, the farm became a training facility providing training, outreach, and technical assistance to share its knowledge with visitors worldwide (Satterfield, 2018). By 2009, Growing Power was selling food online, at farmers’ markets, schools, restaurants, and in below-market community-supported agriculture boxes, reaching more than 10,000 people (Hagey et al., 2012; Satterfield, 2018). Growing Power created various training programs–leadership programs, job trainings for underserved youth, internships, and hands-on workshops—which spread exponentially throughout the region (Hagey et al., 2012; Satterfield, 2018). The funds also supported a Chicago chapter of Growing Power, led by Erika Allen, Will Allen’s daughter (Satterfield, 2018). Despite its many successes, Growing Power faced financial, organizational, and legal challenges (Satterfield, 2018). As a result, Growing Power’s board of directors voted to dissolve the organization in 2017 (Satterfield, 2018). 

City Slicker Farms 

City Slicker Farms (CSF) is an urban agriculture organization rooted in West Oakland dedicated to fulfilling the community’s need for fresh, affordable food. Founded in 2001 by Willow Rosenthal, a food justice advocate, the organization primarily focused on cultivating food on borrowed land (California FreshWorks, 2022; Mann, 2021). Since its inception, CSF has established over 550 backyard gardens and community farms, yielding an annual harvest of over 30,000 pounds of fresh produce (Mann, 2021). CSF initiated weekly farm stands to ensure equitable access, offering produce on a pay-what-you-can basis (California FreshWorks, 2022). Moreover, as a vital part of their food justice initiative, City Slicker Farms conducted comprehensive training programs for youth and adults, empowering them with the skills to grow and cook their food (California FreshWorks, 2022). This effort forged a network of school, community, and backyard gardens and gardeners, nurturing a self-sustaining cycle of food sovereignty (California FreshWorks, 2022). However, the lack of a permanent piece of land meant the organization had to periodically dig up and relocate some of their garden plots (California FreshWorks, 2022).   In 2010, CSF received a $4 million grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation (California FreshWorks, 2022; Mann, 2021). This grant aimed to develop protected green spaces in underserved communities with the stipulation that the designated area had to include a public park (Steinberger, 2015). This grant facilitated the purchase and development of a 1.4-acre brownfield lot, marking the establishment of the West Oakland Farm Park in 2012 (California FreshWorks 2022; Mann, 2021; Steinberger, 2015).  

The West Oakland Farm project faced financial hurdles as CFS had difficulty managing a $4 million project with an annual budget of under $500,000, land acquisition and construction expenses, and guidelines associated with grant funds (California FreshWorks, 2022). With the support of the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), CSF received a bridge loan, which enabled the organization to manage the reimbursement intricacies of the State grant (California FreshWorks, 2022).  Since 2016, the West Oakland Farm Park has become a hub, offering locally sourced food, educational programs for youth, and collaborative workday initiatives for other organizations (Mann, 2021). The community’s vision has manifested in various facets: an outdoor classroom dedicated to urban agriculture education, a nutrition demonstration zone, a market farm, a community garden supporting 28 families, and additional features such as an orchard, a greenhouse, shade structure, a chicken coop, and beehives (California FreshWorks, 2022; Steinberger, 2015).

Gotham Greens 

In 2011, a group of entrepreneurs—Viraj Puri, Eric Haley, and Jenn Frymark—founded Gotham Greens in Brooklyn, NY (Manning, 2021; Sustainable Urban Delta, 2021). This venture emerged from two co-founders recognizing the extensive travel distance of fresh produce from farm to table. After subsequent research, Puri and Healy discovered that nearly 98% of fresh produce in the United States is grown in California or Arizona and travels thousands of miles to its destinations, often resulting in food waste as well as a negative impact on the environment through increased carbon emissions (Taranshansky, 2023). Motivated by this insight, Puri, Haley, and Frymark identified a need and purpose: to establish farms closer to where people reside to promote access to quality, fresh, affordable food year-round (Taranshansky, 2023). 

Today, Gotham Greens consists of 13 high-tech, climate-controlled, data-driven hydroponic greenhouses totaling more than 40 acres in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia (Taranshansky, 2023; Sustainable Urban Delta, 2021). Their sustainable farming methods use up to 95% less water and 97% less land than conventional farming and eliminate agricultural runoff (Taranshansky, 2023).  The Gotham Greens’ product line encompasses an array of fresh greens, herbs, salad dressing, and sauces (Manning, 2021). Gotham Greens’ retail practices have kept the company afloat, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when the food service business was not as profitable (Manning, 2021). Products primarily reach consumers through local markets, grocery chains, and restaurants, fostering a direct connection between urban agriculture and the communities it serves (Manning, 2021). 

As a mission-driven company, Gotham Greens has focused on creating jobs for residents. In addition, they have partnered with schools, community gardens, nonprofits, and businesses to provide healthy food to those in need through environmental, educational, and community initiatives (Sustainable Urban Delta, 2021; Taranshansky, 2023). In 2022, they donated over 44,000 pounds of food to families in need and provided more than 27,000 seedling donations for community gardens and educational purposes (Taranshansky, 2023). The company’s newest endeavor includes a research partnership with the University of California, Davis, to research all aspects of the indoor and urban agriculture industries (Manning, 2021). 

Atlanta’s Community Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill Park 

At the start of 2021, the city of Atlanta opened its first Community Urban Food Forest (CUFF) within Browns Mill Park to address the pressing needs of a food desert (Landau, 2021). This initiative aligned with AgLanta (a program in Atlanta, Georgia, focused on promoting urban agriculture and sustainable food systems in the city) and the City of Atlanta’s Mayor Office of Resilience objectives, intending to drive urban agriculture strategies, engage residents, foster community involvement, and highlight economic prospects for local enterprises. (Landau, 2021). CUFF is the largest public food forest (eg.an agroforestry system that mimics the structure and functions of a natural forest ecosystem but is designed primarily to produce food) in the nation, spanning 7.1 acres (The Conservation Fund, n.d.). It was once a functional family farm where the original owners provided produce to local community members (The Conservation Fund, n.d.). It is a thriving seven-layer ecosystem (e.g. canopy, understory, shrub, herbaceous, ground cover, rhizosphere, vertical layers) cultivating medicinal herbs, vegetables, and fruits (The Conservation Fund, n.d.). This multi-tiered forest supplies an array of produce, addressing the food needs of community members, especially those lacking easy access to fresh and nutritious options (Eccles, 2021). 

In cooperation with organizations such as The Conservation Fund and the Greening Youth Foundation, CUFF has maintained and expanded this community-driven concept. CUFF has introduced a workforce development program, providing participants with stipends and comprehensive training in practical and technical skills. This initiative aims to equip individuals for potential employment in the green sector while focusing on agricultural and environmental education for all ages (The Conservation Fund, n.d.). This innovative initiative is poised to deliver enduring advantages for nearby communities, ensuring equitable access to sustenance and fostering long-term community well-being (The Conservation Fund, n.d.). 

Urban farming initiatives like Growing Power, Gotham Greens, City Slicker Farms, and Atlanta’s Community Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill Park contribute significantly to food security in Black communities. They employ diverse approaches, ranging from community-driven models to high-tech hydroponic systems and expansive food forests. While all initiatives have shown success, Gotham Greens, City Slicker Farms, and Atlanta’s Community Urban Food Forest have sustained longevity due to diverse funding and sustainable business models. The premature dissolution of Growing Power emphasizes the need to address financial, organizational, and legal hurdles for sustainability. Learning from setbacks and actively supporting urban farming programs is crucial for lasting impacts on food security and community well-being. Successful models set a precedent, encouraging more start-ups and initiatives to explore diverse funding streams and sustainable practices. However, closures serve as cautionary tales deterring communities from implementing initiatives and highlighting the need for reevaluation within the sector. The resilience and innovation of these initiatives demonstrate the potential of urban farming to transform food landscapes and improve the lives of individuals and communities.

Unlocking Potential: AI Integration in Urban Farming

The exploration of artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration into urban farming can be pivotal to understanding innovative agricultural practices. While urban farming initiatives have been essential in enhancing food security within Black communities, integrating AI introduces a new dimension to the agricultural landscape. Comprehending the intersection of AI and urban farming involves investigating how advanced technologies, traditionally associated with conventional agriculture, hold the potential to fortify food security in urban settings.

AI and Traditional Farming

Traditional farming, typically conducted on vast rural land far from densely populated urban centers, is distinct from urban farming but provides valuable insights. Technological advancements applied in traditional farming methods can serve as a blueprint for innovating urban farming practices.

Advanced technology has reshaped farming practices as the demand for increased food production escalates (Wipro, 2019). Researchers, farmers, and agricultural companies are actively exploring new methods, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), to boost production while curbing waste (Wipro, 2019). In 2021, approximately 87% of agriculture companies used AI technology on farms (Bassett, 2023). AI-driven solutions exhibit the potential to enhance efficiency, augment production volumes, and elevate overall quality (Wipro, 2019). Furthermore, AI’s predictive capacities enable proactive measures against crop diseases, pests, and adverse weather conditions, ultimately safeguarding harvests (Talaviya et al., 2020). The following AI applications encompass a spectrum of technologies that have revolutionized traditional farming practices to date: 

• Precision farming optimizes resource utilization by precisely administering water, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, thus minimizing waste, and enhancing crop yields (Dongre, 2023; Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). For instance, AI sprayers significantly reduce chemical volume and herbicide expenditure, improving agricultural produce quality and cost efficiency (Wipro, 2019). 
• Crop monitoring systems powered by AI in conjugation with sensors, drones, and satellites, offer real-time insights into crop health, facilitating early detection of diseases, nutrient deficiencies, or pest infestations (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). 
• Predictive analytics leverage machine learning algorithms to forecast weather patterns, disease outbreaks, yield estimations, and assist farmers in proactive decision-making (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). 
• Smart machinery and robotics integrated with AI capabilities streamline planting, harvesting, and sorting tasks, heightening efficiency and reducing labor requirements (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). 
• Decision support systems analyze complex datasets, offering tailored recommendations for planting schedules, irrigation strategies, and more (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). 

AI enhances farmers’ access to valuable market intelligence. AI-powered tools provide critical market insights, pricing trends, and demand forecasts, empowering farmers to strategically decide crop selection and sales strategies (Dhanaraju, 2022; Kewte, 2023). These insights bolster farmers’ ability to optimize yields and navigate competitive markets effectively (Dhanaraju et al., 2022; Kewte, 2023). Additionally, AI facilitates educational advancements by offering learning platforms that equip individuals with skills in technology, data analytics, and sustainable farming practices, thereby expanding opportunities and fostering economic resilience within agricultural communities (Kewte, 2023). 

As separate initiatives, urban farming and AI practices in traditional farming have increased access to food, reduced food waste, and positively impacted the environment. Artificial intelligence combined with urban farming holds promise in advancing existing advantages, refining agricultural methods, and contributing to equity by decentralizing food production (Steenkemp et al., 2021). Within Black communities, the integration of AI in urban farming holds the promise of optimizing resource utilization, increasing productivity, and bolstering food security. However, while these AI-driven practices offer benefits, they also introduce challenges and disparities. Understanding the opportunities and challenges in promoting sustainable and equitable food systems can provide valuable guidance for individuals seeking to engage in urban agriculture initiatives and navigate AI adoption. 

Use of AI Technology in Urban Farming Methods

Like AI technology in traditional farming methods, AI can span various aspects of urban farming, from crop sowing and livestock monitoring to product distribution. Techniques like data-driven decision-making and crop planning utilize agricultural data to optimize crop selection, planting schedules, and resource allocation, aiding growers in informed decision-making (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). Machine learning applications analyze plant responses, enabling customized growing strategies. These algorithms also analyze genetic data to develop resilient and productive plant varieties resistant to pests, diseases, or environmental stressors (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). Moreover, automated farming processes that employ AI-powered robots and systems for every step of the growing and distribution processes, can lead to reduced labor costs and constant crop monitoring and management (Talaviya et al., 2020).

There are many opportunities for advancement in crop monitoring through AI. For instance, indoor vertical farming leverages AI algorithms to analyze light, temperature, nutrient levels, and humidity data (Oh & Lu, 2023). These insights facilitate adjustments to LED lighting and climate control systems, optimizing conditions for plant growth within confined vertical spaces (Oh & Lu, 2023). This precision-driven approach ensures optimal conditions for robust plant growth and fosters higher yields within limited urban settings (Dongre, 2023; Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). Precision agriculture capitalizes on data from sensors, drones, and satellites to monitor crop health, soil moisture, and nutrient levels (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). This information aids in precise irrigation, fertilization, and pest control, effectively utilizing resources and maximizing crop productivity.  

Urban farmers can proactively use predictive analytics to address disease, pest detection, and crop management. Disease detection and management employs AI-powered image recognition systems to identify plant diseases or nutrient deficiencies by analyzing images of leaves or crops (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). Early identification allows for timely intervention and treatment, mitigating potential damages. Predictive analytics in pest management use historical and real-time data to forecast pest outbreaks. Proactive approaches enable urban farmers to anticipate issues and execute targeted interventions, reducing pesticide use and minimizing crop damage (Talaviya et al., 2020). AI-integrated automated irrigation systems use sensors and algorithms to deliver precise amounts of water at optimal times, minimizing waste and ensuring ideal hydration for crops within urban environments (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). AI-powered robotics with advanced machine vision and manipulation capabilities can improve harvesting tasks’ precision and efficiency in urban farming setups (Talaviya et al., 2020). Similarly, AI algorithms are instrumental in supply chain optimization, accurately predicting demand, managing inventory, and orchestrating efficient transportation routes (Javaid et al., 2023; Talaviya et al., 2020). AI-driven systems track and manage food waste by monitoring consumption patterns, optimizing inventory, and proposing viable options for donation or recycling. This minimizes waste and ensures the quick delivery of fresh produce to consumers.  

The use of AI extends beyond crops, as it also benefits livestock monitoring. Like in crop management, predictive analytics can control diseases among animals. AI can forecast and preempt potential disease outbreaks by using historical data on disease outbreaks, weather patterns, and animal health (Electric Solenoid Valves, 2023). AI-powered sensors and monitoring systems prioritize the health of animals by tracking vital signs, behavior patterns, and health metrics (Neethirajan, 2023). Real-time analysis of this data helps identify early signs of illness or distress, facilitating timely intervention and treatment (Neethirajan, 2023). Feed management can also benefit from AI algorithms that optimize feed formulation tailored to nutritional requirements, growth stages, and health conditions (Neethirajan, 2023). Algorithms can predict optimal breeding times for better reproductive outcomes. Automated monitoring and control systems regulate environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and ventilation in livestock housing (Electric Solenoid Valves, 2023). The use of AI technology allows the farmer to control and ensure optimal living conditions for livestock by observing the actions of animal behavior patterns, detecting signs of stress, discomfort, or irregular behavior (Neethirajan, 2023).

Barriers to Implementation and Utilization

While AI has promising impacts, introducing advanced technology in urban farming may amplify the existing challenges linked to implementation and utilization. Like traditional farmers, Black urban farmers face disproportionate challenges due to barriers hindering the adoption of traditional and urban farming methods. The upfront costs of launching urban farming initiatives can create barriers, particularly for individuals and communities with limited financial resources (Hutchison-Everett, 2023).  Investing in AI technology can increase farmers’ overhead expenses, increasing the selling price of food items to offset costs. Some farmers said that the potential increase in food prices deterred them from considering AI technology because they wanted to continue to provide affordable food to the community. These challenges contribute to urban farmers’ difficulty to conceptualize or identify the benefits of investing in AI technology, thereby constraining their willingness to investment.

In addition to the cost of AI technology and other resources, Black farmers are skeptical about using and trusting essential AI software and machinery. Black farmers fear being surveilled and tracked (Davis & Love, personal communication, January 17, 2024). These concerns indicate that limited access to AI education and training could impede the adoption of AI in urban farming initiatives currently operating in Black communities. An inability to utilize AI software and machinery can exacerbate the technological divide, particularly when other communities leverage advanced technologies to enhance food accessibility. This disparity may hinder and further marginalize Black communities without access to or knowledge of innovative agricultural technologies. The technological gap, combined with limited agricultural experience, financial challenges, and fears, may discourage community buy-in, which is necessary as it directly impacts the implementation of urban farming or other community-based initiatives.

Benefits of Implementation

Research (Brown & Jameton, 2000; George, 2013; Gripper, 2023; Lejava & Goonan, 2012; Noonan, 2016) indicates that establishing urban farming initiatives in Black communities has the potential for many positive outcomes, such as enhanced physical and mental health, increased employment, educational prospects, community resilience, and reduced crime rates. Integrating AI technology increases the chances of achieving these outcomes by streamlining farming practices, optimizing resource management, boosting yield, and curtailing waste and harmful chemicals.  Researchers propose that elevated food yields in communities lacking healthy food sources translate to improved access to affordable food and nutrition (Seigner, 2018). Similarly, using AI in urban farming methods can produce healthier food by reducing the number of pesticides used on crops and preventing the growing of produce in contaminated areas (Wipro, 2019). Safe, nutritious food options address immediate food needs and present opportunities to educate residents on healthy dietary habits (United States Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]; n.d.). In addition, access to healthier food choices and knowledge is a catalyst for improved health outcomes, which is important for the Black community since they are often disproportionately impacted by prevalent chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes impacted by nutrition (HHS, n.d.).  AI utilization within urban farming practices also contributes to improving air quality. Innovative AI-powered techniques, such as vertical farming, introduce green spaces and mitigate the carbon footprint associated with long-distance produce transportation (Taranshansky, 2023). The potential improvement in air quality specifically benefits Black communities by reducing respiratory ailments such as asthma, which disproportionately affects Black children (Office of Minority Health; n.d.).

Urban farming initiatives incorporating AI technology allow for economic growth and educational advancement within the Black community. Using AI in urban farming opens doors for innovation and entrepreneurship. Community members can create innovative AI tools or systems designed to meet urban farming requirements. There is also the possibility of creating AI-powered urban farms owned and operated by Black individuals. Black-owned urban farms established in Black communities can create job opportunities for community members. AI integration in urban farming can create new roles beyond traditional farming skills. For example, individuals skilled in or willing to learn about technology, data analysis, and AI management would have opportunities to be employed in AI system maintenance, data analysis, precision farming, and software development. Introducing technology into urban farming practices presents a promising avenue to capture the attention and enthusiasm of the younger Black generation, which has shown little interest in farming and the agriculture industry, in part due to experiences of trauma, physical and economic struggles, and a perceived lack of return on investment (Davis & Love, personal communication, January 17, 2024).

Many urban farms serve as educational hubs for community members. Incorporating AI technology into urban farming methods can expand the education potential of urban farms by introducing school-aged children to AI, STEM, and technology, as well as internships for teenagers and adults. Furthermore, initiatives to integrate AI into farming within Black communities often require community organizers, coordinators, and outreach specialists. These roles focus on community engagement, ensuring the technology is effectively used and benefits all community members. Increased access to education, job opportunities, green spaces, and food necessities can also decrease crime rates within urban and low-income communities (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011).

Consequences of Implementation

It is crucial to address potential drawbacks in the implementation of urban farming programs. Gentrification emerges as a significant concern due to its historical impact on Black residents in urban areas targeted by farming initiatives. Some urban farming projects, by enhancing green spaces and fostering businesses, have demonstrated the capacity to raise property values, potentially contributing to displacement (McClintock, 2008; McClintock et al., 2018). The integration of advanced technology by technology companies in urban settings may attract higher-educated homeowners, reshaping demographics and displacing lower-educated renters (Qian, 2022). While neighborhood development can positively change Black communities, carefully considering the effects of increased business activities, green space introduction, and technological advancements is essential. The incorporation of AI technology in urban farming, while holding promise, poses the risk of unintended consequences, including potential displacement of Black residents and undermining the intended benefits of improved food access, job opportunities, and a safer environment.

Introducing high-tech jobs through AI technology may not necessarily benefit Black urban residents as individuals with more technology and work experience may not come from the local community. This challenges the assumption that new job opportunities will be accessible to Black residents. Additionally, integrating AI into urban farming changes the skill requirements, diminishing the demand for traditional farming expertise. This shift further limits job availability for the community, as fewer individuals with traditional farming experience may find opportunities within the evolving landscape of urban farming initiatives.

Biases in AI algorithms also present a challenge when implementing AI technology in urban farming programs. AI algorithms are created by humans who possess unique biases and draw from historical datasets and research (Leffer, 2023). AI algorithms may inherit biases present in the data used to train them. If the datasets used do not adequately represent the knowledge and diverse needs of Black communities, there is a risk of perpetuating existing disparities for growers and consumers. If the training data favors certain crops, it could lead to inaccurate harvests or the reduction of culturally significant or locally preferred crops.

Integrating AI technology in urban farming operations can cause overreliance on systems for crop management, irrigation, and monitoring tasks. While AI can enhance efficiency, there is a risk of vulnerability if the technology faces disruptions or malfunctions. In the event of technical difficulties, the farm’s operations could be severely impacted, potentially leading to reduced crop yields, financial losses, and challenges meeting community needs for fresh produce. This dependency on technology underscores the importance of implementing robust contingency plans, ensuring resilience against technical failures, and providing adequate training for community members to address minor issues.

Policy Recommendations

Enact the Justice for Black Farmers Act. In the 118th Congress (2023-2024), Representative Alma Adams (D-NC) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) reintroduced this crucial legislation. The proposed bill aims to rectify the historical discrimination faced by Black farmers and ranchers, necessitating reforms within the Department of Agriculture to prevent future injustices. The legislation encompasses various provisions, including establishing a Farm Conservation Corps to equip young adults from socially disadvantaged groups with the skills essential for careers in farming and ranching. Additionally, it allocates funding for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to initiate and expand courses focused on agriculture or related disciplines. Furthermore, the legislation (a) addresses issues related to farmland ownership and succession; (b) expands credit assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, boosts funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program; and (c) prioritizes socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers for conservation technical assistance, the Conservation Stewardship Program, and the Rural Energy for America Program. While this legislation specifically focuses on addressing historical and ongoing discrimination against Black farmers in rural areas, some provisions of the act (i.e. increasing access to land, providing funding for agricultural education, supporting sustainable farming practices, credit assistance and funding for local agriculture programs) could indirectly benefit urban farmers as well. The broader goals of addressing systemic inequalities in agriculture could have positive implications for urban farming too.

Prioritize increased investments in public housing initiatives and affordable housing programs. Public housing and affordable housing programs offer housing solutions for eligible low-income individuals and families. By strategically investing in these programs, both the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and local governments can address housing needs and allow families to allocate more of their income to food. Expanding qualification criteria for these programs can ensure that residents who rent their homes can remain in the community even amidst urban farming initiatives that lead to potential development or other investments. This approach is designed to prevent the displacement of long-standing community members who were there before the implementation of new projects. 

Implement property tax breaks or sustain property tax fees for low-income areas where urban farming initiatives are introduced. Introducing property tax breaks or maintaining affordable property tax fees in low-income areas is a potential solution to support communities experiencing or vulnerable to gentrification due to the introduction of urban farming initiatives. This policy would alleviate the financial burden on current residents in evolving neighborhoods, ensuring that community members can continue to afford their homes despite the local real estate landscape changes. This protective measure counteracts displacement and ensures that existing residents withstand the changes and benefit from the positive development within their community.

Implement flexible zoning regulations to permit crop expansion, cultivation, and distribution on non-commercial land within Black and low-income communities. Local governments should enact community land-use zoning policies to expand designated areas suitable for agricultural development, particularly within urban settings. These policies should also incorporate distribution regulations that empower growers to sell and distribute their products to community members efficiently.

Enhance access to fair and non-predatory lending options. Historically, Blacks have faced systemic challenges, including denied loans and the imposition of predatory terms for personal and business financing. Many Black farmers have described struggling to maintain their land and businesses hindered by a lack of financial resources. Banks and farm loan agencies offering equitable lending options empower traditional and urban Black farmers to establish and sustain their enterprises but also contribute to the reversal of the decline in Black farmers in the United States. Additionally, fair lending practices facilitate the provision of affordable, nutritious food to Black communities.

Design curricula integrating AI and cutting-edge technology within agricultural studies at colleges and universities. In the United States, 213 colleges and universities offer agriculture degrees and courses. Universities should enrich their curricula with AI education to benefit students pursuing agricultural careers and entrepreneurship post-graduation. Implementing modules that focus on machine learning, computer vision, robotics, and data analytics specifically tailored to agricultural contexts is essential. This can be achieved through collaboration across departments such as agricultural science, engineering, computer science, and data science. Proficiency in technology and agriculture is crucial for farmers and employees implementing AI-powered urban farming initiatives. Additionally, older Black farmers express uncertainty about whether younger generations will embrace farming due to perceived challenges in labor and profitability. Introducing younger individuals to how advanced technologies can benefit and be profitable in agriculture contributes to increasing the number of Black farmers in the United States.

Intensify research efforts to explore the challenges confronting Black farmers and growers, along with the influence of AI on their agricultural practices. While research indicates the advantages of incorporating AI technology into conventional farming methods, there is a notable underutilization of these innovations among Black farmers. A research gap exists, specifically in studies exploring and evaluating the implementation of AI in both traditional and urban agriculture for Black farmers and the broader Black community.

Create government-backed agricultural infrastructure funds. Government agencies and private organizations should invest in constructing and operating community-based agricultural infrastructure. Establishing dedicated funds that prioritize the development and upkeep of agricultural facilities, including processing centers and storage facilities, with a specific emphasis on affordability for Black agricultural entrepreneurs, is paramount. This approach ensures that Black urban farmers secure the necessary funding for start-up costs and sustain their businesses effectively.

Establish affordable agricultural land trusts. The establishment of Affordable Agricultural Land Trusts, explicitly focusing on acquiring and preserving land for Black urban growers and traditional farmers, can be achieved by allocating public funds. This initiative ensures that Black growers have the necessary resources to acquire and manage affordable agricultural land.

Promote workforce diversity in technology companies. To reduce biases in AI software and machinery, tech companies must prioritize diversity in their workforce. Technology companies must make a concerted effort to recruit, hire, and train employees from diverse backgrounds.

Conclusion

Black communities continue to bear a disproportionate burden of food insecurity, a consequence of systemic issues such as racism, poverty, and divestment in low-income areas. The impact of an individual’s access to food and experiences with hunger extends to their health outcomes, financial stability, and overall livelihood. In addressing this challenge, urban farming emerges as a transformative technique, particularly in underserved communities. Successful urban farming initiatives, including Growing Power, City Slicker Farms, Gotham Greens, and the Atlanta Food Forest, have effectively heightened access to nutritious and affordable food while fostering community education. Advanced technologies, like vertical and hydroponic farming methods, showcase innovation in action. Similar to farming innovation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has great potential to amplify crop yields, reduce costs, and mitigate environmental pollution in agriculture. Much like their traditional counterparts, urban farmers face formidable hurdles in acquiring land, accessing capital and resources, and securing essential loans and funding—obstacles that impede the successful establishment or sustainability of growing initiatives. Of particular concern is the disproportionate impact of these challenges on Black growers compared to their white counterparts, considering that only 1% of farmers in the United States identify as Black. Compounding these difficulties, urban farmers may encounter obstacles in adopting AI practices due to a lack of knowledge and accessibility to AI-related materials. A critical research gap exists in exploring the experiences of Black farmers with advanced technology and AI-driven methods. This void underscores the urgency for a comprehensive exploration of AI’s impact on traditional Black farming and urban farming within Black communities. Gaining insights into how AI adoption intersects with traditional and urban agricultural methods becomes imperative in addressing challenges, identifying opportunities for urban growers, and advancing food security through targeted policies and programming.

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Studies about environmental crime have grown exponentially within the past 20 years; however, studies focusing on the impacts of crime as it relates to victimization receive little attention within this context (Bisschop & Vande Walle, 2013; Hall, 2013). Environmental victimization raises questions that the criminal legal system has not yet addressed (Hall, 2013). Specifically, why are there high rates of cancer and other diseases among communities that live near refineries and petrochemical plants and what are the financial impacts on these local communities? The literature demonstrates an unequal geographic distribution of health hazards and differential risks of exposure, causing minoritized communities to bear the brunt of their impact (Bryant, 1995; Chakraborty & Zandbergen, 2007; Goldman, 1993; Linder et al., 2008). Aside from direct exposure to potential environmental hazards, people living near industrial complexes, such as oil and natural gas refineries, may suffer indirect or less noticeable consequences like soil contamination, substandard housing, limited neighborhood amenities, and reduced safety (Maantay, 2001; Sexton, 1997), as well as various adverse health outcomes, such as different forms of cancer, low-birth, preterm, heart defects in infants, and other reproductive consequences (Axelsson et al., 2010; Collins et al., 2016; Johnson et al., 2003; Lin et al., 2018; Linos et al., 1991; Sans et al., 1995; Simonsen et al., 2010; Weng et al., 2008; Williams et al., 2020; Wilkinson et al., 1999; Yu et al., 2006). These communities may have residents who are not knowledgeable about the hazards that surround them or are socioeconomically disadvantaged. This puts them at a greater risk for debilitating health outcomes as they lack access to adequate resources to address direct and indirect effects of environmental hazards or resistance to the placement of industrial corporations (O’Neill et al., 2003).  

This study uses an environmental justice lens to explore environmental victimization through the lived experiences of Black residents in areas near oil/gas and petrochemical plants. Illuminating factors, such as risk perception, perceptions of victimization, health, and economic impact, are important to inform justice policy and the implementation of infrastructure that will improve community outcomes near environmental hazards. The current study begins with a review of prior research and provides a framework for the study centered on environmental justice, environmental racism, and environmental victimization. This research spotlights the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry in Texas and Louisiana, highlighting notable cases of environmental harms, and the region of study. A description of the study’s methodology, followed by an analysis of the data is presented. Finally, a discussion of results and policy implications is provided.  

Early research on environmental justice underscores that conditions, such as environmental racism are a reason hazardous facilities are located in racial minority and impoverished communities, with race being a significant factor (Bailey & Faupel, 1992; Berry et al., 1977; Bullard, 1983, 1993; Comacho, 1998; Goldman & Fitton, 1994; LaDuke, 1993). However, research that has examined social demographics and proximity to hazardous facilities and environmental hazards have resulted in mixed conclusions (Ash & Fetter, 2004; Been, 1995; Brown et al., 1997; Bullard et al., 2007; Downey, 2005; Glickman et al., 1995; Pastor et al., 2006; Zahran et al., 2008). Regardless, the link between pollution, health, and financial impacts is complex, as communities are exposed to different sources of pollution (Johnston & Cushing, 2020) and thus requires further examination. Moreover, the conceptualization of environmental victimization, an emerging field within environmental justice, is important to explore. Community members’ risk perception of nearby hazardous facilities influences corporate decisions on facility placement and drives environmental community groups to advocate for better local conditions.

Environmental Justice 

Environmental movements are frequently associated with upper and middle-class white Americans who possess high levels of education and economic resources (Bullard, 2020). Despite the environmental movement hinting at pollution and environmental degradation in the 1950s and 1960s, environmental justice (EJ) began gaining traction in the 1970s and 1980s (Maantay et al., 2010; Taylor, 2014; Walker, 2012). The 1980s catapulted the EJ movement via grassroots activism, notably the 1982 protests in Warren County, North Carolina, against a hazardous landfill (Villarosa, 2020). The movement seeks to address and rectify the inequities in environmental protection and resource distribution, ensuring communities have equal access to a healthy environment. Further, as the environmental movement expands to encompass greater racial and socioeconomic diversity, there is a growing recognition by scholars and activists that marginalized groups are disproportionately subjected to environmental stressors such as localized water and air pollution, toxic chemical leaks, and litter and solid waste pollution (Bullard, 2020).  

Broadly speaking, EJ encompasses all aspects of society deemed unsustainable by general health standards, including industrialization, pollution, overpopulation, energy consumption, and resource depletion (Maantay et al., 2010). The fundamental principles of EJ aim to ensure the right to protection from environmental hazards, prevent harm, shift the burden of proof from the environment to criminogenic actors, avoid the requirement of proving intent, and address existing inequities affecting underserved communities (Bullard, 2001). The framing of EJ within the United States by environmental scholars exhibits several key characteristics.  

• There is a notable emphasis on the politics of race, particularly the structure of grassroots civil rights activism (Scholsberg, 1999; 2013; Taylor, 2000). The rise of grassroots activism among communities and victims of environmental toxins is rooted in social justice, challenging corporations’ practices of site distribution based on sociodemographic factors, such as race, gender, and class, and addressing the power imbalance between citizens and corporations (Capek, 1993).  
• The movement differentiates itself from an ecological standpoint by focusing on justice for the people, shifting attention from environmental harm against nature to the well-being of communities (Agyeman et al., 2003).  
• The initial narrow focus on environmental boundaries centers on pollution and waste, highlighting the significance of toxic waste distribution and air pollution (Benford, 2005; Mutz et al., 2002).  
• Distributive justice emphasizes pursuing participatory justice, where individuals and communities actively advocate for themselves in environmental justice dialogues (Scholsberg, 2007; 2013; Wenz, 1988).  
• Attention is directed towards blame and responsibility, specifically focusing on corporate and industry actors, acknowledging the influential role of industrial power in establishing corporations that inherently produce environmental toxins affecting various communities (Gouldson, 2006).  
• There is an expansion in the scales of analysis used in research within the movement. For example, environmental issues are internationally conducted, and not just domestically. 
• The role of the government and its agencies, such as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is pivotal in safeguarding and establishing regulations to mitigate environmental harms (Block & Whitehead, 1999; Holifield, 2001; 2004).  

Traditional perspectives on EJ center around the interplay among race, poverty, and the placement of hazardous waste sites (Walker, 2012). The contemporary EJ movement spearheaded by grassroot organizations and activists has elevated the importance of age, indigenous people, gender, and individuals with disabilities (Capek, 1993; Faber, 2008; Kurtz, 2007; Taylor, 2000), shedding light on the significance of policies and regulations concerning social inequities, and proximity to industrial corporations. This attention underscores the disproportionate impact on minoritized communities (Banzhaf et al., 2019).        

Early scholars scrutinized the framing of the Environmental Justice (EJ) movement in the United States, particularly examining the community struggles over waste sites in minoritized communities during the 1980s (Capek, 1993). Capek (1993) documented how these communities mobilized against pollution and contamination threats, employing civil rights discourse to advocate for their safety. Building on this foundation, subsequent research highlights how this discourse underscores environmental racism, emphasizing citizens’ rights to a clean and healthy environment (Benford, 2005). 

Environmental Racism 

Environmental racism is how society burdens minoritized communities with environmental policies that impose harmful effects yet benefit others (Fisher, 1994). Environmental racism is perceived as an element of racial capitalism—a system that relies on mistreatment of racialized people for capitalist gain (Robinson, 2023). Additionally, environmental racism is situated in long histories of oppression and deprivation of minoritized communities through colonialism, slavery, and racial capitalism (Kojola & Pellow, 2021; Pulido et al., 2016). Examples of such oppression include the creation of fence-line communities in where minorities resided. Fence-line communities, or areas that are situated near hazardous or toxic waste facilities, have predominantly Black residents—upwards of 75% compared to other racial/ethnic groups (Fleischman & Franklin, 2017). Compared to white Americans, Black Americans experience higher levels of air pollution irrespective of income (Mikati et al., 2018). Black Americans are further exposed to pollutions from the burning of fossil fuels at a rate of 1.5 times more than other Americans. This is associated with negative health effects such as lung and heart disease, as well as early death (Mikati et al., 2018; Villarosa, 2020).  

Examples of past environmental harms towards Black communities during the early stages of the EJ movement include a) the Ward Transformer Company dumping gallons of oil with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Warren County, North Carolina (Villarosa, 2020); b) the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) finding that 75% of communities near Warren County, North Carolina where off-site waste landfills are found consisted of predominantly Black neighborhoods (U.S. GAO, 1983); c) the siting patterns of waste dumps in Houston, Texas are placed in predominantly Black neighborhoods and near schools; d) racial disparities existing in the siting of hazardous waste in New Jersey (Greenberg & Anderson, 1984).; and e) the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice revealing that race is a significant predictor of hazardous waste facility locations in the U.S. compared to other factors, such as income, home value, and amount of waste generated (United Church of Christ, 1987; see Figure 1).  

After the Congressional Black Caucus pressured the EPA officials to address the disparate impact of pollution on minoritized communities in 1994, the EPA created the Office of Environmental Justice (formerly Office of Environmental Equity) (Villarosa, 2020). President Bill Clinton issued an executive order to address the health and environmental conditions of these communities. The government established a grant program to support grassroots organizations dedicated to EJ issues (Villarosa, 2020). The EPA created environmental statutes to protect U.S. citizens from exposure to high levels of toxins both in air and water (Keehan, 2018). Despite the designation of these federal laws by Congress to protect citizens, the EPA and state environmental agencies’ unequal enforcement of these laws perpetuated environmental racism in certain areas (Keehan, 2018). 

            Racists create disparities by bestowing advantages upon a particular racial or ethnic group, often to the detriment of others (Kaufman & Hajat, 2021). The distribution of power and privilege is not uniform across locations and time periods, as the features of the human environment change (Kaufman & Hajat, 2021). This uneven distribution allows for racist individuals to influence structures and institutions in order to shape the environments where individuals reside, engage in recreational activities, and work. Environmental racism stands as a crucial element within this overarching system of oppression (Kaufman & Hajat, 2021).  

Environmental Victimization 

The intentional placement of zoning and siting practices to target minoritized communities challenges the understanding of environmental victimization (Natali, 2015). Three components encompass environmental victimization, directly conflicting with traditional criminological perspectives (Natali, 2015). First, harm is not individualistic but can involve groups of people or communities of victims. Second, environmental offenders are often corporations or the State. Finally, establishing causality is complex, which leads to the notion that these crimes are ‘victimless’ (Bisschop & Vande Walle, 2013).  

Techniques of denying environmental crimes and the lack of accountability hinder efforts to establish causality and assign responsibility to offending parties in the victim-offender relationship (Natali, 2015). Neutralization strategies include denial that there is a problem and blaming or causing confusion among victims, thus hindering any progress towards the establishment of environmental victimization (Cohen, 2001; Natalia, 2015; Williams, 1996). Moreover, even if a clear causal relationship between environmental offenders and victims cannot be established, particularly concerning adverse health outcomes, neutralization techniques used by these corporations may still exacerbate the health and financial consequences for residents. These corporations are not held criminally responsible, further worsening the situation (Brown, 2013; Lynch & Barrett, 2015). For example, after the catastrophic oil spill from the British Petroleum-owned Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, BP distributed a massive public relations campaign to rehabilitate its reputation. This campaign involved Dawn dish soap, and the cleaning of ducks covered in oil by the soap. Television commercials showed volunteers cleaning up the beaches and water where the oil spill occurred. Volunteers cleaned ducks who suffered from oil getting in their feathers, with Dawn dish soap. The advertisement is about Dawn dish soap but was backed by BP oil company. Years after, the oil spill is better associated with the use Dawn dish soap than the fact that the BP company had faulty foundation for the oil rig causing the massive spillage and economic suffering of those along the Gulf Coast region. The use of the Dawn detergent campaign “neutralized” the company of wrongdoing by shifting the focus of attention. Therefore, it is important to explore the concept of environmental victimization as an active social process involving power dynamics, control, and resistance (Natali, 2013; White, 2011).   

HISTORY OF THE OIL/GAS AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN TEXAS AND LOUISIANA 

The oil refinery industry is a core component of global economics, with oil fluctuations contributing to economic success and failure of countries (Carpenter & Wagner, 2019). In addition, the fossil fuel industry is associated with exerting a disproportionate influence on U.S. foreign policy (Coll, 2012). Oil has been associated with 25 to 50% of interstate conflicts since 1973 (Colgan, 2013).  Texas and Louisiana are the largest oil producers in the United States. Louisiana has 15 operating refineries producing approximately 3 million barrels per day (bpd), while Texas has and 32 operating refineries in Texas producing approximately 6 million bpd (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2021). The advancements in fracturing techniques have significantly increased oil and natural gas production within the past decade (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2021). The chemicals released during the fracturing process include carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and mutagens which can infiltrate nearby environments through spills, leaks, and wastewater disposal (Colborn et al., 2011; Kassotis et al., 2016; Stringfellow et al., 2017). An estimated 17 million people (roughly the population of state of New York) who live in primarily rural neighborhoods near areas containing oil and gas extractions are at a constant risk of exposure to hazardous spills (Czolowski et al., 2017; Maloney et al., 2017). A consequence of living in rural locations is that these areas commonly rely on unrestricted groundwater resources leading to possible exposure to contaminated drinking water (Elliott et al., 2018).  

Health and Economic Impacts: Notable Cases 

The environmental risks for residential areas near industrial refineries include soil pollution, water and air pollution, and hazardous waste that can cause detrimental health and financial impacts. Whereas government officials and petrochemical experts understand the risks imposed by the placement of these facilities, these risks are often not properly communicated to residents. As a result, residents are left out of conversations surrounding policy decisions (Janmaiimool & Watanabe, 2014). The nuanced understanding of environmental risks from refineries impacts risk-related decision-making and perceptions of risks. Risk perception of residents is important to understand environmental victimization, especially when residents are confronted with harmful situations and consideration of economic benefits (Paek & Hove, 2017). For example, a survey demonstrates that 56.3% of community members were willing to accept health risks associated with an industrial facility if it meant better job opportunities (Bullard, 2020). However, job availability or security is not guaranteed and does not always increase based on a facility being built and opened (Bullard, 2020). Therefore, understanding the risks and benefits of placing hazardous facilities in residential communities is important. Moreover, acknowledging the disproportionate placement of these facilities in minoritized communities is crucial to improving the health and economic outcomes of environmental victims.  

Cancer Alley 

Cancer Alley, an area along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, Louisiana, has over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries (Keehan, 2018). Within this region, approximately 46 per 1,000,000 individuals are at risk for cancer, with the national average around 30 per 1,000,000, a rate almost 1.5 times higher (Keehan, 2018). Since Louisiana, like Texas, has large concentrations of oil and natural gas, like Texas, the state also has the most petrochemical plants. Consequently, this area of the United States has the sixth-highest cancer mortality rate (Keehan, 2018). 

The siting of petrochemical plants in Cancer Alley traces back to Louisiana’s historical practices of redlining, which further exposed Black residents to hazards that exacerbated their health through the present day (Mizutani, 2019). Redlining and residential segregation became widespread during the industrialization of the South (Mizutani, 2019). Redlining occurs when institutions discriminate against certain areas or residents by refusing to extend loans or insurance to properties in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. (Castellon, 2021). During Jim Crow in Louisiana, redlining was a defining policy of the time. In LA, White people forced Black people to move to poorly drained areas in New Orleans in the mid-1800s. The continuation of restrictive policies concerning residential areas and building permits in white neighborhoods caused Black people to reside in ill-fated to poorly constructed areas (Mizutani, 2019; Pastor et al., 2006). These policies and practices led to a geographical makeup of this area in Louisiana, where whites lived above sea level on elevated grounds, and Blacks lived in swampy areas. Further, living in swamp-like areas led Black people to contract diseases, such as typhoid and malaria, increasing deaths (Mizutani, 2019). This displacement of Blacks in this area continued past Jim Crow into modern day.²  

Most residents in Cancer Alley are socioeconomically disadvantaged Black individuals, comprising approximately 40% of the population, which is not a coincidence (James et al., 2012; Mizutani, 2019). The use of Jim Crow laws, discriminatory zoning and siting processes, and the unequal enforcement of environmental laws by the EPA allows for areas such as Cancer Alley to exist (Mizutani, 2019). Moreover, white flight has affected where petrochemical companies placed their refineries (Saha & Mohai, 2005). White citizens successfully advocated against petrochemical companies away from their communities; as a result, these facilities were relocated to minoritized communities. Their successfulness is attributed to their wealth and influence. Individuals in these minority communities are more likely to need jobs and are vulnerable due to the lack of support and limited resources from local governments (Mizutani, 2019). This systemic inequity highlights the urgent need for policy reforms and stronger advocacy to protect the health and well-being of residents in these marginalized areas.

When wealthy, predominantly white communities increase resistance against nearby facility siting, the petrochemical industry change strategies on the distribution of environmental hazards (Schelly & Stretesky, 2009). These companies relocate because wealthy communities have the financial and political influence to divert unwanted businesses from their areas. (Bullard, 1992). As a result, petrochemical corporations place their facilities near poor Black neighborhoods to avoid delays or expenses related to attempting to place the facilities in an affluent neighborhood (Mizutani, 2019).  

Cancer Alley mainly consists of unincorporated towns, in which there is a lack of governance, such as municipal corporations (Mizutani, 2019). Instead, these areas are governed by parishes (e.g., a county). Whenever a petrochemical company wants to add a new plant or refinery, parish officials are receptive to this. This often comes at the detriment of predominantly Black local communities, who have little input in the decision-making process – I think you need to explain here why Black residents aren’t usually parish officials… (Mizutani, 2019). For example, in St. John the Baptist Parish, which has a primarily white council, the parish council allowed for the rezoning of an unincorporated town, Wallace (95% Black), to allow for Formosa Plastics to build a new plant in 1990(Mizutani, 2019). However, the citizens of Wallace created a grassroots movement and succeeded in preventing the plant from being built, although rare, this shows the need for citizen input to stop environmental racism (Bullard, 2020). Not all small towns can successfully prevent the siting of such facilities. Morrisonville, Louisiana, a small town founded by formerly enslaved people, is one such example, and was displaced by Dow Chemical in the 1960s (Kelsey, 2022). 

Mossville, Louisiana 

Similarly to Cancer Alley, Mossville, Louisiana is a historic, small, Black, unincorporated town located near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The health effects of living near toxic waste sites in Mossville have been documented by scientists and scholars for over 20 years. In 1997, blood samples were collected by scientists from Mossville residents for a class action lawsuit to show proof of high dioxin levels. Mossville residents reported high rates of illness and health problems, which they believe were associated with the toxic emissions from the nearby industrial plants. These blood samples were sent to the EPA who then asked the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to start an investigation (Hines, 2015). The investigation began in 1998 with results showcasing that Mossville residents carried PCBs in their blood with an average of 2.8 times the total concentration average levels (Costner, 2000). Soil samples revealed that dioxin levels were 17 times higher than a control group and that mothers had elevated levels of dioxins and PCBs in their breastmilk and blood (Costner, 2000). After the ATSDR study concluded, no government assistance was offered, such as waste clean-up or pollution control efforts, despite Mossville residents suffering detrimental health effects (Cahill-Jackson, 2012). 

In 1999, the residents of Mossville organized and incorporated a new nonprofit org, the Mossville Environmental Action Now (MEAN). (Kelsey, 2022). MEAN performed air tests in Calcasieu Parish and revealed that more than 50% of blood samples in the ATSDR investigation were 2 to 230 times the standard dioxin levels set by the EPA (Cahill-Jackson, 2012).  Studies throughout the years demonstrate the negative environmental and health effects of nearby industrial facilities, with results revealing higher PCB levels of in the blood of Black residents compared to white residents (Wong et al., 2015); reports of contaminated tap water, skin peeling and behavioral disorders in children, heart disease, and reproductive health issues (Singer, 2011); and high levels of metal contamination in soil (Bussan et al., 2019).The presence of high dioxin levels and metals within this area is high enough to pollute water, soil, fish, and food, which may associated with health problems (Johnson, 2019). Further, the health effects of dioxin contamination include cancer, reproductive issues, immune system deterioration, neuro-behavioral development changes, and the passage of dioxin to infants via breastfeeding (Cahill-Jackson, 2012). Prior studies highlight the health disparities experienced by Mossville residents, but community members have found it difficult to successfully receive government assistance (Kelsey, 2022).  

In 2008, a petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to draw attention to environmental racism occurring in Calcasieu Parish and to the lack of effective state and national policies for protection. This resulted in the supreme court case Mossville Environmental Action Now v. United States (Cahill-Jackson, 2012; Roberts, 2011). The case ends, after Mossville residents allowed a chemical companyto build a $21 billion industrial plant and buy the residents’ properties causing 500 residents to leave generations of living in the town behind (Kelsey, 2022; Rogers, 2015).  

CAPSTONE SPOTLIGHT: PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS/ SOUTHEAST TEXAS 

History 

Port Arthur, part of the coastal Southeast region of Texas, is a small, predominantly Black city that sits near the border of Louisiana, a key area for the energy system in the U.S. (Energy Information Administration, 2021; U.S. Census, 2020). oil and gas refineries have operated in this city Since the beginning of the Texas oil boom in 1901. It is now home to the largest refinery in the nation, Motiva Refinery, and six other petrochemical plants (Bruno & Jepson, 2018). Currently, Port Arthur residents are engaged in community action to improve their environmental quality and quality of life (Bruno & Jepson, 2018) with community advocates demanding better regulation, infrastructure, and buffer zones between communities and polluting facilities (Bruno & Jepson, 2018). 

Before the oil industry, Port Arthur was home to plantations and ranches that exported agricultural goods and was one the first places of legal slavery during Mexico’s reign of the area (Bruno, 2021; Campbell et al., 2010; Jefferson County, 2015). Historically, the west side of Port Arthur is deemed the Black side of town, in which the first refinery, Guffey Refinery, was built by J. M. Guffey Petroleum. This refinery employed Black laborers, who at the time dealt with segregation (Bruno, 2021). When the Black population grew along the Westside, they could not live past a street, aptly named Houston Ave. Racism and white supremacist ideology have facilitated the segregation between the white and Black communities, contributing to the current state of environmental injustice affecting Port Arthur (Bruno, 2021). After the end of legal segregation and the migration of Blacks to the east side of the town, whites moved further away, causing an economic downturn resulting in poverty and new unemployment patterns (Bruno, 2021). Despite Port Arthur’s petrochemical plants and refineries, which generate wealth for the city, the Black community is not receiving that wealth (Bruno, 2021). For instance, refinery workers often come from other areas in and outside of Port Arthur.  

Oil and Gas Today 

Motiva Refinery expanded in 2012, doubling barrel capacity of oil refined per day to 605,000 bpd (Seba, 2019). Other refineries with expansion plans include Total, one the largest emitters of benzene in the U.S., and Valero, one of the oldest refineries, which has begun extending its operations in the city and is buying properties in the historic Black side of town, West Port Arthur (Bruno, 2021; Eslinger, 2020). The buyout prices of these homes are not fair to residents as their property value decreases because of the refineries. Essentially, the residents are cheated by the companies, impacting the wealth that could be accumulated through the sale of their homes (Bruno, 2021).  

In recent years, oil/gas refineries and petrochemical plants in the Port Arthur area have succumbed to numerous lawsuits over harmful pollutants in the air and instances of dangerous work conditions for refinery workers. For example, many oil refinery workers were exposed to asbestos, insulation material that has been linked to cancers, such as mesothelioma and other diseases (Whitmire, 2023). Another instance of hazardous working conditions includes death. A refinery worker drowned in a scalding petroleum coke pit at a Total Port Arthur Refinery due to the company’s lack of urgency in repairing crane equipment. The workers used a bulldozer and a backhoe to maintain the pit due to damage to crane equipment (Besson, 2015). This bulldozer slid down the embankment causing the worker to drown.  Moreover, in 2019, the National Environmental Law Center (NELC), along with Texas Attorney General and Commission on Environmental Quality, filed lawsuits against the Valero Port Arthur oil refinery alleging more than 600 violations of Valero’s Clean Air Act permit from 2014 to 2019, causing almost 2 million pounds of unauthorized pollution to be released by the refinery in heavy polluted areas (NELC, 2019). Within a three-mile radius of this refinery sit five schools and 20 churches impacting over 36,000 people, with many residents fearing exposure to harmful pollutants, such as fine particulate matter and sulfur dioxide as the frequency in which Valero pushed pollutants into the air exceeds federal limits (NELC, 2019).  

 The Texas Attorney General announced a $1.4 million settlement in an environmental enforcement action against TotalEnergies Petrochemical and Refineries, Inc. for violating the Texas Clean Air Act. In the settlement, the Texas Attorney General cited that the refinery had experienced multiple, recurring instances of illegal emissions and permit violations caused by operator errors, equipment failures, and poor upkeep practices (Attorney General of Texas, 2023). Under the settlement, TotalEnergies agreed to pay $1.3 million in civil penalties and $100,000 in attorney’s fees. Additionally, TotalEnergies must implement a series of remedial actions to prevent further unauthorized pollution (Attorney General of Texas, 2023). Highlighting the past and ongoing lawsuits against petrochemical companies and the hazards of working in these industrial plants raises awareness of the environmental victimization and harm faced by affected communities. Additionally, it emphasizes that employees who depend on these companies for financial stability are also significantly impacted.

Methods 

Social and cultural perspectives are important to problematize and determine environmental victimization (Hall, 2013). To do this, understanding the perspectives of those affected by an environmental crime is important, as acknowledging how victims see, interpret, and assign meaning to their situation can provide crucial information for scholars, activists, and policymakers (White, 2011). The following study questions are asked: How do people who live near polluted areas, such as refineries and petrochemical plants, make sense of their experiences living in these areas? How are refinery workers impacted by the companies they serve(d)? How do citizens perceive health and economic impact as it relates to the presence of refineries? 

This study explores the lived experiences of Black residents and refinery employees in Port Arthur, Texas and Southeast Texas via narratives from administered surveys and semi-structured interviews conducted between December 28, 2023, and January 20, 2024. Two anonymous surveys were created by the researcher as they relate to both community members and current or former refinery workers. Recruitment was through direct contact with residents and through snowball recruitment, in which the researcher gathered more participants from recommendations from residents and refinery workers.  To qualify for this study, potential participants had to be (1) 18 years of age and older at the time of completion of survey; (2) identify as Black; and (3) have resided near or worked for a refinery in the area of study. For participants who completed the anonymous survey, an option to be interviewed was given. Interviews ranged from 10 to 30 minutes and were conducted via phone or Microsoft Teams. All participants gave verbal consent to be interviewed and recorded. All personal information has been de-identified to protect confidentiality. A total of 20 surveys were administered, and four interviews were conducted.  

Data Analysis 

Data analysis began with the transcription of interviews, transcribed within 24 hours of the scheduled interview, with full coding of interviews completed within 48 hours. The coding of open-ended survey questions was completed within 48 hours of a survey submission. The coding and analysis were driven by a six-step process: familiarization with data, coding, generation of initial themes, development and review of themes, refinement and naming of themes, and writing up results (Braun & Clark, 2006; 2022).  

Each interview or survey was coded individually by hand using Microsoft Word and Excel. A line-by-line reading of the transcripts and answers was used to generate initial codes, and these codes were then refined, and new codes were added as needed. Broader patterns emerged throughout the coding process with the aim that such coding reflects that of the research questions posed. Given that the study’s focus was to examine lived experiences of individuals within the region relating to environmental victimization, themes were developed with this in mind. To ensure that the contextualization of the themes generated were accurate, quotations used in the analysis were re-read to guarantee credible interpretation of words (Braun & Clark, 2013; 2022). 

Results 

Twenty surveys and four semi-structured interviews with Black residents and refinery employees in Port Arthur, Texas were included in the final analysis. To address the study’s research questions, narrative themes are presented as they pertain to environmental victimization and racism, health and financial impacts, and experiences working and living within a refinery/petrochemical industrial complex. Selected quotes along with pseudonyms for survey and interview participants (see Appendix) are used to highlight common themes shared among Black residents and their lived experiences.  

Participant Characteristics 

Approximately 75% of the study participants were between the ages of 65 and 74 and 60% identified as male. Most participants were retired at the time of the study (80%) with 85% having some college to graduate education. The average time worked for participants at a refinery was 34 years. Approximately 65% of participants’ annual income was $75,000 or more in salary with 75% of participants being current or former refinery employees (see Table 1). Additionally, community residents lived in Port Arthur for over 30 years.  

Themes curated for the analysis with a frequency of each component showcasing the number of times the theme was seen throughout the interviews and survey responses are presented (see Table 2). The findings of the analysis are divided into seven major themes. The first theme, financial, highlights the financial impact that refinery placement has on community members and employees. The second and third themes, environmental effects and health, emphasize the impact of refineries on the local communities. The fourth theme, environmental victimization/racism spotlights the perception of environmental victimization by community members and employees and the subsequent effects on health due to environmental and work conditions. Theme five and six, resource awareness and community efforts, focus on community knowledge of health and employment resources and the communities’ (local and state) efforts to support its constituents. Finally, community growth features citizens’ viewpoint on the current state of the community and where improvements are necessary.  

Financial  

Understanding socioeconomic impacts of refinery placements in communities requires acknowledging how these major industrial complexes influence the communities they surround. By starting with the financial implications of having refineries, these implications allow for a deeper understanding of the risk perception as it relates to environmental victimization. Furthermore, using Black resident accounts centers their experiences in their reality.  

Most participants expressed that the refinery was great financially with many saying, “it was rewarding pay wise” and “provided a living to support the family.” The refineries were a way of life in Port Arthur. Interviews reveal that there were not many options concerning employment. Some participants note that they had a long line of family members, spouses, and friends that worked or currently work for a refinery.  

Lois: My father was an employee at the refinery…[he] provided financially for the family                         [six children]. My youngest brother was employed at the refinery. My husband worked at             the refinery for a while and presently my son is working for [a refinery]. 

Emma: My father-in-law worked at the refinery, my husband worked at the refinery, and              it was a way of living. [The only jobs were] a refinery and education. 

Further, participants describe how the refinery was not all positive as layoffs or strikes could occur disrupting family stability. Raymond explained that some employees were laid off because of behavior or not meeting work standards. Other participants, such as Emma, explained that strikes impacted the community significantly. Glenda noted layoffs while working at a refinery.  

Emma: It wasn’t mostly layoffs…when they would go on strike, when they wanted more               pay…You get behind on your bills, some folks lost their homes. We had to stand in the          line and try to get unemployment. Sometimes the strikes would last maybe a month or           two. So that set everybody behind, even with their kids because you wasn’t able to do   anything, you know, but try to keep up with your bills and stuff to get food to eat. [After      the strikes] the layoffs when they was shutting down all kind of departments in the       refineries. That’s what really made it hard.  

Glenda: [Before I retired at each of the refineries I worked for] there were layoffs or a reduction   in staff. 

Participants noted that many refinery jobs were outsourced to people living outside of Port Arthur, which impacts the community growth and sustainability.  

Emma: You had people coming in from out of town working at the refineries and from Louisiana              and Texas.  

Raymond: A lot of these folks [from outside communities] are being employed by these                                 refineries [and not] employing people from the community.  

Clarence: The city seems to be going out of its way to not hire city citizens even though the city      has an agreement with the refineries in the area but is not enforcing it.   

While the placement of refineries in Port Arthur provided substantial financial stability for the community, especially employees of these refineries, with the refineries having generational influence on some families, strikes and layoffs also negatively affected families. Additionally, the outsourcing of work outside the community in which the refineries were placed alienates the local community from receiving employment opportunities.  

Environmental Effects and Health 

Working and living near refineries and petrochemical plants can cause communities to feel the brunt of environmental toxins released from refineries. Participants noted that many people were concerned about “air quality and chemicals being released into the air and water.” Life-long residents of the area, such as Lois, described growing up with refineries nearby.  

Lois: We lived three or five minutes away from the Gulf refinery. We did see a lot of smoke        from the stacks that were at the refinery. There were times you could see burning gas          flares…There were sometimes when you could get a smell from the refineries, and       I think [it] was because they were letting some of the chemicals out…I do believe that a lot of             medical conditions that people had from the West side were contributed because of those          refineries. I do remember growing up and in our area many people had contracted                                     cancer. 

Emma: All we see is black smoke and stuff…Some people say the main people that go to              Houston and stuff to these hospitals comes from around in this area with cancer…We     don’t know [about health effects] because nobody went to the doctor for that particular           thing until they go sick…we really couldn’t say. 

Many participants, specifically refinery employees, noted that having refineries in the area was not good for the environment and the health of the community. Robert stated that the refineries were “bad environmentally because it was a hotbed for cancer.” Joseph described how he had “two to three friends who have gotten cancer from working and living near refineries.” Other participants noted direct health effects related to working with the refinery, Raymond stated:  

Now there was a guy that when we first hired him, he worked in the refining part of the                facility outside the yard…and he got exposed to some H2S, which is gas hydrogen             sulfide, but it’s bad for you to inhale and he got very sick, and he actually end up passing        from it.  

The environmental and health effects of the placement of the refineries and plants can be detrimental to local communities. The consequence of these environmental hazards may lead to environmental racism and subsequent environmental victimization. 

Environmental Victimization/Racism 

The idea of Risk perception is crucial in community input and corporation placement of refineries. If citizens do not perceive or understand that they are victims of environmental crimes, they will not pushback against increased refinery presence. Further, citizens may perceive that having refineries has an economic boost and weigh the risks and benefits. Participants’ perception of environmental victimization was mixed. Some participants said they did not believe that environmental victimization impacted them. Participants, such as Raymond and Emma, noted that refineries may not have been placed in the minoritized areas on purpose; the communities surrounding the refineries being mainly Black is coincidental.  

Raymond: The refinery was there but it happened to be where the Blacks end up residing,            basically mostly all of those little, small towns like Port Arthur was majority white and        then once the Blacks move there in the neighborhood, [the whites] moved out and that’s           how the Blacks end up dominating the West side…It is intentional or not, I couldn’t say.  

Emma: No, I don’t think [the refineries are intentionally placed]. That’s just where everybody      fell in that area and stuff because mainly on the West side that’s where we live and that’s       where the refineries was closer too…That’s just where, you know, Black people moved         and had their own little area.  

Others, such as Clarence, Joseph, and Ethel believed that they or know of others experienced some form of environmental victimization noting that various health conditions in their families and neighborhoods and the placement of the refineries.  

Clarence: It seems that these kinds of companies are always minority communities and that is      totally wrong, and the reason is that companies don’t value the minority communities.  

Joseph: Cancer among my family and mental illness is very high and is directly related to the       environment due to the quality of air and the drinking water in the area… The majority of           Caucasians are on the outside of Port Arthur in Nederland and Port Neches…I guarantee   you, [it’s] because of the environmental conditions. They knew [and] they moved. They        knew more about the effects of the emissions in the area, and they had more information           at the time than we did…So they moved away from the refineries and the chemical          plants. 

Ethel: As a young girl growing up in Port Arthur, I was exposed to two local refineries close        within my neighborhood. 

Residents’ perceptions in the study varied. However, understanding that an individual’s living and working conditions can influence perspectives on the placement of hazardous waste sites is important. Moreover, acknowledging the reality of these residents provides better awareness of what resources can be provided to them.  

Resource Awareness 

Community insight on available resources is important as knowing what is accessible allows for proper advocacy and knowledge. Most participants were unaware of any community resources available to them that were associated with environmental factors. Some participants described Port Arthur’s local watch group, The Port Arthur Community Action Network, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), as well as a “STAN SYSTEM [that] keeps us informed through telephone calls and online information” as Edna noted. Participants, like Herman and James, noted that they knew very little about potential resources. 

Herman: Very few resources are provided to the community.  

James: [The community is notified] only when [something] makes the news and citizen                            complaints. 

The lack of knowledge surrounding community resource availability may be directly tied to what the city and state are doing to notify citizens of what is happening around them concerning refineries. If the city, state, or refinery corporations are not providing residents with information unless sought out, this then causes ambiguity involving environmental concerns. 

Community Efforts 

Many community members described that they are not aware of any environmental risks until something bad happens. Nolan said that the city is doing “very little [and] you have to stay informed and ask questions.” Other participants also describe not knowing of community efforts in place and stating that they are not being notified as they should.  

Clarence: The city or county is not doing anything for the community [especially concerning                   employment and] as far as health access, the state really don’t do anything for the             area, when the refinery is fined for a chemical release, the state gets the fine but                       don’t return it to the city. 

Ethel: I don’t believe we are being notified when there are different problems within the               refineries or chemical plants. When it affects our environment, it affects us.  

Community partnerships and resources are important for the growth of areas such as Port Arthur.  These participants underscore that not much is known about what the city is doing for its constituents, which is detrimental to them. The lack of notifications to community members may cause community decline and inhibit growth as inaction on city leaders’ part can lead to citizens leaving. 

Community Growth 

participants noted that the current state of Port Arthur is in decline, with some, such as Emma, noting there are no improvements that can help the community. The main concern among participants was the lack of local community employment, old equipment, and lack of notifications. 

Emma: There’s no improvement… the environment is bad over here. Port Arthur is [an] old                community coming up with the refineries and anything that’s damaged now, I                    don’t see any improvement…They can go out there and clean out all those tanks. I                don’t think it [will] happen now it might, but like I say the Saudia Arabians are              in charge of the refineries, so they don’t have to pay taxes or anything.  

Raymond: The money [is] not going back into Port Arthur. It is going back to other                            communities, like Lumberton…A lot of these folks are being employed by these                refineries and the city itself is not getting the benefit that it should get by                                            employing people from the community. 

Lois and Joseph expressed the need to improve the healthcare system and access to employment in Port Arthur. They stated:  

Lois: I think the [health department] can do better. I see sometimes we as Blacks in this area or in this town or sometimes I hear about things that come about pertaining to health.           That maybe a slight on communications…I think working with the medical branch from     the refineries and our city branches would work out better for our community.  

Joseph: I always thought that giving as many people in those areas like a physical or annual   physical and looking at the results. If they were allowed to give free evaluations,                                    physicals every year, a certain percentage of people in the area, that would help out a lot. 

Further, Raymond said that the Port Arthur community is declining: 

The community itself seemed to have died in Port Arthur you know, the population has    dwindled so much from when it was sixty something thousand to now maybe forty or    fifty something thousand…Hire more people from this area [the Golden triangle] and Port    Arthur. I believe that would benefit a whole lot because it’s paying jobs and it seems as         though we’re not benefiting from it as a people, as Black people as we should. 

The comments by the residents showcase a need to improve the health infrastructure of Port Arthur. Lois did note that the health department has hired new personnel which may improve the healthcare system. Others’ comments, such as Raymond’s on bringing the money back to Port Arthur echoes earlier sentiments on the outsourcing     of jobs and the need to grow the local community.  

The participants surveyed and interviewed demonstrated the importance of their perception and centering citizen accounts in their lived experiences as both social and cultural processes. Participants expressed both positive and negative impacts of having refinery placements, such as financial stability and instability and witnessing environmental hazards, such as black smoke and oil leaks. The perception of environmental victimization is important to note as this perception influences how communities advocate for themselves or whether they are content with their current situations. As previously mentioned, community members view the placement of refineries as great economic opportunities and ways to provide for families, outweighing the environmental risks associated with them. Other residents perceive the refineries as health hazards that need to be addressed, but not at the cost of causing an economic downturn for the city. Further, delving into the community resources and efforts revealed that community members knew of few services available to them. The experiences of these Black residents are valuable for acknowledging how simple placements of refineries and petrochemical plants can illustrate financial and health implications, risk perception as it relates to environmental victimization, and community awareness, which can inform local government officials, community groups, federal agencies (i.e., EPA), and Congress on ways to better improve these areas.  

Policy and Practical Recommendations 

These policy recommendations aim to foster community development, improve healthcare access, protect the environment, and empower grassroots efforts for positive change. Implementing these measures will contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive future for the community. 

• Increase community outreach. The citizens of Port Arthur are a predominantly aging group, which requires more effort in community outreach, such as phone calls, home visits, and increased town hall meetings. To do so, there should be the development and implementation of more programs aimed at Port Arthur citizens that allow them to engage in the decision-making processes. These programs can consist of: 
  • Educational workshops: Tailored to older residents covering topics such as air quality, refinery emissions, and their effects on health with guest speakers including experts, such as environmental scientists, health professionals, and city officials to provide insight and answer questions. Additionally, providing residents with resources on reducing their exposure to harmful emissions and advocating for environmental protections.  
  • Community forums: Residents can voice their concerns, share experiences, and propose ideas for addressing environmental challenges with facilitation of discussions on specific issues related to refinery emissions, such as regulatory compliance, monitoring efforts, and community impact assessments. Further, encourage collaboration between residents and local organizations to develop action plans and initiatives for promoting environmental stewardship.  
  • Informational campaigns: Launch a multimedia campaign to disseminate accurate and up-to-date information about refinery emissions and environmental initiatives with the development of educational materials, including brochures, fact sheets, and digital resources, translated into multiple languages for accessibility. Additionally, using social media platforms, community newsletters, and local media outlets to reach a wide audience and encourage engagement. 
  • Feedback mechanisms: Establish feedback mechanisms, such as surveys, focus groups, and online forums, to gather input from older residents on environmental issues. Regularly assess the effectiveness of outreach efforts and adjust strategies based on community feedback and evolving needs, and ensure transparency and accountability by sharing outcomes, progress reports, and action plans with the community and stakeholders. 
• Use of state and federal funds for healthcare support. Funding should be directed towards the healthcare infrastructure in communities, such as Port Arthur, that have aging populations and are predominantly racial minorities to accommodate growing healthcare needs. The increase in funding can help with the establishment of programs to address health disparities, with an emphasis on preventative care and education. These components include: 
  • Healthcare facility upgrades, such as upgraded equipment and technology to enhance the delivery of quality services. 
  • Ensuring that facilities are accessible and culturally sensitive to the needs of the minority aging populations, by incorporation language services and culturally competent care practices. 
  • Establishment of targeted programs aimed at addressing health disparities focusing on chronic disease management, mental health support, and preventative screenings.  
  • Providing resources and support for community health workers to engage directly with residents, offering lifestyle guidance and assistance with navigating the healthcare system.  
  • Implementation of initiatives aimed at preventative care and wellness practices and encouragement for regular health check-ups and screenings via outreach campaigns. 
• Calls to reduce reliance on oil deposits, mitigate refinery impacts, and transition to renewable energy. The initiative aims to reduce reliance on oil deposits, mitigate refinery impacts, and facilitate a transition towards renewable energy sources while simultaneously creating job opportunities and improving work conditions for residents. To do so, this includes: 
  • Introduce and enforce policies aimed at reducing the use of oil deposits and accelerating the adoption of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. 
  • Collaborate with industry stakeholders, research institutions, and community organizations to identify viable pathways for transitioning away from fossil fuels while ensuring energy affordability and reliability.  
  • Conduct regular monitoring and inspections to ensure compliance with emission standards, imposing penalties for non-compliance and incentivizing investment in cleaner technologies.  
  • Establish transparent reporting mechanisms to provide residents with real-time daily information on refinery emissions and pollution levels. 
  • Foster sustained partnerships between refineries and city officials to create local employment opportunities and prioritize hiring residents from oil-dependent communities. 
  •  Develop workforce development programs, vocational training initiatives, and apprenticeship opportunities to equip local residents with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the renewable energy and clean technology sectors. 
  • Implement targeted recruitment and retention strategies to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce, ensuring that underrepresented groups have equal access to employment opportunities and advancement. 
  • Provide resources and support for refinery workers to access healthcare services, mental health counseling, and financial assistance programs, addressing the holistic needs of the workforce and promoting job satisfaction and retention. 
  • Increase enforcement of regulations that ensure safe working conditions, competitive pay, and benefits for refinery employees, prioritizing worker health and well-being 
• Pass the Protection from Cumulative Emissions and Underenforcement of Environmental Law Act of 2023 to strengthen environmental regulations. This legislation (H.R. 1673) was introduced during the 118^th Congress (2023-2024) by Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO-1) and would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to address cumulative public health risks associated with multiple environmental stressors and recommend steps to reduce the number of violations of environmental law in minoritized, low-income, and tribal/indigenous communities that have high risks of being affect by environmental and health effects.  

Conclusion 

This study highlights the pressing issue of environmental victimization, emphasizing its emergence as a significant aspect of environmental justice. Minoritized and low-income communities bear the brunt of environmental hazards, particularly due to the strategic placement of hazardous facilities, such as refineries and petrochemical plants. The placement of these facilities may lead to adverse effects on both the environment and public health and exacerbate financial challenges within these communities. Centering the lived experiences of Black residents and refinery workers in Port Arthur, their narratives showcase a range of impacts, including financial burdens and health concerns. Their stories shed light on the perceptions of environmental victimization and underscore the need for heightened community awareness and proactive efforts. To address these challenges and promote environmental justice, the study brings forth a comprehensive set of policy and practical recommendations. the study advocates for a collaborative and multifaceted approach to environmental harms involving local, state, and federal agencies and stresses the urgency of taking concrete steps to improve quality of life in communities that have long endured the detrimental effects of environmental stressors, often at the expense of corporate interests. By implementing the proposed recommendations, there is an opportunity to foster positive change and advance environmental justice for these communities. 

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Appendix 

The post Environmental Victimization: Lived Experiences of Black Residents Residing Near Oil/Gas and Petrochemical Refineries appeared first on Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

This capstone project examines Black Rural Americans’ historical significance and ongoing struggles, emphasizing their past and present challenges. Its goal is to elevate the priority of Black Rural Americans in societal and legislative considerations, ensuring that their voices are heard, and their experiences are acknowledged in shaping future policies. The capstone scrutinizes existing policies that are ostensibly neutral in terms of ‘race and place,’ assessing their effectiveness in addressing the specific needs and lived experiences of Black rural Americans. By grounding recommendations in current data, this capstone also contributes actionable insights for policy reforms that can better address the nuanced challenges faced by this community. Additionally, the project includes examining insights gathered through surveys and interviews conducted by the author, providing firsthand perspectives to enrich the understanding of the experiences and aspirations of Black rural Americans.

Introduction

Despite comprising approximately 19 percent of the total population, rural Americans have received scant attention regarding policy and legislative initiatives addressing the disparities they encounter, and Black rural Americans have been almost completely ignored.[1] The neglect extends across different administrations. Notably, former President Barack Obama openly acknowledged that, in formulating economic plans, his administration inadvertently overlooked the repercussions on rural America.[2] This admission underscores a systemic oversight that has impacted rural Americans’ well-being. Moreover, political analysts posit that the electoral success of former President Donald Trump can be attributed to his effective rapport with rural America — highlighting the significance of addressing the concerns of these communities in national policies.[3]

Approximately 37.9 million people in the United States currently grapple with poverty, with a significant majority residing in rural areas.[4] Of the 6.3 million Americans facing unemployment, 28 percent belong to rural communities.[5] Over the past decade, 21.6 million new jobs have been generated.[6] However, a staggering 87 percent of these opportunities emerged outside of rural America. Despite overall improvements in health, education, and economic outcomes across the nation, rural Americans have yet to witness a parallel enhancement in those outcomes as well.

Both Black and white rural Americans live in similar circumstances; however, their experiences can be vastly different at times — with Black rural Americans confronting even more pronounced disparities than their white counterparts.[7] Much of the existing research and policy predominantly center on the narratives of white rural Americans, leaving a substantial void in our understanding of the unique challenges, opportunities, and cultural dynamics faced by Black individuals residing in rural areas.[8] The lack of comprehensive research and policies raises critical questions about the inclusivity and equity of academic and political inquiries into rural life. Due to the prevalence of these disparities, political scientists and researchers have recommended that the United States create “race and place” intentional policies that will help Black rural Americans.  Race-intentional policies focus on legislation that centers around a person’s race or takes their race into account, while place-intentional policies consider a person’s geographical location.[9]

The remainder of this capstone focuses on the disparities Black rural Americans face compared to their white rural counterparts and explain why “race and place” intentional policies are needed.

Background

Economic Disparities

The depiction of rural America by the media, academics, and lawmakers has contributed to a prevailing association whereby the general perception aligns rural areas predominantly with white Americans.[10] Black Americans have been left out of their rural narrative for generations. However, Black rural Americans’ experiences and contributions are the cornerstone of explaining the current era of rural America.[11] The enduring effects of slavery and segregation persistently influence both white rural Americans, who have historically enjoyed advantages, and Black rural Americans, who have faced significant disadvantages.[12] Historically, being Black in rural America has resulted in the loss of many lives and a denial of the right to pursue happiness. In fact, lynchings were most prevalent in small towns where Black individuals often posed economic competition to local white residents. The latter, resentful of any economic and political progress made by Black individuals, frequently resorted to such violence.[13] Lynchers were rarely apprehended and, if arrested, convictions were infrequent. The terrorization and discrimination that Black rural residents experienced have impacted every aspect of their well-being as a people, from their economic development to education, health care, and even civic engagement. When it comes to economic mobility, Black rural Americans have faced economic assault for generations.

After slavery officially ended in 1865 in the United States, slave owners in many southern rural areas neglected to inform previously enslaved Africans of their newfound freedom while still exploiting their labor without compensation.[14] When they did acknowledge the end of slavery in rural areas, it was replaced by sharecropping. Sharecropping was a contractual arrangement for plantation owners and newly freed Black Americans. The owner would allow Black Americans to work their land in exchange for a portion of the crops.[15] After being freed from slavery, Black farmers were often forced, either through violence, coercion, or deceit, to sign exploitative contracts. These agreements required them to work the land and give a portion of their crops to white landowners, maintaining the control that white planters and overseers had before the Civil War. Black farmers were also compelled to take out high-interest loans to buy essential items at inflated prices, restricting them to growing only the designated cash crop. As a result, families frequently found themselves unable to pay off their debts each season, leading to a cycle of debt that was nearly impossible to break free from.[16] Sharecropping began the onset of many Black rural Americans’ financial issues. Black Americans were an easy target to be exploited, especially with being newly free and having a lack of information.

On January 12, 1865, Union General William T. Sherman met with twenty Black leaders to inquire about their desires for their community. In response, the pastors expressed their wish for land and the opportunity to reside among themselves — separate from white communities to avoid the ongoing terrorization inflicted upon their people. On January 16, 1865, General Sherman subsequently signed Field Order 15, a directive allocating 400,000 acres of Confederate land for individuals who were formerly enslaved.[17] The equitable distribution of land along the Southeast coast meant that each family would receive 40 acres of cultivable land. Some of the formerly enslaved people managed to obtain their promised 40 acres of land. However, the subsequent assassination of President Abraham Lincoln resulted in many Black residents not receiving their reparations even though they, their parents, and their grandparents were forced to provide free labor for centuries.

After years of trying to make a living for themselves, several Black rural Americans were thriving. They were able to establish their own business in their communities.[18] However, in the late 1890s to early 1900s, Black residents experienced another type of assault. While many are familiar with the Tulsa Massacre in rural Oklahoma, there are numerous stories of other racial violence and destruction against Black rural Americans. For instance, Wilmington, North Carolina, was a thriving Black-majority town led by Black elected public officials. White residents, jealous of their economic power, attacked the citizens and killed 300 Black people in Wilmington. North Carolina on November 10, 1898. [19]

White racists also used terror to steal land from Black landowners. By 1910, more than 210,000 Black people owned land, totaling 14 million acres.[20] In addition to terrorist acts to steal land, many rural areas created policies and legislation, such as the Torrens Act, which facilitated the legal seizure of land owned by Black individuals by white people.[21] However, some Black Rural were able to find other ways to keep some of their land and create some form of economic mobility, even if it was small progress.[22]

Hungry for economic opportunities, Black rural residents found jobs outside of the agricultural sector and started working in factories and mines — which often had the worst conditions and were the most dangerous positions to hold.[23] As a result, several Black residents were injured and killed. The compensation for these positions was extremely low and still did not allow Black rural residents to have a decent living.

Education Disparities

Education has also been a target for oppression against Black rural Americans. During the era of slavery, Black Americans were deliberately denied the opportunity to learn how to read or write.[24] In fact, it was considered a crime for enslaved individuals to be caught reading, and even white people faced legal consequences for teaching Black people how to read.[25] The state of Alabama specifically signed into law in 1833 that “any person or persons who shall attempt to teach any free person of color, or slave, to spell, read, or write, shall upon conviction thereof of indictment be fined in a sum not less than two hundred and fifty dollars.”[26] The fine would approximate around $7,600 when adjusted for inflation in today’s currency. In North Carolina, it was a crime to also give pamphlets and books to slaves in fear that they would be able to read information from abolitionists about slavery. The assault on education and literacy was a way to ensure Black people remained subordinate to white people. White Americans believed that educating Black people would make them more dangerous.

However, after the abolishment of slavery, Black rural Americans could seek out education opportunities. Many of the first schools created for Black children were in Black church buildings.[27] The Freedmen’s Bureau also established many schools as well. These schools did not have the proper resources, and many were in very poor conditions. Black preachers and advocates of the Black community made it their duty to teach the masses of Black people so they could improve their conditions in life. Basic education topics such as reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught to kids and adults alike. Unfortunately, many of those schools were burned down by white individuals, depriving Black students of alternative educational options.[28]

Black rural residents were also prevented from exploring opportunities in higher education and were not allowed to attend most American universities.[29] Though cities like Boston and Chicago allowed Black Americans to attend American universities in the early 1800s, Black rural residents did not have this same access and support. The Second Morrill Act of 1890 created more access to college education for Black rural residents by requiring states that supported racial segregation in schools to create and fund public institutions for Black students.[30] Several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were formed in rural America during this time, such as Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in Huntsville, Alabama and Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia. Though the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision made it legal for American universities to prevent Black people from matriculating, Brown vs. Board of Education declared that “separate was not equal” in 1954, forcing rural American universities to admit Black people to public colleges. Despite this ruling, the universities in many rural areas still denied Black people entry. It was not until the 1960s that colleges and universities in most rural areas allowed Black people to enroll.

Health Disparities

Beyond the assault on economic opportunities and education, Black rural Americans have faced particularly challenging healthcare circumstances. History exposes the extraordinarily cruel treatment that Black individuals have endured in the United States within the medical field. In Alabama, from 1845 to 1849, Dr. J. Marion Sims developed new surgical techniques by conducting medical experiments on enslaved women.[31] Dr. Francois Marie Prevost conducted experiments on enslaved Black women in rural Louisiana during the 1830s to practice cesarian surgeries. Dr. Ephraim McDowell also conducted experiments on enslaved women to develop treatments for ovarian cancer. The experiments performed on Black individuals caused intense pain as no anesthesia was administered. These doctors and scientists held the reprehensible belief that Black people experienced less pain than their white counterparts.

Even after the emancipation of Black Americans, white scientists and doctors persisted in these practices. In rural areas, there were instances where Black people would disappear, having been captured for experimentation. At times, entire communities were harmed to advance medical research and agendas. An infamous example is the Tuskegee syphilis experiment in rural Alabama, where Black residents infected with syphilis were misled into believing they were receiving treatment for the disease.[32] However, instead of being treated for syphilis, the treatment was withheld from Black residents so that white doctors and scientists could study the disease. Access to genuine healthcare was rare for Black rural residents, and the unscrupulous actions of some doctors eroded their trust in healthcare professionals.

Criminal Justice System and Civic Engagement

In conjunction with the aforementioned disparities and injurious practices perpetrated against Black rural residents, the criminal justice system has demonstrably failed this demographic egregiously. The origins of modern policing in the United States can be traced to slave patrols established in many rural areas during the late 1600s and early 1700s.[33] South Carolina is thought to have provided the foundation for this type of policing of Black people as The Negro Act of 1740, legislation enacted in South Carolina, significantly restricted the lives and activities of enslaved individuals.[34] The primary purpose of this law was to control and suppress the enslaved population, reinforcing the institution of slavery. One of the notable provisions of the act was the requirement for white citizens to actively enforce restrictions by forming patrols.

The patrols were mandated by law to monitor and control the movements and activities of enslaved Black individuals. This created a system of organized surveillance and repression, leading to increased terror and brutality against the Black population. The patrols were authorized to use violence as a means of maintaining control, and they often engaged in acts of intimidation, harassment, and punishment against enslaved individuals. Patrollers also had the authority to stop, question, and punish any Black person without cause.[35]

The state of Georgia followed suit, modeling its patrol system after South Carolina and creating similar laws. One notable law was the Georgia Slave Code of 1848, which outlined the rights and restrictions imposed on enslaved individuals.[36] This code granted expansive powers to slave patrols, as seen in South Carolina, to use force and violence to control the enslaved population — codifying the dehumanization of Black people and reinforcing racial hierarchy.

After the abolition of slavery, the emergence of Jim Crow laws and Black Codes continued the legacy of controlling and subjugating Black rural residents.[37] These laws reinforced segregation, sanctioned violence against Black people, and restricted voting rights. The 14^th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote and, as a result, Wilmington, North Carolina’s local government had a majority Black presence. However, there was rhetoric coming from white women that their womanhood was threatened by Black men. A prevalent but unfounded fear amongst white people was the notion that Black people would gain power and eventually overthrow white societal dominance. This fear and hate led to the white residents attacking Black men and preventing them from voting in the next election. They were able to push out all the Black elected officials and overthrow the Wilmington government.[38]

During the Civil Rights Era, white racists continued to terrorize Black people in rural areas who tried to engage in the election process and advocate for themselves. To this day, Bloody Sunday which occurred on March 7, 1965, is a widely regarded historical day commemorating the peaceful protesters who were met with violence by local and state law enforcement in Alabama. Black rural residents, led by the late Congressman John Lewis, marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to advocate for their right to vote. The march was also initiated to protest the severe beating and murder of civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, who had been shot and killed in a peaceful protest in Marion, Alabama.[39]

The end of slavery also marked a significant shift in the United States, with the quest for free labor endured through a disturbing metamorphosis — mass incarceration. As the nation grappled with the aftermath of the Civil War during the Reconstruction Era, newly freed Black people faced not only racial challenges but were also pushed toward systemic incarceration.[40] Black Codes were instrumental in justifying the arrest and imprisonment of Black individuals for trivial or fabricated reasons.[41] In rural areas, these laws disproportionately targeted Black people, subjecting them to a cycle of incarceration and forced labor reminiscent of the antebellum period. Vagrancy laws, for instance, criminalized unemployed individuals, providing a pretext for arresting and exploiting Black labor. Convict leasing, a practice that emerged during Reconstruction, allowed prisoners to be leased to private entities for labor.[42] This legalized form of slavery enabled landowners, corporations, and businesses to exploit incarcerated individuals, many of whom were predominantly Black, for economic gain. The economic interests of white, rural elites fueled a system that used the criminal justice system to continue taking advantage of Black people through free labor, post-slavery. This revelation is not unexpected, given that Confederate states articulated their dependence on free slave labor for economic prosperity and quality of life when seceding from the United States.

Current Economic Disparities

Today, economic conditions in the United States have not improved much for Black rural Americans and have, in fact, worsened in the past several years. Thirty-seven percent of Black rural Americans live in poverty compared to only 12.7 percent of white rural Americans.[43] In 1910, Black Americans owned roughly 14 million acres of land. Today, that number is a little less than 2 million. By 1997, more than 90 percent of Black Americans’ land, mostly concentrated in rural areas, was stolen or lost. Between 1992 and 2002, 94 percent of Black farmers lost their land or parts of it, three-times the rate at which white farmers lost their land.[44]

In the 1970s, rural Black people also had more employment opportunities to choose from compared to today.[45] At the time, approximately 40 percent of jobs available in rural areas were in manufacturing, agriculture, and mining. In contrast, Black rural residents in the early 1900s worked in those same three occupations without the need for a formal education. However, today less than 16 percent of jobs are in manufacturing and agriculture, with manufacturing being almost non-existent due to a mass exodus of companies choosing to move out of rural areas. In other cases, many of the factories shut down completely.

Black rural residents confront a threefold higher rate of rejection for bank loans compared to their white counterparts, as indicated by the Hope Policy Institute.[46] Black rural Americans were also found to receive significantly lower loan amounts compared to their white counterparts and face elevated interest rates. Compounding this issue, payday loans specifically target Black rural Americans who struggle to secure conventional loans, imposing an exorbitant 400 percent annual interest rate on their modest loans — contributing to a recurring cycle of debt for many Black rural residents. A substantial portion of the United States’ economic expansion can be ascribed to the technology job sector, with 98 percent of such jobs concentrated in urban areas.[47] The limited availability of technology-related positions in rural areas is predominantly occupied by white rural residents, encompassing 85 percent of all rural tech jobs. The challenge of attracting technology companies to most rural areas stem from inadequate internet and broadband connectivity, further hindering economic development in these regions.

Current Education Disparities

Examining the rural economic gap necessitates attention to be given to the enduring educational disparity prevalent among Black residents in rural America. The historical legacy of slavery and segregation in the United States has left a profound and enduring impact on the realm of education.[48] Because several generations of Black people were not allowed to read and several colleges in rural areas restricted their admittance, many Black rural students today are the first generation of their family to graduate from high school and college. Rural students, in general, are less likely to attend college than their counterparts residing in urban areas. The historical inequalities embedded in the education system have contributed to higher dropout rates among Black students in rural America. Disparities in resources, quality of education, and systemic challenges have created an environment where Black students are more likely to disengage from high school — limiting their future opportunities and perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage.[49] In rural areas, Black students face a higher likelihood of suspension and expulsion from high school in comparison to their white counterparts.[50] Additionally, Black students often face unwarranted criminalization for behaviors that would be perceived as typical childish conduct. The majority representation of white educators in rural America perpetuates the continued prevalence of biases.   

Access to education is further impeded by transportation issues, as many Black students in rural areas face difficulties in commuting to school. Limited transportation infrastructure restricts their ability to access educational resources, extracurricular activities, and after-school programs — placing them at a disadvantage to their white counterparts with more convenient access.

The COVID-19 pandemic also exposed and exacerbated existing educational disparities. Black rural students faced heightened challenges due to limited broadband access — hindering their ability to participate in remote learning .[51] In certain rural school areas, only half of the students had internet they could rely on, and one out of every five students had no internet at all.[52] As schools transitioned to online platforms, the digital divide became more pronounced, leaving many Black students disconnected from vital educational resources and opportunities.

Current Healthcare Disparities

Healthcare disparities among Black rural residents in the United States reveal a troubling narrative of systemic neglect and inequity. Black rural residents face many disparities related to several diseases and complications. Diabetes is a pervasive health concern affecting millions of individuals worldwide. However, when examining the impact of diabetes on rural populations in the United States, stark disparities emerge: According to national health surveys, the prevalence of diabetes in Black adults in rural areas is approximately 14.7 percent in comparison to 8.2 percent of white adults.[53]

One key factor contributing to the diabetes disparities is the socio-economic landscape of Black rural communities. Limited access to nutritious food options and the prevalence of apartheid disproportionately affects these areas. Black residents often face economic challenges, leading to a higher reliance on affordable yet unhealthy food options, thereby increasing the risk of developing diabetes and other illnesses.[54] Black rural residents also encounter barriers that impede timely diagnosis and effective management of diabetes. Studies reveal that Black individuals are less likely to receive early diabetes screenings, leading to delayed diagnoses and increased complications.[55]

Even after diagnosis, disparities persist in the management and outcomes of diabetes for Black rural residents. Access to quality healthcare services, including diabetes education programs, are limited in rural areas. Consequently, Black individuals face challenges in effectively managing their diabetes, resulting in higher rates of complications, hospitalizations, and adverse health outcomes compared to their white counterparts. Cultural factors also play a role in diabetes disparities. Black rural communities may experience cultural insensitivity in healthcare settings, impacting the effectiveness of diabetes management programs. Additionally, historical systemic biases in healthcare provision contribute to mistrust, further hindering preventive measures and early interventions. Black residents in rural areas have valid reasons for harboring mistrust toward the healthcare system, given historical instances of mistreatment by medical professionals. Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, strokes, and cancer all stand as significant health concerns for Black rural Americans. A 2021 report found that a disproportionate prevalence of each of these diseases is found in Black individuals in rural settings.[56]

Current Criminal Justice Disparities

The criminal justice system in the United States is marred by disparities that disproportionately affect Black rural Americans. Black rural Americans contend with the harsh reality of over-policing, where law enforcement presence is disproportionately high in their communities. Racial profiling exacerbates this issue, leading to unwarranted stops, searches, and arrests. The systemic bias ingrained in policing practices perpetuates a cycle of distrust between Black rural residents and law enforcement agencies. One of the stark injustices within the criminal justice system is the glaring sentencing disparities faced by Black rural Americans. Research consistently reveals that Black individuals receive longer sentences than their white counterparts for similar offenses.[57] This discrepancy not only perpetuates systemic racism but also contributes to the overrepresentation of Black individuals in the prison system.

Black rural Americans often face biases in the criminal justice in the form of receiving incarceration over probation compared to their white rural counterparts.[58] While probation is considered a more rehabilitative approach, Black individuals are more likely to be sentenced to jail time instead. This not only perpetuates a cycle of incarceration but also denies individuals the opportunity for rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Additionally, the financial burden of bail bonds presents another hurdle for Black rural Americans entangled in the criminal justice system. Many find themselves unable to afford bail, leading to prolonged pretrial detention. This further amplifies the disparities in the justice system, as it disproportionately affects those without the financial means to secure their release. With that being said, the criminal justice system’s treatment of Black rural Americans reflects a broader issue—the criminalization of poverty. Limited access to quality legal representation, coupled with socio-economic challenges, creates an environment where individuals are more likely to face harsh penalties—contributing to the perpetuation of systemic inequalities.

Current Legislation

In acknowledging and delving into the history of Black rural Americans, there is a clear argument for policies and practices to address this specific population. There has been some legislation to address the unique challenges rural Americans face. However, most of these bills are not race and place-specific. One piece of legislation is the Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2021. This was introduced by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and aims to expand access to telehealth services in rural areas by allowing healthcare providers to use telehealth across state lines without obtaining additional licenses. The bill also seeks to increase funding for telehealth infrastructure in rural communities. In reviewing the bill, no statements specifically addressed the unique needs of Black rural communities.

The Rural Prosperity Act of 2021 was another piece of legislation that was introduced to tackle issues in the rural community. This legislation was introduced by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT). This bill focuses on economic development in rural areas by providing funding for small businesses, agriculture, and infrastructure projects. It also seeks to improve access to broadband internet in rural communities. One of the major concerns with this bill is that it does not consider how Black rural Americans have been historically denied bank loans and the ways that Black rural Americans can be denied funding.

The Rural Education Access Act was introduced by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). This bill purpose is to improve access to education in rural areas by funding schools and educational programs in rural communities. It also seeks to address the teacher shortage in rural schools by incentivizing teachers to work in rural areas. This bill also neglects the disparities between Black and rural Americans as well.

Lastly, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the Rural Jobs Act. This bill aims to create jobs in rural areas by providing tax incentives for businesses to invest in rural communities. It also seeks to improve access to capital for small businesses in rural areas. This bill is also a race-neutral bill and does not address the disparities of Black rural Americans.

Congressman Bishop and Davis introduced H.R. 8198, Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act. This bill attempts to mitigate some of the historical injustices as it relates to land loss related to heirs’ property. Although this legislation doesn’t explicitly talk about Black Rural Americans, it has provided safeguards that will help Black Americans in the long run.

Survey and Interview Methods

The survey instrument and interview questions were designed to align with the research objectives, focusing on understanding the issues perceived as most critical by Black rural Americans. The survey questionnaire comprised two main sections: demographic questions to contextualize responses and open-ended questions allowing participants to express their views freely. The target population for this survey included Black residents in rural areas across the United States. A purposive sampling method was employed to ensure a diverse representation. Participants were invited to participate through community outreach, social media platforms, and local organizations, promoting inclusivity. The survey was administered electronically using Microsoft Forms, allowing for a convenient and accessible platform for participants. Information about the survey’s purpose, confidentiality, and voluntary participation was communicated clearly. Informed consent was implied through voluntary survey completion. Survey responses were collected from January until July of 2024.

Semi-structured interviews were used to gather insights from Black rural Americans on economic development, healthcare, education, and criminal justice topics. Participants were recruited from rural communities across the United States using purposive sampling to ensure diverse perspectives. The interview questions were designed to explore participants’ experiences, perceptions, and suggestions regarding these key areas. Interviews were conducted remotely, based on participant preference and feasibility. Each interview lasted approximately 45 to 60 minutes and was audio-recorded with participant consent.

Data Analysis

Raw data from the survey responses were reported without undergoing statistical analysis. The goal was to present a qualitative overview of participants’ perceptions and experiences. Open-ended responses were carefully reviewed and categorized thematically to identify recurring patterns and central themes. The survey and interview questions adhered to ethical standards, ensuring participant confidentiality, informed consent, and responsible data handling.

Results

Participant Demographics

The survey included twenty participants identifying as Black rural Americans either currently living in rural America or who used to live in rural America. The participants were in the Southeast region of the United States. Ninety percent of the respondents had a college degree. The participant distribution included seventy-seven percent women and twenty-three percent men. A unanimous sentiment emerged regarding the perception of neglect, with one hundred percent of participants expressing the belief that Black rural Americans are neglected and forgotten. When asked about the most pressing issues in Black rural America, sixty-five percent identified economic development as their primary concern for Black rural Americans.  Twenty percent of the participants stated education was the most pressing issue, and the remaining fifteen percent stated healthcare as the most crucial issue. Regarding President Joe Biden’s administration’s effectiveness on addressing rural issues, forty-five percent of participants acknowledged some progress but expressed a collective opinion that more efforts could be made to address the concerns of Black rural Americans. Thirty percent of the respondents stated they did not know enough information on his efforts for rural America, and twenty-five percent stated they were dissatisfied with how the administration has handled rural America. Additionally, sixty-five percent of Black rural Americans stated they would be voting for Joe Biden, while thirty-five percent stated they are currently undecided.

A prevailing concern was inadequate broadband and internet access in rural areas. Participants overwhelmingly indicated that Black rural Americans face challenges in accessing sufficient internet. One hundred percent of the respondents indicated that Broadband access in rural communities was inadequate. Some of the respondents went into detail and stated how this lack of broadband access has hindered their employment opportunities and their children’s education. In an interview with Ms. Lafaye Taylor, a Senior Business Analyst and Black rural American, she stated that access to broadband is crucial for the development of Rural America, especially for Black Americans. Ms. Taylor stated that for Black rural Americans to even take advantage of some of the programs available to them they must first be able to access the internet. When asked about what the government could do to improve rural America, fifty percent of the respondents stated that the government should provide more funding and resources to Black rural Americans. Thirty percent of the participants stated that government officials should engage in more conversations with rural Americans to understand and address their needs. Twenty percent of the respondents stated they were unsure what should be done now. Participants largely attributed the challenges faced by Black rural Americans to federal, state, and local governments, with forty-five participants indicating a collective perception of shared responsibility. Twenty-five percent of the participants stated it was the local government’s fault for the state of Black rural America; fifteen percent stated it was the state government, ten percent stated it was the federal government alone fault, and five percent stated corporations were responsible. Some additional insights from the interviews included Dr. Kuanita Murphy, who is the founder of a magazine and award ceremony that highlights rural leaders in the states of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Dr. Murphy discussed in detail the significance of getting resources to rural communities. Dr. Murphy mentioned how companies like Walmart would not give grants to leaders and organizations in rural areas because there was no Walmart in the small towns. However, people from small towns do travel to the nearest Walmart and shop at the business. Rural residents are denied many resources because of rules that do not consider the disparities in rural areas.

In response to instances of feeling disadvantaged, one hundred percent of participants cited experiences related to jobs and opportunities as areas where they perceived a distinct disadvantage due to their identity as Black rural Americans. Eighty percent of the participants indicated that job opportunities were extremely limited in rural areas, while twenty percent stated there were no job opportunities in their rural areas. Scout Smith, former Rural Caucus Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia also explained how there are not many opportunities for Black people in rural areas. As it relates to healthcare services satisfaction in rural areas for Black Americans, eighty percent said they were dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with the healthcare services. Twenty-five percent of the participants stated they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and five percent stated they were satisfied with healthcare services. Regarding the quality of educational resources and opportunities for Black students in rural schools, fifty percent rated it as fair, while twenty percent deemed it poor, twenty-five percent rated it as good, and five percent stated it was excellent. The rating scale was excellent, good, fair, and poor. In an interview with Mr. Bob Fuse, former Congressional District 2 Chair for the Democratic Party in Georgia, discussed how local school boards were even being segregated. Many of the Black children in rural counties attend the public school system, and many of the white children in rural counties attend private schools or charter schools. The money is taken from the public school funds and put in the charter schools where the majority of those students are White.

A recurrent theme emerged when participants were asked to describe the similarities and differences between white rural Americans and Black rural Americans. Ninety-five percent expressed the view that the experiences of these two groups were notably different, with white rural Americans having more access to opportunities and resources, including a reference to generational wealth. Five percent of the participants stated that conditions were similar.

Recommendations

Creating race and place intentional policies is essential for dismantling systemic inequalities. Historically, generic policies have often overlooked the unique challenges faced by Black rural Americans. By intentionally focusing on race, policymakers acknowledge and address the historical disparities rooted in systemic racism. Simultaneously, recognizing the importance of place ensures that policies consider the specific needs and dynamics of rural communities, preventing a one-size-fits-all approach. The historical neglect and systemic disparities faced by Black rural Americans necessitate intentional and targeted policies at the federal, state, and local levels to address their unique challenges. By focusing on race and place, policymakers can create impactful strategies that foster economic, educational, and healthcare equity for this marginalized group. However, getting race-place legislation passed could be difficult in the current political climate. Congresswoman Adams (NC-12) introduced the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2023 and only had one Republican cosponsored the bill, showing it does not have bipartisan support.  

To mitigate these issues in this day and time, legislators should ensure safeguards are in place to help alleviate the historical and current injustices Black Rural Americans face. One example is H.R. 8198. Congressman Bishop (GA-2) and Congressman Davis (NC-01) introduced H.R. 8198, Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act. This bill attempts to mitigate some of the historical injustices as it relates to land loss related to heirs’ property by using the term underserved. This bill reauthorizes and enhances the existing re-lending program aimed at resolving issues related to heirs’ property, which has profound implications for Black Rural Americans who have historically faced challenges with land ownership and succession. At its core, H.R. 8198 seeks to extend the authorization of the Heirs Property Intermediary Relending Program from 2023 to 2028. This program has been instrumental in providing financial assistance to resolve property ownership and succession issues. By extending its authorization, the bill ensures the continuation of support for individuals dealing with complex land ownership situations, which is particularly crucial for Black Rural Americans who often encounter unique obstacles in managing and retaining their land.

One of the most impactful aspects of H.R. 8198 is the establishment of cooperative agreements with eligible entities to provide free legal and accounting services to underserved heirs. These services are essential for addressing issues related to ownership and succession of farmland and forest land that has multiple owners. Specifically, the bill allows for assistance in transitioning land to agricultural production, maintaining current agricultural operations, and resolving real property claims to meet eligibility requirements for various programs administered by the Secretary.

The inclusion of these cooperative agreements is particularly significant for Black Rural Americans, who have historically been disadvantaged in accessing legal and financial resources. By providing these services at no cost, the bill helps alleviate the financial burden on individuals and families striving to maintain ownership and productive use of their land. This assistance is vital in addressing the legacy of land loss and economic disenfranchisement experienced by many Black communities. H.R. 8198 includes robust provisions for the administration and oversight of cooperative agreements. Eligible entities must provide annual reports to the Secretary detailing their progress and effectiveness. This requirement ensures accountability and helps maintain high standards for the services provided. Additionally, the Secretary has the authority to terminate agreements if an entity fails to demonstrate success, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the program and ensuring that resources are used effectively.

The passage of H.R. 8198 would be a significant step towards mitigating historical injustices faced by Black Rural Americans in land ownership and succession. Although this legislation doesn’t explicitly talk about Black Rural Americans, it has provided safeguards that will help Black Americans in the long run. Beyond passing legislation like H.R. 8198, there are several additional steps that both the government and businesses can take to support Black Rural Americans. These include addressing the following:

1. Economic Empowerment: To promote economic progression, governments should implement initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and job creation in rural areas. Establishing small business incubators, providing low-interest loans, and offering training programs tailored to the needs of Black rural Americans can stimulate economic growth. Additionally, prioritizing infrastructure development in rural regions can attract investments, leading to increased opportunities.
2. Education Equity: Investing in educational resources and opportunities for Black students in rural schools is crucial. Governments should allocate funds to improve infrastructure, enhance curricula, and provide professional development for educators. Establishing scholarship programs and mentorship initiatives can further support educational advancement, ensuring that Black rural Americans have access to quality learning experiences.
3. Healthcare Access: Addressing healthcare disparities requires a multifaceted approach. Governments should allocate resources to build and maintain healthcare facilities in rural areas, ensuring accessibility for Black rural residents. Implementing telehealth programs can overcome geographical barriers, providing vital medical services to underserved communities. Moreover, incentivizing healthcare professionals to work in rural areas can strengthen the healthcare workforce.
4. Broadband Infrastructure: Recognizing the significance of internet access, policymakers must invest in broadband infrastructure in rural regions. Bridging the digital divide is essential for education, economic opportunities, and healthcare access. By providing subsidies for broadband expansion and collaborating with private entities, governments can ensure that Black rural Americans are not left behind in the digital age.
5. Community Engagement: Governments should engage directly with Black rural communities to develop effective policies. Establishing community advisory boards and conducting regular town hall meetings can facilitate dialogue, ensuring that policies align with the needs and aspirations of the residents. Involving community members in decision-making fosters a sense of ownership and ensures interventions are culturally sensitive.

Conclusion

The challenges faced by Black rural Americans are deeply entrenched in historical injustices and systemic inequalities that have evolved over time. The shift from slavery to mass incarceration, economic disparities, and educational and healthcare inequities underscore a persistent legacy of disenfranchisement. Despite some legislative efforts aimed at rural development, many existing bills have not sufficiently addressed the specific needs of Black rural communities. For instance, while the Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2021, the Rural Prosperity Act of 2021, and the Rural Education Access Act aim to improve conditions in rural areas, they often fail to address the unique and compounded challenges faced by Black rural residents.

However, H.R. 8198, the Heirs Education and Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act, represents a promising step towards addressing some of these long-standing issues. By focusing on heirs’ property, which disproportionately affects Black rural Americans due to historical land loss and legal barriers, this legislation aims to provide crucial support in resolving property ownership and succession challenges. The bill’s provisions for extending the authorization of the Heirs Property Intermediary Relending Program and establishing cooperative agreements for free legal and accounting services are vital. These measures offer practical assistance to Black rural Americans striving to retain and manage their land, addressing a critical aspect of economic and social disenfranchisement.

Nevertheless, while H.R. 8198 provides an important framework for mitigating historical land loss, broader and more comprehensive policies are needed to fully address the multi-faceted issues faced by Black rural Americans. To effectively tackle economic empowerment, educational equity, healthcare access, and broadband infrastructure, targeted and race-specific interventions are essential. Initiatives such as establishing small business incubators, investing in rural education, expanding healthcare facilities, and improving broadband connectivity are necessary to bridge the gap created by systemic neglect.

Additionally, fostering community engagement through advisory boards and town hall meetings can ensure that policies are aligned with the actual needs of Black rural residents. By integrating the insights and experiences of these communities into the policymaking process, the government can develop more effective and culturally sensitive solutions. In this way, the ongoing legacy of inequity can be addressed with a holistic and inclusive approach that recognizes and remedies the specific challenges faced by Black rural Americans.

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The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constitute an escalating global public health concern. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms become more difficult to treat due to a change over time (World Health Organization, 2021). Since microorganisms have inherent resistance to some medications (i.e., not all medications work for all microorganisms), antimicrobial resistance specifically refers to germs becoming resistant to previously effective medicines (Munita & Arias, 2016). As resistance undermines the effectiveness of anti-infective treatments, once-treatable infections become challenging or even impossible to treat, complicating the course and cost of treatment and increasing mortality rates. Over 2.8 million drug-resistant infections and 35,000 deaths occur annually in the United States. The annual economic impact of antimicrobial resistance is a staggering $4.6 billion. (CDC, 2022). Globally, antimicrobial resistance is responsible for the loss of over 1.27 million people, and 5 million deaths are indirectly associated with AMR (CDC, 2022). This Capstone explores the development of antimicrobial agents, the emergence and dynamics of antimicrobial resistance, the intersections of health disparities and infectious diseases, consequences of AMR in Black America, current initiatives, and potential solutions to this critical issue.

ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS: PIONEERING DISCOVERIES

Discovery and Development  

Before the revolutionary era of antibiotics, comprehension and clinical treatment of pathogens were restricted. The Yersinia pestis–induced plague is responsible for various pandemics throughout history, including the Justinian plague (541-543 A.D.) with an estimated death toll of approximately 100 million people and the Black Death (1347-1351 A.D.) which claimed over 50 million lives in Europe (Uddin et al., 2021). Smallpox infections led to the death of an estimated 300-500 million individual. Additionally, the seven cholera pandemics, originating in 1817, resulted in 2.86 million fatalities, and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused approximately 50 million deaths (Liang et al., 2021; Sampath et al., 2021). Public health interventions proved effective in addressing the spread of infections but less effective in treatment measures. The use of natural medicine and antimicrobial herbs to mitigate infections predates the modern antibiotic era. Evidence from as early as 350-550 AD confirms antibiotic use in the skeletal remains found in ancient Sudanese Nubia, Egypt, Greece, and China (Aminov, 2010; Reygaert, 2018). German Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich (the father of antibacterial therapy) proposed the magic bullet theory, suggesting that “bullets”, like that of a gun, could selectively target microorganisms without harming the body (Aminov, 2010). By 1904, he developed Atoxyl¹ (marketed as Salvarsan)against a catastrophic Treponema pallidum² (syphilis) (Aminov, 2010).

In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming’s pivotal discovery of Penicillin marked the inception of modern antibiotics. While investigating Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, Fleming stumbled upon Penicillin in a petri dish contaminated with Penicillium mold (Gottfried, 2005). The term “antibiotic” was later coined by Selman Waksman, a distinguished soil microbiologist at Rutgers University, in 1941. Derived from the French word “antibiotic”³ an antibiotic denotes a substance produced by one microorganism that can inhibit or destroy another (Gottfried, 2005). The significance of Penicillin became evident in 1941 when an Oxford police officer suffering from Staphylococcal septicemia became one of its first beneficiaries (Gottfried, 2005). Recognizing the potential, the United States government prioritized penicillin production for wounded soldiers, leading to widespread availability for the military by 1943 (Gottfried, 2005). The scientific breakthroughs with Atoxyl and Penicillin set the stage for discovering various antimicrobials, transforming patient care, and enhancing recovery and prognosis for bacterial infections, including those prevalent during World War II. More than a decade after Penicillin’s discovery, Paul Ehrlich’s theories led to the development of Prontosil for treating Staphylococcal and Streptococcal bacterial infections (Gottfried, 2005). Prontosil proved particularly effective against puerperal fever, a postpartum infection occurring several days after childbirth or miscarriage.

The discovery of Streptomycin in 1943 was a groundbreaking step in the management of the then-common “white plague”, also known as tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the discovery of Erythromycin (macrolide antibiotic) and Vancomycin (Gottfried, 2005). The mid-20th century saw a surge in antibiotic development, effectively treating a wide range of bacterial infections. The first official antifungal, Nystatin, was discovered in 1949, and shortly after, polyenes were developed. In the late 1960s, the landscape of antifungal treatment underwent a significant transformation with the arrival of newer border spectrum agents, including iodinated trichlorophenols and imidazoles (Smith, 1990). Idoxuridine was approved in 1963 as the first antiviral medication, creating the avenue for antiviral development (Kausar et al., 2021). In the 1990s, computer-based drug discovery aided the development of Nelfinavir, which was vital for the management of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (Kausar et al., 2021). The discovery of Ivermectin resulted from screening microbial fermentation products for antiparasitic activity led by Professor Satoshi Omura (Campbell, 2016). Initially considered ineffective in standard antimicrobial tests, one of these isolates, when tested for antiparasitic activity in 1975, produced a potent anthelmintic compound known as ivermectin and its precursor (Abamectin), and subsequently gave rise to the macrocyclic lactone class of antiparasitic agents (Campbell, 2016). Anthelminthic development represented a significant advancement for both human and animal health. These innovations also had far-reaching impacts on agriculture and livestock care. Despite the challenges posed by antibiotic resistance, the production of novel antibiotics has eased the burden of infectious diseases and has been complemented by various public health initiatives.

Classes of Antimicrobials

Antimicrobials exhibit variations in their mechanism of action, the breadth of their activity, and their efficacy against specific microorganisms. Additionally, they may exert antimicrobial effects on one or more subgroups of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. For instance, metronidazole (brand name Flagyl) is an antibacterial and antiprotozoal medication indicated for anerobic bacteria and parasitic infections like Giardia lambda and Entamoeba histolytica.

Clinical Indications and Importance of Antimocrobial Agents in Healthcare Systems

Public health measures predated the antibiotic era and were vital in controlling infectious diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. The discovery and use of antimicrobials significantly improved healthcare’s capacity to manage and combat infectious diseases globally. The introduction of antimicrobials in medicine was critical in the epidemiologic transition from the “age of pestilence” described by infectious diseases, famine, and malnutrition to the “age of degenerative and manmade diseases” characterized by chronic diseases. The overall life expectancy also shifted from 20-40 years in the early 1900s to 66.8 years at the start of the 21st century (Omran, 2005; WHO, n.d.). Antibacterials alone save at least 200,000 lives per annum in the U.S. and extend life expectancy at birth by an additional 5-10 years (Gottfried, 2005). Antimicrobial agents have been vital in the treatment, control, prophylaxis, and suppressive therapy of diseases, along with symptom alleviation, supportive management, and aiding in the diagnosis of pathogens. The mortality rate from acute rheumatic fever, lung abscesses, septic abortion, and brain infections reduced drastically (11,866 in 1936 to 5,224 in 1952 to 4,854 in 1960). Overall mortality rate owing to bacterial infections reduced (from 247.7 per 100,000 population in 1930 to 38.1 per 100,000 in 2002) in the United States (Gottfried, 2005). Moreover, antimicrobial agents have been vital in treating and preventing the spread of low incidence, high-consequence pathogens like rabies, smallpox, and anthrax. These chemotherapeutic agents have helped eradicate deadly illnesses like smallpox and rinderpest globally. The local and regional elimination of endemic diseases has also been successful with antimicrobial agents.

EMERGENCE AND DYNAMICS OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

Historical Context

Antibacterial Resistance

The widespread use of antibiotics has serious consequences, as exposure to these drugs has profound effects on the bacterial ecosystem. Even before the discovery of antibiotics, scientists hypothesized that bacteria could break down anti-infectives using enzymes. Ernst Chain confirmed the hypothesis, and in the early 1940s, Fleming discovered Penicillin-resistant Staphylococcal strains. Both scientists theorized that more resistant strains would develop with penicillin use based on the principle of natural selection (Gottfried, 2005). The emergence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), a strain of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus spp., was confirmed through reports from a London hospital in 1948 (Gottfried, 2005). This development has substantiated previously held theories regarding the potential for antibiotic resistance among bacterial strains.

The development of MRSA involves complex mechanisms, such as beta-lactamase enzyme production, altered penicillin-binding proteins, and acquisition of the mecA gene, leading to new penicillin-binding proteins with decreased affinity (Conly & Johnston, 2002). MRSA prevalence increased from 5% to 40% in the 1970s to 1980s. Vancomycin was clinically indicated for methicillin resistance in 1972, and reports of resistance emerged in 1996, with Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (VRSA) reported in the U.S. in 2002 (Conly & Johnston, 2002).

In the mid-twentieth century, Shigella strains resistant to Chloramphenicol, Streptomycin, Sulfonamides, and Tetracyclines hinted at gene transfer through plasmids. Research confirmed plasmid-mediated gene transfer, indicating bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract as potential reservoirs for resistance genes (Gottfried, 2005).

Discovered in 1943 from gram-negative Streptomyces griseus bacteria, Streptomycin revolutionized the treatment of tuberculosis caused by the once-isolating Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the acid-fast bacteria quickly developed resistance to Streptomycin-only treatment, prompting the adoption of combination therapy. This began with para-amino-salicylic acid (PAS) and later expanded to include isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide. (Gottfried, 2005).

Antiviral Resistance

As antiviral drugs, particularly nucleoside analogs, became crucial elements in medical interventions, concerns about the emergence of drug-resistant strains heightened. Nucleoside analogs have demonstrated reliability in treating herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections for over two decades. While cases of drug-resistant HSV are rare in patients with a healthy immune system—occurring at an incidence rate of only 0.1 to 0.7% — individuals with compromised immune systems face a higher risk, with a prevalence rate ranging from 4 to 7% (Bacon et al., 2003). 

Resistance to most viruses, such as HIV, has rapidly emerged against antiretrovirals. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), introduced in the 1980s for HIV, increased patient lifespan but led to antiretroviral drug resistance (ARDR) (Paydary et al., 2013). ARDR cases, starting with zidovudine in 1992, revealed rapid resistance development within weeks to months, emphasizing the need for combination therapy (Paydary et al., 2013). Despite the effectiveness of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV continues to evolve, posing challenges to its management (Feder et al., 2021). The South African Hoffman study observed that viruses can spread and reach detectable levels even when they are not entirely resistant to all drugs in a particular combination therapy- this can lead to sequential drug resistance (Feder et al., 2021).

Viruses like influenza, hepatitis B and C also exhibit resistance to recent drugs. Amantadine, initially effective against flu viruses, faced resistance during the 1980 flu epidemic, reaching 90.6% for certain strains by 2006 (Smyk et al., 2022). Neuraminidase inhibitors like oseltamivir show concern for influenza strains developing resistance, though most strains become less resistant after treatment cessation (Smyk et al., 2022). In contrast, resistance persists after treatment in hepatitis B and C, limiting treatment options. For instance, lamivudine monotherapy in HBV and HIV coinfected patients showed 90% resistance to long-term use (Terrault et al., 2018).

Antifungal Resistance

Antifungal resistance was first reported in the 1990s, marked by the emergence of multi-drug resistant Candida species and azole-resistant fungi, including Aspergillus (Kontoyiannis, 2017). Historically, resistance to antifungal treatment was primarily observed in individuals with compromised immune systems or those undergoing prolonged antifungal therapy. However, this phenomenon has now expanded to affect immunocompetent individuals (Kontoyiannis, 2017). Notably, the rise of treatment-resistant Candida auris has become a significant concern in healthcare settings, where it is associated with mortality rates ranging from 30% to 60% in patients with compromised immune responses (Egger et al., 2022). Furthermore, the emergence of azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus presents a significant medical challenge, given the limited treatment alternatives available (Wiederhold, 2017).

Antiparasitic Resistance

In 1937, Pentamidine was first prescribed to treat sleeping sickness. However, it was not until 1949 that it was discovered to be effective against visceral Leishmaniasis (Capela et al., 2019). Similarly, chloroquine was once a widely used treatment for malaria (Plasmodium spp.) during the 1960s and 1970s, but it had to be discontinued because of the emergence of resistance. The current preferred treatment for malaria is Artemisinin and its derivatives, including dihydroartemisinin, artemether, artesunate, and arteether. Nevertheless, resistance to these drugs has been reported as early as 2008 in the context of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) (Capela et al., 2019). Additionally, atovaquone, commonly used with proguanil to prevent and manage complicated and uncomplicated malaria, has demonstrated resistance when administered as a monotherapy (Capela et al., 2019).

MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE AND CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS

Antimicrobial resistance is a phenomenon where microorganisms become resistant to previously effective drugs due to their inherent resistance or genetic mutations, horizontal gene transfer, biofilm formation, efflux pumps, enzymatic inactivation, and adaptive resistance (Munita & Arias, 2016). The rate of AMR development can be significantly impacted by factors like agricultural practices, household and personal care products, antibiotic prescribing and usage, globalization, and drug development.

Agriculture

The food industry is a major contributor to AMR. Many countries use up to 80% of medically important antibiotics in land cultivation, livestock production, and aquaculture (WHO, n.d.). AMR may arise from terrestrial bacteria (microorganisms from soil and freshwater, plant endophytes and lichens) and contamination from agricultural waste, water runoff, and wastewater systems (Watts et al., 2017). Even though closed aquaculture systems are isolated from the environment, they may still spread local AMR to open environments. This can happen, for example, through wastewater or aquaculture sludge, which is often used as fertilizer and can spread onto soil systems and produce (Watts et al., 2017).  The transfer of AMR genes from environmental microbes to fish, human, and animal pathogens can have a significant negative impact on both aquatic and human health. A 2015 study unveiled a significant association between the nasal carriage of livestock-associated Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and the occurrence of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in individuals who had frequent and extensive exposure to industrial hog production (Nadimpalli et al., 2016). The research also found that there was a higher prevalence of SSTIs among children in households where adults had frequent and extensive exposure to industrial hog production (Nadimpalli et al., 2016). The link between aquatic and terrestrial resistomes (genes that resist infections) is particularly concerning because many antimicrobials used in farmed fish are essential for human use. For example, azole-resistant aspergillosis is suspected to be driven by the agricultural use of antifungals (Kontoyiannis, 2017). Cross-resistance may also occur even when antimicrobials are used in both humans and aquaculture (Watts et al., 2017). 

Household and personal care products

Products like soaps, detergents, hand lotions, window cleaners, cleaning cloths, mouthwashes, toothpaste, surface sprays, garbage bags, plastic wraps, textiles, and carpet underlays may contain antibiotics to eliminate bacteria. However, there may be an insufficient amount of antimicrobial agents to fully eradicate microorganisms, leading to the survival, resistance, and multiplication of specific pathogens and the development of multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDR). In 2017, the FDA banned 19 antibacterial agents from soaps due to concerns about their effectiveness and AMR risk (Venter et al., 2017). While some household and personal care products have removed antibacterial agents from their formulations, there are still a considerable number of such products in the market that contain antimicrobial agents unnecessarily. For instance, studies have also shown that antibacterial dishwashing liquid may be effective in laboratory-based suspension tests but not in real household settings with used sponges, demonstrating that the efficacy of antibacterial products in real-life scenarios may be reduced (Allen et al., 2006).  There is a growing concern that the excessive use of antimicrobial agents in personal care and household products contributes to the rise of allergic conditions such as asthma, eczema, and allergic rhinitis (CDC, 2022). Good bacteria are essential for supporting the immune system and maintaining gut, urinary, and vaginal health. However, using antimicrobial products may hinder the immune system’s development by eliminating helpful microorganisms. When used in excess, products like mouthwash and toothpaste that contain antimicrobial agents may do more harm than good by disrupting the body’s natural flora.

Antibiotic Use

Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, warned that the rise in demand for antibiotics could lead to their abuse (Ventola, 2015). Current studies have confirmed that antibiotic misuse is a significant factor contributing to the evolution of resistance worldwide. Overprescribing, incorrect prescriptions, and lack of adherence among patients are all contributing factors. In many countries, antibiotics are unregulated and available over-the-counter (OTC) or online without a prescription, promoting access that enables misuse (Ventola, 2015). Within the United States, healthcare reimbursement models do not incentivize the conservation of antibiotics or the use of valuable new antimicrobials (Gotham et al., 2021). Hospitals and healthcare providers are often paid per prescription, which can lead to overuse, presenting negative consequences, including an increased risk of C. difficile infections, as well as the development of UTIs and yeast infections.

Globalization

Globalization has had positive effects on healthcare accessibility and global resource exchange. However, it has also played a role in the spread of infections and is expected to have a significant influence on AMR in the future. This impact stems from increased international travel and tourism, global supply chains for food and pharmaceuticals, and medical tourism.  Globalization has promoted medical tourism, often driven by cost-saving or access to specialized care, along with international travel and tourism, and contributed to the spread of infections and the transmission of drug-resistant pathogens (Williams, 2001). This can be observed with the recent spread of COVID-19 infection and the cases of Ebola in Europe and North America. The Zaire Ebolavirus species spread to the United States from already infected individuals who were either medically evacuated into the U.S. for treatment or entered the country as regular airline passengers, and within the United States, infected two nurses who provided care to one of the patients (Bell, 2016). The global supply chains for food and pharmaceuticals facilitate swift transboundary movement of antibiotics, potentially contributing to the proliferation of antibiotic misuse, contaminants, and fake medications in developed countries (Williams, 2001). AMR could worsen if public health responses are inadequate and disease eradication efforts are suboptimal, thereby promoting the spread of infections and adverse effects of antibiotic misuse.

Pharmaceutical Research, Development, and Production

Several daunting challenges hindering discovery and novel antibiotic production beset the antibiotic research and development landscape. The escalating need for new antimicrobials to treat life-threatening infections caused by the worldwide spread of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens is at odds with the current investment levels in developing natural-product-derived and synthetic small molecules.

• Profitability Challenges- Researching and developing antibiotics is both expensive and time-consuming. Pharmaceutical companies incurred costs of almost $1 billion per new antibiotic in the early 2000s, and this figure has increased to about $1.5 billion in 2017 (Spellberg et al., 2004; Towse et al., 2017). Unfortunately, many drug candidates fail during clinical trials, leading to significant financial losses. Even when successful, new medications are introduced to the market sparingly to prevent the development of antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, antibiotics typically have shorter treatment durations than chronic disease drugs, which generate long-term revenue. This creates a paradox where the more effective an antibiotic is, the less profitable it becomes, leading to a low return on investment. Consequently, only a limited number of companies have invested in antibiotic development due to this financial disincentive. In fact, seven out of the twelve pharmaceutical companies that effectively introduced a drug to the market in the past decade have become bankrupt or shut down their antibiotics business due to inadequate sales figures (Allen, 2022). Therefore, developing antibiotics that are both effective and economically sustainable is a delicate balance that requires significant investment and careful management.
• Scientific Challenges- Since the early 2000s, the production of antibiotics has drastically slowed down. The scientific challenge lies in finding effective novel antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. As potential targets have already been explored, it is difficult to identify new drug candidates. Innovation has not yet yielded promising clinical indications to increase the antibiotic pool or slow AMR progression.
• Regulatory Hurdles- The process that pharmaceutical companies have to go through in order to get their drugs approved can be an incredibly painstaking and protracted one. From the initial stages of testing and development to the clinical trials that are required to establish the drug’s safety and efficacy, there are many hoops to jump through before a medication can be made available to the public. Additionally, regulatory agencies such as the FDA have strict standards that must be met, and the entire process can take several years and cost millions of dollars. Furthermore, after a novel antibiotic loses patent protection, generic versions become available, leading to reduced profitability due to price competition.
• Antibiotic Stewardship Programs- Antibiotic stewardship programs are designed to optimize antibiotic prescribing and use in various healthcare facilities. They aim to identify the most effective antibiotic regimens, improve patient outcomes, mitigate adverse effects such as Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), and curb rates of AMR (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). These programs have been shown to have a direct impact in reducing MRSA infections by 21% and AMR-related deaths by 18% in 2019 as compared to 2013 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). To ensure the effectiveness of antibiotics, it is important that new antibiotics are only used to treat infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria, where no other effective treatment is available. However, pharmaceutical companies have expressed their dissatisfaction with antibiotic stewardship programs, claiming that they are too restrictive and could have negative implications for patients (Allen, 2022). This problem is further compounded by low Medicare reimbursements, which discourage hospitals from utilizing new antibiotics. For instance, despite 90% of US hospitals switching from using Polymyxin B (brand name colistin) to newer drugs like Avycaz for treating urinary tract infections, they are not investing enough in the new medication due to low Medicare reimbursement rates (Allen, 2022).

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN BLACK AMERICA

AMR has been a public health concern for more than a century, even before the discovery of the first antibiotic. With the occurrence and reappearance of infectious diseases, the issue has become even more significant, resembling a déjà vu of the initial epidemiologic transition. As a public health crisis, AMR undermines decades of advancements and innovation in medicine and the pharmaceutical industry, making infections and medical procedures riskier, leading to treatment delays and prolonged illness duration. Patients may become extended infection reservoirs, increasing the risk of spreading resistant microorganisms and jeopardizing the health of more individuals and healthcare professionals (Jindal et al., 2015). Moreover, protracted illness and treatment duration may escalate healthcare expenses and impose a heavier economic burden on families and societies, the impact of which is often underestimated. For instance, postoperative infection rates could increase by up to 50% and mortality rates by up to 30% if antibiotics are no longer employed for prophylaxis and treatment of hospital-acquired infections during total hip replacement surgeries (Smith & Coast, 2013). The global impact of AMR is enormous and has the potential to affect economies, international trade, travel, and security. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2050, there could be 10 million annual deaths worldwide, with 2.4 million occurring in high-income countries (IACG, 2019). Furthermore, there is an economic threat comparable to the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 due to increased healthcare utilization, impact on agriculture, trade, job loss, poverty, and inequalities (IACG, 2019).

For the Black community, antibiotic resistance poses a significant challenge, mainly due to health inequities, limited healthcare access, and suboptimal infection control measures. Black Americans are also at a higher risk of developing conditions that require increased antibiotic usage. Out of the top ten states with the highest rates of STIs in 2021, six states (Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina) were among the ten states with the highest Black American population (CDC, 2023). Black Americans had the highest rate of gonorrhea (653 per 100,000 compared to 79 per 100,000 in whites) and chlamydia (1,082 per 100,000 compared to 185 per 100,000 in whites), and the second highest rate of syphilis (42 per 100,000 compared to 9 per 100,000 in whites) (CDC, 2023). Between 2015 and 2019, non-Hispanic Blacks accounted for 68% of patients who presented with disseminated gonococcal infections caused by untreated gonorrheal infections that spread via the bloodstream to other parts of the body (Weston et al., 2022).

CDC’s Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs) evaluates invasive bacterial infections of public health importance to monitor the emergence of AMR and promote adequate response to public health emergencies and other emerging infections. However, racial and ethnic data for minorities in the ABC report is inadequate, with up to 70% of data not including race. Nonetheless, the ABC report indicates that Black Americans are disproportionately affected by infectious diseases, and exhibit higher rates of Group B Streptococcus (10.3 per 100,000 population in Blacks vs 9.0 per 100,000 population in whites and 6.5 per 100,000 population in Hispanics in 2021), Haemophilus influenzae (1.3 per 100,000 population in 2021 vs 0.9 per 100,000 population in whites in 2021), Neisseria meningitidis (0.09 per 100,000 population vs 0.06 per 100,000 in 2021), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (8.9 per 100,000 vs 4.3 per 100,000 in whites in 2021) since at least 2017 (CDC Surveillance Reports, 2023). Limited access to healthcare services in predominantly Black neighborhoods further exacerbates this problem. For example, only 245 pharmacies are present in counties with the highest number of Black Americans compared to 3441 in counties with the lowest number of Black Americans (PolicyMap, n.d.). Furthermore, Black individuals had a higher rate of uninsurance than white individuals in at least 53% of counties that report uninsurance (PolicyMap, n.d.). The 2020 COVID risk index also revealed that the top 10 majority-Black counties faced greater rates of infections compared to counties with the least Black population (PolicyMap, n.d.).

Individuals of African descent have a higher likelihood of carrying the sickle cell trait. In cases where an individual inherits both copies of the trait, they develop sickle cell disease (SCD). Unfortunately, this predisposes many Black Americans to bacterial infections and an increased reliance on antibiotics. Prophylactic antibiotic regimens may be recommended to reduce the risk of invasive pneumococcal infections in SCD patients, which can be life-threatening. However, studies show that about three in four patients receiving prophylaxis still present with resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae (Srisuwananukorn et al., 2020). Additionally, central venous catheter line placement, often used in pain management and exchange transfusion, is a significant risk factor for multidrug-resistant infections in all SCD patients.  PPSV23 vaccination is recommended to reduce the risk of invasive pneumococcal infections by five-fold in SCD patients (Srisuwananukorn et al., 2020). However, this vaccine only covers a limited range of serotypes of S. pneumoniae, and SCD patients remain at high risk of contracting this disease and succumbing to its complications compared to the general population (Bryson, 2023). Invasive pneumococcal infections or their complications (e.g., meningitis) require antibiotic treatment, which may further fuel the spread of antibiotic resistance (Bryson, 2023). Furthermore, a study found that about 1 in 5 among sickle cell disease patients who had multidrug-resistant infections died within three years; this highlights that antibiotic resistance is a significant risk factor for mortality in these patients. (Srisuwananukorn et al., 2020).

RECOMMENDATIONS

To effectively tackle AMR, it is crucial to adopt a comprehensive and multifaceted approach that addresses the root causes of this growing problem. The potential death toll resulting from drug-resistant infections could be comparable to the worldwide mortality rate of COVID-19. Hence, it is imperative to explore global interventions aimed at preserving the efficacy of life-saving antimicrobials.

1. Build a healthy and vibrant antimicrobial pipeline: The global spread of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens has created a pressing need for new antimicrobials to treat life-threatening infections. However, the current investment in natural-product-derived and synthetic small molecules is inadequate to meet this need. To address this challenge, there is a critical need for strategic investment in novel options that prioritize efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, global accessibility, and low resistance potential (Paydary et al., 2013). The development of new antibiotics has heavily relied on natural sources and the modification of existing compounds since the discovery of penicillin. Moreover, the majority of antibiotics in clinical trials as of 2021 were ineffective against multiple classes of microbes and consisted of less than 25% of all drugs in the drug development pipeline (Miethke et al., 2021). Despite advances in modern medicine, the research and development of antibiotics have resulted in only a handful of anti-infectives with unique mechanisms of action that differentiate them from existing antibiotics. This is particularly important since modifying existing classes does not eliminate the risk of cross-resistance. It is therefore crucial to invest heavily in new chemotypes and technologies to combat antimicrobial resistance. Direct Lytic Ams (DLAs) like exebacase, are one such chemotypes made up of purified proteins and peptides that have shown a low tendency for resistance. When administered with existing antibiotics, they can help suppress the development of resistance to other antibiotics (Schuch et al., 2022). Exploring polypharmacological compounds like combination therapies target multiple defined targets and have also been proven effective. These combinations can have additive or synergistic effects, especially when using distinct mechanisms of action, and are valuable in increasing the efficacy of existing antibiotics, preventing the emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms, and restoring the effectiveness of antibiotics made inefficient by resistance (Miethke et al., 2021).
2. Improve clinical and public health practices:
   • Promote research in early diagnostic testing: Early and accurate diagnostic testing plays a pivotal role in facilitating prompt treatment with antibiotics that are specifically effective against the pathogen. This approach not only helps in refining an empirically selected regimen but also streamlines the process of de-escalating unnecessary antimicrobials. In particular, in settings where multi-drug resistant microorganisms are prevalent, a rapid turnaround time is of utmost importance.
   • Expand vaccination and preventive therapy: An expanded pipeline for vaccination and the utilization of prophylactic monoclonal antibodies offer a promising solution for treating resistant pathogens such as C. difficile infections (Bassetti et al., 2017). Monoclonal antibodies are a viable option for treating patients with compromised immunity, who are often excluded from many vaccines and are particularly vulnerable to developing infections, many of which are resistant (Marston et al., 2016).
   • Enhance measures for infection control and prevention of drug resistance in healthcare facilities: In May 2015, 196 countries made a commitment to the Global Action Plan to address antimicrobial resistance (Sneddon et al., 2022). The plan aims to increase awareness and understanding of AMR, strengthen knowledge through research and surveillance, reduce infection rates through sanitation and hygiene measures, optimize antimicrobial use in human and animal health, and promote sustainable investment for the development of new medicines, diagnostics, vaccines, and interventions across all countries. Although it is a welcome improvement and brings the much-needed level of awareness to world leaders, more global initiatives are needed to address the problem of AMR. Antibiotic stewardship and proper tracking are critical solutions in addressing AMR. Unfortunately, many countries lack tracking databases for emerging and resistant pathogens in their regions and cannot accurately report AMR data. The 2019 WHO’s fourth Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) report only included records from 70 countries, which is far from enough (Dall, 2021). Despite reporting a sixfold increase in the number of infections compared to the 2017 data, these numbers may underestimate the prevalence and magnitude of AMR, and sufficient knowledge and surveillance are needed to control MDR on a global scale. Therefore, global reporting of emerging and resistant pathogens is essential to track pathogens, identify patterns, and create an action framework to address unique AMR endemic or epidemic cases before they spread globally, and is vital in the fight against AMR. Countries must also be encouraged to promote local antimicrobial stewardship programs and use resources such as the Global Antimicrobial Stewardship Partnership Hub (GASPH) for healthy partnerships to share best practices (Sneddon et al., 2022).
3. Legislative and regulatory solutions: While supporting current efforts to reduce the progression of AMR within the U.S., legislators must continue to provide funding to encourage ongoing research. 
   • Rebuilding the antibiotic market: Policymakers must explore ways to strengthen the antibiotic development pipeline and incentivize pharmaceutical companies through reimbursement reforms, market entry rewards or milestone payments, to stimulate antibiotic research and development.
     • A nonprofit drug development model has been proposed to be vital in addressing AMR. The PASTEUR Act establishes a subscription model for antibiotic development, removing the burden of low return on investment and market challenges they face with novel antibiotic development and the financial incentive on pharmaceutical companies that often leads to low return on investment. This legislation ensures that pharmaceutical research progresses to address antibiotic development market failures and could potentially usher in a new era of antibiotic development (Sen. Bennet, 2023).
     • One potential strategy to support the development of antibiotics is through the implementation of pull and push incentive models. Pull incentives are market-driven mechanisms that reward successful antibiotic development, while push incentives involve direct investments in research and development (Årdal et al., 2017). Examples of pull strategies include patent extensions to prolong market entry of generic antibiotics, market-entry rewards to incentivize drug availability while unlinking compensation from sales volume, and tradable vouchers that are granted to pharmaceutical firms’ post-regulatory approval of a high-priority drug (Dutescu & Hillier, 2021). On the other hand, push incentives include grants, subsidies, and tax incentives. For instance, CARB-X is an initiative that provided $360 million in funding for 92 projects in 12 countries over a five-year period (Dutescu & Hillier, 2021).
   • Agriculture and aquaculture: By implementing strict guidelines and monitoring the use of antibiotics in the food production industry, legislators can help ensure that these drugs are used only when necessary. Additionally, promoting international trade agreements that discourage excessive use of antibiotics in food production can help reduce the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. This could include measures such as limiting the amount of antibiotics that can be used in animal feed or requiring veterinary oversight for all antibiotic prescriptions.
   • Bolster national action plans: To combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), lawmakers could collaborate with stakeholders and relevant agencies to create updated national action plans for AMR. Such plans could focus on measures to strengthen infection prevention and control practices, as well as to bolster pandemic preparedness efforts. By working together, these groups can address the complex challenges presented by AMR and ensure that our healthcare systems are prepared to respond to outbreaks and other emergencies.
4. Promote global AMR efforts: Global support will go a long way to addressing AMR in communities that abuse antimicrobial agents and in areas that lack proper health and drug distribution infrastructure.
   • Transform drug distribution networks: Establishing a sustainable drug distribution, public health, and health systems network in developing countries is crucial for the judicious use of antibiotics, reduction of counterfeit antibiotics, effective public health surveillance and intervention, and proper management of infectious diseases, endemics/epidemics, thereby lowering the global rate of AMR. It is imperative to rigorously enforce infection control measures, maintain proper hygiene and sanitation standards, and appropriately dispose of or manage medical waste within healthcare facilities and communities. These measures are critical to combat AMR and maintain the efficacy of antibiotics.
   • Educate the public: Engagement in public education campaigns will play a crucial role in raising awareness among the public about the significance of strictly adhering to accurate medical guidance for drug usage. These campaigns will specifically focus on educating the public about the importance of carefully following guidelines related to the correct indication, appropriate dosage, proper administration, and exact timing of drug intake. It is imperative that individuals are provided with accurate and up-to-date information about these aspects of drug usage to ensure optimal health outcomes and public awareness campaigns will serve as an effective means of achieving this objective.
   • Utilize international partnerships and support: Global collaborations fortify the knowledge and expertise of the global health workforce, diminish health disparities, tackle cross-border infectious disease risks, recognize the needs of countries and regions, and provide financial and moral support.
   • Strengthen local policies: Public health systems can collaborate with the government in setting new policies that prioritize antibiotic stewardship and address factors that exacerbate the problem. This includes regulating the sale of antibiotics, curbing the consumption of wildlife, and implementing restrictions on the excessive use of antimicrobials in agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture.
   • Promoting global Pandemic Preparedness and Response Strategies: A comprehensive global pandemic preparedness strategy not only mitigates the immediate risks associated with pandemics but also aligns with efforts to combat AMR. AMR represents an inherent pandemic risk in itself, which escalates when coupled with emerging public health threats. Therefore, it is crucial to implement coordinated and synchronized interventions to address both AMR and pandemic preparedness. 

CONCLUSION

To effectively address the impending public health crisis posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), it is crucial to implement a comprehensive action plan that involves collaborative partnerships, legislative solutions, and pandemic preparedness strategies. A joint effort is strongly recommended to eradicate resistance reservoirs, disrupt transmission chains, and deploy effective prevention strategies worldwide. By implementing these measures, public and population health can be safeguarded collectively and strategically, while also addressing the unique challenges that Black communities face in the context of antimicrobial resistance.

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Winsor’s story is emblematic of a much larger problem: for millions of jobless American workers, the vital lifeline of unemployment insurance has become increasingly more uncertain and inaccessible. The American unemployment insurance system was created during the Great Depression as a safety net for individuals who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and were actively seeking work. Its goal was to provide temporary financial support to unemployed workers to prevent them from falling deeper into poverty. Today, however, this goal seems increasingly out of reach. According to a 2019 analysis, only 28% of unemployed workers receive benefits, a percentage that has dropped over the past two decades.[2] Additionally, benefit amounts, on average, have fallen to less than one-third of prior wages.[3] The decline in funding for the unemployment insurance system, combined with rising living costs and the length of time people are out of work, has led one U.S. senator to conclude that the program is inadequate for the needs of a 21^st-century economy.[4]

While there is much literature discussing the shortcomings of unemployment insurance (“UI”),[5] this paper focuses on how the current administration of UI, in practice, exacerbates racial inequality. Using data from the Department of Labor and the U.S. Census Bureau, this paper will address the following questions: 1) to what extent are disparate UI treatments and benefits attributed to race; 2) what is the primary source of the racial gap in the administration of UI; and 3) what reforms to the design of the unemployment insurance system could reduce that gap. This paper’s analysis is primarily restricted to the years 2015-2019 to avoid any statistical anomalies associated with both the unprecedented job loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the creation of new, temporary pandemic-specific UI programs.[6] The paper finds a correlation between states with systemically stricter unemployment insurance rules and those with large Black populations. In these states, the recipiency rate, the cap on weekly benefits claimants can receive, and the annual benefits paid are all lower.

Furthermore, the paper argues that the difference in state-specific rules, particularly in Southern states, is a significant factor in Black claimants receiving lower and fewer benefits than white claimants. It concludes that addressing racial inequality in unemployment insurance requires federal action. The author recommends that Congress mandate states to increase the duration of benefits and broaden eligibility by implementing new national standards, restructuring UI financing mechanisms, and supporting more comprehensive community outreach and data collection. Without federal action, the unemployment insurance system will continue to disadvantage Black Americans, who stand to benefit the most from such relief. In the end, reforming unemployment insurance is a racial justice issue.

This paper is structured in five parts. The first section briefly analyzes unemployment insurance and how Black Americans have been disadvantaged since the program’s inception. The second section details the predicament of Black workers, who are disproportionately unemployed and underemployed. The third section provides institutional context by discussing the operations and challenges of the unemployment insurance system. The fourth section uses UI claims data to demonstrate how Black Americans fare worse than their white counterparts regarding who receives UI and how much they receive. Finally, the author proposes a list of policy recommendations for Congress to ensure that the unemployment insurance system is both accessible and efficient and a reliable resource for all Americans.

I. Flawed By Design: Race & History of Unemployment Insurance

To fully grasp the current inequalities in the administration of unemployment insurance, it is essential to understand its origins. Congress created unemployment insurance in America in 1935 as a joint federal-state program to financially support jobless workers during the Great Depression. Despite the devastating economic effects of the Great Depression on all, the newly created unemployment insurance program limited benefits to “only those workers regularly employed in commerce and industry.”[7] This definition, which Members of Congress from the Deep South demanded as a condition of their support, expressly excluded agricultural and domestic workers, who were disproportionately Black Americans.[8] Thus, when it was first implemented, unemployment insurance excluded approximately 65% of the Black workforce, resulting in a program that primarily benefited white, male, full-time workers.[9] It was not until 1954, twenty years later, that coverage fully extended to agricultural and domestic workers.

Black Americans were also largely excluded from unemployment insurance due to another compromise made by lawmakers. To secure enough votes to pass the New Deal legislation, Northern Democrats agreed to cede control of unemployment insurance to the states, resulting in Southern states having a powerful mechanism to control the allocation of public funds. Unlike Social Security, which remains federally operated, unemployment insurance is still primarily administered by states, which can determine who qualifies for benefits, how generous the benefits are, and how strict the requirements are. The decentralized structure of UI, similar to other systems controlled by the state, has led to a disproportionate exclusion of Black Americans from the benefits of the welfare state.[10]

Historians—have and continue to—debate whether the exclusion of more than half of Black workers from UI was due to racism or an incidental and administrative necessity. Some scholars argue that the exclusions resulted from the government not having the means to include agricultural and domestic workers and that unemployment insurance programs in other countries made similar exclusions.[11] Still, others argue that Congress intentionally excluded Black workers to protect the Southern segregationist power structures and disempower Black communities.[12] Such scholars also point to the warnings of prominent Black advocates at the time, such as Charles Hamilton of the NAACP, who cautioned Congress that the UI program and others like it would leave a “hole just big enough for the majority of Negroes to fall through.”[13] Regardless of the motivation or intent behind the exclusion of Black workers, the disparate impact of the UI program on Black Americans is undeniable. Racial inequality was built into the program’s structure, keeping most Black Americans at arm’s length while primarily benefiting white Americans.

1. First Fired, Last Hired: Black Employment

The shortcomings of America’s unemployment insurance system continue to pose a significant challenge for Black Americans due to disproportionately high unemployment rates within the Black community. Black workers are affected by what some economists have labeled as the “first fired, last hired” phenomenon – i.e., they are the first to lose their jobs, and their unemployment rates are the last to recover even as the economy improves.[14] Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that unemployment disparities persist during times of both widespread job loss and economic growth. In fact, from 1972—when unemployment data disaggregated by race first became available— to 2019, Black Americans have consistently had unemployment rates twice that of white Americans.[15] This pattern of racial disparity in the labor market persists across all categories, including gender, age, and veteran status.[16] The gap in unemployment rates between Black and white workers is even more pronounced in cities with a majority, or near majority, Black population. For example, the Black unemployment rate in Atlanta and New Orleans is over four times higher than the white rate. Washington, D.C. has the highest Black-white unemployment ratio gap, at 6:1.[17]

Some economists have attempted to explain the Black-white unemployment gap by pointing to differences in skills and education.[18] For example, in 2019, 47% of white Americans obtained some college degree, while only 30% of Black Americans did.[19] According to this view, Black people, on average, have less educational attainment, thus leading to higher unemployment rates. However, this hypothesis fails to explain the unemployment disparities between Black and white Americans fully. Even when Black Americans have achieved the same level of educational attainment as white Americans, their unemployment rates are still higher. For example, at 10.8%, Black people without a high school diploma have an unemployment rate that is more than twice as high as similarly situated white people at 4.9%. Even more striking, the unemployment rate for Black people with some college education (4.9%) is nearly the same for white people with no high school diploma.[20] These statistics suggest deeper, more structural causes behind the Black-white unemployment gap.

Recent research suggests that the causes behind the Black-white unemployment gap can be found in the lingering effects of systemic racism, including unequal school funding, mass incarceration, and hiring discrimination.[21] Hiring discrimination is a particularly significant barrier. A considerable amount of research using field experiments has demonstrated the existence of bias against Black Americans and other racial minorities in the hiring process.[22] A 2021 experiment, where researchers sent 83,000 fictitious job applications for entry-level positions at Fortune 500 companies, found that, on average, applications with distinctively Black names were 10% less likely to receive an invitation for an interview than comparable applications with white names.[23]  Mass incarceration also significantly impacts Black participation in the labor market, particularly for Black men. Black Americans are more likely to be incarcerated than white Americans.[24] Further, people who have been formerly incarcerated face significant barriers to gaining and maintaining employment.[25] These structural barriers impede Black employment and contribute to disproportionately low Black wages and the overrepresentation of Black Americans in app-based and part-time jobs despite wanting full-time employment.[26] Put simply, given the precarious state of Black employment, federal unemployment insurance can and should serve as a critical tool for financial stability for Black workers.

1. Background and Challenges of Unemployment Insurance

Throughout the years, the primary objective of the unemployment insurance program has remained unchanged: to partially replace wages for some recently unemployed workers through a federal-state insurance program. Although benefits vary by state, the average replacement rate—the share the state replaces based on a worker’s previous wages—is typically around 50%. The most common maximum duration of benefits is 26 weeks. Eligibility criteria and weekly benefit amounts vary significantly by state based on their respective UI rules. Before the pandemic, the number of Americans collecting unemployment peaked at around 1.8 million. However, the latest data indicates that 18.3 million people are receiving payments. [27]

Eligibility. The only criteria the federal government stipulates for persons seeking unemployment benefits is that claimants must:

1. have lost a job through no fault of their own;
2. be “able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work;”
3. have earned enough sufficient income during a “base period earning” before unemployment[28]

States have broad discretion in applying these criteria. States can also add additional measures, such as the duration of prior employment and which professions are eligible. States are also free to determine how much previous income is “sufficient,” as well as the level and duration of benefits.

Benefits. Unemployment benefits typically come in the form of weekly payments. States generally set the Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) between 30 – 50% of the claimant’s highest earning period before unemployment, but the percentage differs by state. In addition, states impose maximum caps on Weekly Benefit Amounts and determine the maximum duration for eligible claimants to collect benefits.

Funding. State and federal payroll taxes fund the UI system. The State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) tax is set and administered by states; thus, the amount taxed varies between states. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax is federally administered and is 6% of the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages. All state and federal unemployment funds are then deposited into the Unemployment Trust Fund overseen by the Department of Treasury and serves as a state’s UI account. States can also borrow funds from the federal government if they need to raise more revenue, but they must repay it within two years. [29]

Challenges

While many challenges plague the current administration of unemployment insurance, three are particularly noteworthy. First, the state administration of the program has effectively created 53 different unemployment insurance agencies with substantial variations in eligibility standards, verification protocols, and processing time.[30] The timeframe by which a claimant receives their first payment, for instance, is influenced significantly by where they live. For example, after the state introduced a new online unemployment claims system in Florida, only over half of the people who filed for benefits in 2020 received their first check within three weeks.[31] Such variations in processing time by state can be costly for people in need, especially during a crisis such as the pandemic.[32] Another challenge with state administration is the funding structure. As noted in the previous section, states rely partly on state taxes to cover unemployment insurance. Such an arrangement is challenging because some states, hoping to be more business-friendly, simply lower taxes, thus leaving their unemployment insurance programs underfunded. States are therefore incentivized to shorten benefits, reduce weekly benefits, and increase qualification hurdles, thus, narrowing the number of people who can receive benefits.[33]

A second challenge to the current UI system is that too few unemployed workers are eligible for benefits. In 2019, only 28% of all unemployed workers received UI benefits nationwide. The percentage of those receiving UI benefits also varies widely by state. Several factors drive the eligibility problem. Arguably the most important is the minimum earning threshold set by each state to meet eligibility. If the threshold is too high (as in many states), states exclude low-wage workers even if they have lost their job. Such a threshold is especially burdensome to Black Americans, who receive lower wages than white workers on average due to longstanding structural barriers and labor market discrimination.[34] Another factor contributing to increased ineligibility is a rigid requirement that workers must be involuntarily separated from work. While this requirement is sensible, it does not account for voluntary separations that are out of a worker’s control (such as a significant drop in work hours, excessively demanding work schedules, health reasons, partner relocation, childcare, etc.). In addition, while some states have broadened the work separation requirements, others have not, leading to lower rates of claimants receiving benefits.[35] The exclusion of unemployed workers such as gig workers, independent contractors, and part-time workers has also led many to fall through the cracks of the UI system.[36]

The final noteworthy challenge of UI is inadequate benefits and maximum duration caps. Scholars are questioning the current wage replacement rate of 50% in many states. They argue that more may be needed for low-wage workers, particularly those with dependents, who are more vulnerable to financial insecurity.[37] Additionally, the maximum duration of benefits varies significantly across states, with some capping at 12-16 weeks, disproportionately affecting Black workers who tend to have more extended periods of unemployment.[38] To address these issues, scholars propose accounting for income in benefits distribution and increasing the benefits and duration for a more comprehensive and efficient social safety net.[39]

1. Findings & Analysis of Racial Inequality

To analyze the impact of race on the administration of unemployment insurance, this paper utilizes data from various sources, including state-specific guidelines, the U.S. Census American Community Survey, and the Benefits Accuracy Measurement program. The BAM program requires states to audit both accepted and rejected claims and submit the data to the Department of Labor. This publicly accessible data from the Department of Labor encompasses information from all states, including demographic details and general information on claimants. By comparing these data, the paper aims to demonstrate the extent of the racial gap in UI and the strength of the correlation between states with high percentages of Black residents and less favorable UI policies and administration. Ultimately, states with a higher proportion of Black residents are found to have less generous benefits for unemployed workers.

How Much UI Pays

One way to evaluate the effectiveness of a state’s unemployment insurance program is by analyzing the amount of benefits paid to claimants. Such an evaluation can be done by examining four key metrics: 1) the maximum weekly benefit; 2) the annual benefits paid; 3) the replacement rate; and 4) recipiency rates. The maximum weekly benefit refers to the maximum amount a claimant can receive through the state’s UI program. The annual benefits paid are calculated by determining the total amount of UI claims paid in a year divided by the number of claims in that state. The replacement rate is the percentage of a worker’s average weekly wages replaced by UI benefits. The higher the percentage, the more workers will be able to receive payments closer to their pre-unemployment wages. States have complete discretion over these four metrics, which leads to significant variations in UI policies and implementation across states.

The differences in maximum weekly benefits between states are particularly striking. For example, the most generous state (Washington at $999) pays 4.25 times more than the least generous state (Mississippi at $235). Similarly, states like Alabama and Louisiana have maximum caps at $275, while New Jersey and Oregon have caps at $974 and $804, respectively. These variations between states also contribute to racial disparities. As Figure 1 illustrates, states with a higher proportion of Black residents, such as Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina, generally have among the nation’s lowest maximum weekly benefit amounts.[40] This pattern can also be seen in the annual benefits paid (See Figure 2). Lower benefits create more significant hardships for workers as they need more resources to meet their basic needs while unemployed and looking for work.[41]

Maximum Weekly Benefits v. Black Population (Figure 1)

Annual Benefits Paid Per Person v. Black Population (Figure 2)

In addition to the maximum benefits cap, replacement rates for unemployment insurance also determine how much a claimant can receive in a particular state. Various studies suggest that a replacement rate of wages around 60% – 70% (on par with international standards) is optimal in balancing the competing goals of providing a meaningful safety net and incentivizing work.[42] Only two states are close to that percentage. North Dakota and Iowa have the highest replacement rate at 48%. However, states like Louisiana, Tennessee, and North Carolina are at 31% or below. While the correlation is less striking than with the maximum weekly and annual benefits paid, the seven states with a Black population over 20% have replacement rates under 40%.

Who Receives UI Benefits?

Despite the higher unemployment rates among Black Americans, data shows that fewer Black workers receive unemployment insurance than other racial groups. An analysis of 2015-2019 American Survey data reveals that only 24% of unemployed Black workers received UI benefits, compared to 33% of white workers.[43] Even during the pandemic, when Congress expanded UI eligibility, the gap remained, with 13% of Black workers receiving benefits compared to 24% of white workers.[44]

The low percentage of Black workers receiving unemployment insurance is due to structural barriers such as discrimination and poverty and geography. The states with the lowest UI recipiency rates, or the proportion of jobless workers receiving benefits from a state program, are primarily located in the South and have a higher proportion of Black residents (see Figure 3). For example, in 2019, only 7.7% of unemployed workers in Alabama (with a Black population of 26%) received benefits, while in Mississippi, the state with the highest proportion of Black residents (36%), only 10% of unemployed workers received benefits. In contrast, states like Minnesota and New Jersey had recipiency rates of 67% and 51%, respectively.[45]

UI Recipiency Rate v. Black Population (Figure 3)

A similar pattern can be observed in denial rates for UI benefits. In 2019, eight of the nine states with the highest Black population percentages had a higher rate of denied UI claims, with rates over 30%. The denial rates in South Carolina and Mississippi were particularly concerning, with 81% and 88% of claims being denied, respectively.[46] While it is challenging to pinpoint the specific reasons for denied claims, states with high denial rates tend to have strict eligibility requirements, which exclude low-wage workers and part-time workers, as well as mandate short benefit duration periods.[47]

• Policy Recommendations

The racial inequalities in America’s unemployment insurance system highlighted in the previous section strongly suggest that structural reform is needed. This dismal truth is that existing unemployment insurance— a patchwork of outdated state systems with little to no federal regulation—is an inadequate and unreliable safety net for millions of Americans. According to a 2021 U.S. Census Bureau survey, nearly one out of three households (31%) receiving unemployment insurance still had difficulty paying household expenses.[48] For Black Americans, the problem is even more pronounced. Due primarily to uneven state policies, Black workers are 24% less likely to receive UI benefits, and when they do, their payments are 11% lower than white Americans.[49]

While the shortcomings of UI are not new, the COVID pandemic exposed UI’s fragility in new ways. As unemployment rates quadrupled to 14.8 %—the highest since data collection began in 1948—UI claims skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, resulting in nearly every state struggling to send out benefits.[50] But if the pandemic’s early months laid bare UI’s failures, later months also revealed its potential. In response to the pandemic, Congress implemented the most significant expansion in UI benefits in U.S. history. It created new temporary programs – i.e., Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) – to expand eligibility requirements, extend the duration of benefits, and increase weekly benefits.[51] These changes to UI, which expired in September 2021, offer an important lesson: the federal government can and must take bold action to ensure UI works fairly and adequately for all Americans.

In 2021, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act to harmonize varying states’ UI benefits.[52] The recommendations below include some of these proposals and new ones to address racial inequality more directly. In the absence of state action, Congress should:

Set minimum federal standards that state UI programs must meet.

• Expand benefit duration: The duration of unemployment insurance benefits has been a point of contention for many states. Historically, all states provided a maximum of 26 weeks of benefits.[53] However, in recent years, ten states have reduced their benefit duration, with some even cutting it in half (i.e., North Carolina). This trend will likely continue as more states (e.g., Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oklahoma) consider similar legislation as recent as 2022.[54] These reductions in benefit duration disproportionately affect Black workers, who tend to experience more extended periods of unemployment at, on average, 27 weeks or longer.[55] Congress should therefore set a national standard and mandate that states offer at least 28 weeks of benefits—the national average unemployment period—and adjust the duration based on the national unemployment rate.[56]
• Increase benefits: The current method for calculating UI benefits, which solely relies on past wages, does not adequately address the needs of workers, particularly those in the Black community who are disproportionately employed in low-wage jobs.[57] To address this issue, states should be required to adopt a more progressive, advanced replacement formula that increases the replacement rate based on wages (see Table 1), capping at covering 85% of wages for low-wage workers.[58] Additionally, federal law should mandate that states index benefits with inflation and cost of living, similar to Social Security, and provide allowances for dependents.[59] This approach would help to alleviate economic insecurity and reduce racial disparities in the UI system.

• Broaden eligibility: Federal law should prohibit states from implementing restrictive eligibility requirements. Congress should prohibit denying benefits to part-time workers, disproportionately Black and Latinx, and close the independent contractor loophole. Congress can do so most effectively by requiring states to use the ABC employee classification test currently employed by thirty-three states.  The test, which is protective of workers, considers a worker an employee—and not an independent contractor—unless the hiring entity can satisfy three rigid requirements. It also shifts the burden to the employer to prove a worker is an independent contractor rather than on the worker to prove they are an employee.[60] Additionally, Congress should mandate that the good-cause job separation reasons be expanded to include harassment, safety hazards, family care, and other health-related issues. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which temporarily expanded eligibility standards, demonstrated that such changes can increase Black and Latinx workers receiving benefits.[61]

Restructure the financing of the UI system to deliver benefits more effectively.

• Broaden taxable wage base: The current funding structure of the unemployment insurance program must be improved to ensure better benefits for those in need. The current model, which relies on evenly split payments from federal and state revenue, has resulted in benefits limitations and a lack of sustainability. Moreover, the pressure on states to keep tax rates low to attract businesses has led to further reductions in UI benefits. To address these issues, Congress should increase UI’s federal taxable wage base to a level equal to the current Social Security wage ($142,800) and index it to inflation. Broadening the taxable wage base would increase the funds collected to support the UI system, allowing for lower UI tax rates and a more sustainable approach.[62] With more funds available, the UI system would be better equipped to support the unemployed while reducing the tax burden on employers and employees.
• Base state fund targets on industry-adjusted per capita targets: The current method used by the federal government to set state fund targets for UI, the high-cost multiple method, is a one-size-fits-all formula and may not accurately reflect the needs of different states and industries. This method, which multiplies a state’s highest cost of benefits by a predetermined factor, can lead to underfunding or overfunding UI systems.[63] A more effective approach would be to use a state industry-adjusted per capita target method, which would take into account the number of people in the state’s workforce and the characteristics of the industries in the state.[64] This method would make unemployment insurance more sustainable and address the specific labor market needs of areas where Black Americans are disproportionately represented.

Improve equitable access to unemployment insurance and collect accurate data.

• Prioritize targeted grants for community outreach: In August 2022, The Department of Labor declared the availability of $260 million in grants to states to enhance fair access to unemployment insurance through public awareness and service delivery.[65] Such grants are a positive step towards resolving the problem of access to unemployment insurance and should be continued. However, to guarantee that the funds reach states which require them the most, the allocation should be based on a state’s recipiency rate, with priority given to Southern states that disproportionately have low rates. Such a targeted approach will better aid the people and communities that need these essential resources.
• Mandate employers to inform workers of UI benefits: To improve access to unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, the Department of Labor (DOL) should create and enforce regulations requiring employers to inform departing employees of their rights to unemployment insurance and provide clear instructions on how to apply. Informing employees could include providing written materials or directing employees to online resources. Furthermore, DOL should mandate that employers train their human resources staff or designated employees on the UI process to ensure employers can provide accurate and comprehensive information to employees seeking benefits.
• Collect and share data: To effectively address African Americans’ disparities in accessing unemployment insurance (UI), we must have accurate and comprehensive data on key issues. Therefore, states should prioritize collecting and disseminating data promptly on application backlogs, call center wait times, application rates, and the effect of system updates on payment timeliness, denials, and delays. Furthermore, it is essential to ensure that this data is analyzed by race, ethnicity, and gender, as well as on a county and neighborhood level, to gain a deeper understanding of the specific challenges different communities face and develop targeted solutions to improve UI access for African Americans.

Some may contend that the above recommendations are too ambitious, while others need to be more ambitious. For instance, a frequent criticism of increasing the generosity of unemployment insurance is that it reduces the motivation of individuals to find work.[66] However, recent research from the Chicago Federal Reserve challenges this argument. The report, which measured the number of hours searched and applications submitted by claimants, found that individuals collecting benefits searched twice as much as those not collecting.[67] In another study, Peter Gagong compared job growth in states that ended pandemic unemployment insurance programs early to those that kept them throughout most of the pandemic. The study found that job growth in both groups of states was remarkably similar.[68] Some have also suggested that the federal government should fully finance unemployment insurance as it does for Social Security.[69] While this would eliminate variations among states, it would also entail significant increases in federal spending and taxes, making it unfeasible in the near term. The financing proposals put forward in this paper offer a more feasible approach to increasing federal involvement and support without making unemployment insurance a federal program entirely.

It is important to note that the policy recommendations presented in this paper, which focus on addressing racial inequality and center the Black community, should not be viewed as exclusively benefiting Black Americans. The underlying premise of this paper is that closing the racial gap in unemployment insurance through more generous policies will ultimately benefit all working-class Americans. Improving unemployment insurance for Black people, who are disproportionately affected by unemployment, is not a zero-sum game.[70] The unemployment insurance system failing Black Americans and other communities of color is failing us all.

*****

The outcome of Kathy Winsor’s situation remains uncertain. Whether she was able to keep up with her mortgage payments or if her constant fear of living in a women’s shelter came true is unknown. However, it is clear that Winsor’s predicament, as unfortunate as it was, could have been avoided. Her story highlights the unemployment insurance system’s inadequacies, uncertainties, and inequalities. Due to the varying policies and administration of different states, where one resides— not their need—is the deciding factor in determining the frequency and amount of benefits received. Unfortunately, states with higher proportions of Black residents tend to have the least generous UI programs, leading Black Americans to fare worse than their white counterparts. To address this pressing issue, Congress must take action by establishing minimum standards, restructuring the financing mechanisms of UI, and improving access and outreach to Black other marginalized communities. Only then can the gaping gaps in the safety net of UI be filled, and stories like Kathy Winsor’s can become a thing of the past.

Endnotes

[1] This story was adapted from a collection of stories of people impacted by federal unemployment insurance compiled by the Ways & Means Committee of the House of Representatives. Ways and Means Committee. (2013, December 27). The Stories of Americans Losing Federal Unemployment Insurance. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/stories-americans-losing-federal-unemployment-insurance

[2] Porter, E., & Russell, K. (2021, August 19). How Our Unemployment Benefits System Failed. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/business/economy/unemployment-insurance.htm

[3] Ibid

[4] Bennet, Wyden Unveil Unemployment Insurance Overhaul. Michael Bennet. (2021, April 14). https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/4/bennet-wyden-unveil-unemployment-insurance-overhaul

[5] See, Reforming Unemployment Insurance. National Employment Law Project, June 2021, https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Reforming-Unemployment-Insurance-June-2021.pdf; Goger, Annelies, et al. Unemployment Insurance Is Failing Workers during COVID-19. Here’s How to Strengthen It. Brookings Institution, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/research/unemployment-insurance-is-failing-workers-during-covid-19-heres-how-to-strengthen-it/; von Wachter, T. (2019). Unemployment Insurance Reform. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 686(1), 121–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716219885339

[6] See Congressional Research Services. (2020, April 9). Unemployment Insurance Provisions in the CARES Act. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11475

[7] Larry DeWitt, “The decision to exclude agricultural and domestic workers from the 1935 Social Security Act,” Social Security Bulletin 70 (4), 2010, p 49–68, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n4/v70n4p49.pdf

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ira Katznelson When Affirmative Action Was White. WW Norton, 2006.

[11] For a more extensive historical and political analysis of how race has inhibited the development of a robust and centralized welfare state throughout American history, see Lieberman, R. C. (2001). Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State (New edition). Harvard University Press.

[12] Dewitt, 57. Rodems, R., & Shaefer, H. (2016). Left Out: Policy Diffusion and the Exclusion of Black Workers from Unemployment Insurance. Social Science History, 40(3), 385-404. doi:10.1017/ssh.2016.11

[13] Katznelson, 132. Edwards, K. (2020, October 3). There are racial disparities in American unemployment benefits. that’s by design. Los Angeles Times.https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-10-03/racial-disparities-unemployment-benefit

[14] Ibid.

[15] Couch, K. A., & Fairlie, R. (2010). Last hired, first fired? Black-white unemployment and the business cycle. Demography, 47(1), 227–247. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0086

[16] Wilson, V., & Darity, W. (2022, March). Understanding black-white disparities in labor market outcomes requires models that account for persistent discrimination and unequal bargaining power. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/unequalpower/publications/understanding-black-white-disparities-in-labor-market-outcomes/

[17] Ibid.

[18] Weller, C. “African Americans Face Systematic Obstacles to Getting Good Jobs” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2019),  https://americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2019/12/05/478150/african-americans-face-systematic-obstacles-getting-good-jobs/

[19] Nichols, A., & Schak, O. (2019). Degree Attainment for Black Adults: National and State Trends. Education Trust. https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Black-Degree-Attainment_FINAL.pdf

[20] Center for American Progress  Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Current Population Surveys, 2019” (Washington: U.S. Department of Labor, 2019), available at https://www.bls.gov/cps/

[21] Ajilore, O. (2021). The Persistent Black-White Unemployment Gap Is Built Into the Labor Market. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/persistent-black-white-unemployment-gap-built-labor-market/ 

[22] Pager, Devah. 2007. “The Use of Field Experiments for Studies of Employment Discrimination: Contributions, Critiques, and Directions for the Future”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 609 (Janurary):104-133.

[23] Kline, P., Rose, E. K., & Walters, C. R. (2022). Systemic Discrimination Among Large U.S. Employers. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 137(4), 1963–2036. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac024

[24] Nellis, A., PhD. (2022). The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons. The Sentencing Project. https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons-the-sentencing-project/

[25] Prison Policy (2022). New data on formerly incarcerated people’s employment reveal labor market injustices. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2022/02/08/employment/

[26] Gelles-Watnick, R., & Anderson, M. (2021). Racial and ethnic differences stand out in the U.S. gig workforce. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/12/15/racial-and-ethnic-differences-stand-out-in-the-u-s-gig-workforce/

[27] Long, H. (2021). How many Americans are unemployed? It’s likely a lot more than 10 million. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/19/how-many-americans-unemployed/

[28] Department of Labor. (2023). Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws. https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/statelaws.asp

[29] Department of Labor Handbook on UI eligibility. Department of Labor. 2009. https://oui.doleta. gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2019/monetary.pdf

[30] Sprick, Emerson. How Is the Unemployment Insurance Program Financed? Bipartisan Policy Center, 15 Mar. 2022, https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/how-is-the-unemployment-insurance-program-financed/

[31] In addition to each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also operate their respective insurance agencies.

[32] Mazzei, Patricia, et al . ‘Florida Is a Terrible State to Be an Unemployed Person’. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/us/florida-coronavirus-unemployment.html

[33] Farrell, Diana, et al, Consumption Effects of Unemployment Insurance during the Covid-19 Pandemic (July 16, 2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3654274

[34] Gwyn, Nick. “State Cuts Continue to Unravel Basic Support for Unemployed Workers.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 27 June 2022, https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-cuts-continue-to-unravel-basic-support-for-unemployed-workers

[35] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statiistics. Median Usual Weekly Earnings of Full-time Wage and Salary Workers by Race, Third Quarter.18 October 2022. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.t03.htm

[36] Gelles-Watnick, R., & Anderson, M. (2021). Racial and ethnic differences stand out in the U.S. gig workforce. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/12/15/racial-and-ethnic-differences-stand-out-in-the-u-s-gig-workforce/

[37] Rachel West, et al. “Strengthening Unemployment Protections in America: Modernizing Unemployment Insurance and Establishing a Jobseeker’s Allowance,” Center for American Progress, National Employment Law Project, and Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. Report, 2016). https://americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/UI_JSAreport.pdf

[38] Ibid.

[39] Chetty, Raj. 2008. Moral hazard versus liquidity and optimal unemployment insurance. Journal of Political Economy 116(2): 173-234. https://doi.org/10.1086/588585; Wandner, Stephen A., and Christopher J. O’Leary. 2018. “Unemployment Insurance Reform: Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations.” In Unemployment Insurance Reform: Fixing a Broken System, Stephen A. Wandner, ed. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, pp. 131-210. https://doi.org/10.17848/9780880996532.ch5

[40] Weller, Christian. “African Americans Face Systematic Obstacles to Getting Good Jobs.” Center for American Progress. 25 April 2022. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/african-americans-face-systematic-obstacles-getting-good-jobs/

[41] Center for Budget and Policy Priorites. (2020). Applicants Who Receive Unemployment Insurance Have Less Hardship. https://www.cbpp.org/applicants-who-receive-unemployment-benefits-have-less-hardship

[42] Ganong, P., et al. (2021). Lessons Learned from Expanded Unemployment Insurance during COVID-19. In Recession Remedies (p. 83). Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RR-Chapter-2-Unemployment-Insurance.pdf

[43] U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2015-2019 (wave 3, May–August).

[44] Government Accountability Office. (2015). Unemployment Insurance: States’ Reductions in Maximum Benefit Durations Have Implications for Federal Costs. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-281.pdf

[45] Department of Labor Handbook on UI eligibility. Department of Labor. 2009. https://oui.doleta. gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2019/monetary.pdf 

[46] Ibid

[47] Government Accountability Office. (2015). Unemployment Insurance: States’ Reductions in Maximum Benefit Durations Have Implications for Federal Costs. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-281.pdf

[48] U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). 31.2% of Households Receiving Unemployment Insurance Report Having a Very Difficult Time Paying for Food, Rent, Other Household Expenses. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/03/despite-unemployment-insurance-many-households-struggle-to-meet-basic-needs.html

[49] Government Accountability Office. (2015). Unemployment Insurance: States’ Reductions in Maximum Benefit Durations Have Implications for Federal Costs. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-281.pdf

[50] Congressional Research Services. (2021). Unemployment Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46554.pdf

[51] Congress created three Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) as temporary unemployment relief programs during the pandemic, amounting to over $650 billion in federal spending. All three programs expired in September 2021. See, Gwyn, N. (2022). Historic Unemployment Programs Provided Vital Support to Workers and the Economy During Pandemic, Offer Roadmap for Future Reform. https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/historic-unemployment-programs-provided-vital-support-to-workers-and-the-economy

[52] Unemployment Insurance Improvement Act, S.2865, 117^th Congress. 2021. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2865/text

[53] Barr, A. (2022). December’s Jobs report reveals a growing racial employment gap, especially for Black women. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2022/01/11/decembers-jobs-report-reveals-a-growing-racial-employment-gap-especially-for-black-women/

[54] Gwyn, Nick. “State Cuts Continue to Unravel Basic Support for Unemployed Workers.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 27 June 2022, https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-cuts-continue-to-unravel-basic-support-for-unemployed-workers

[55] Government Accountability Office. (2015). Unemployment Insurance: States’ Reductions in Maximum Benefit Durations Have Implications for Federal Costs. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-281.pdf

[56] Average duration of unemployment in the U.S. 1990-2021. (2022). Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/217837/average-duration-of-unemployment-in-the-in-the-us

[57] Weller, C. (2022). African Americans Face Systematic Obstacles to Getting Good Jobs. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/african-americans-face-systematic-obstacles-getting-good-jobs/

[58] Benefit levels: Increase UI benefits to levels working families can survive on. (2021). Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/section-5-benefit-levels-increase-ui-benefits-to-levels-working-families-can-survive-on/

[59] Currently, 28 have adopted the practice of indexing benefits to annual wage inflation. Importantly, only one Southern state, Texas, has adopted this practice.

[60] Thirty-three states, most notably California, and the Department of Labor rely on the ABC test to classify workers. The ABC test clearly defines the conditions under which a worker is an employee, making it easier for workers and employers to understand their rights and responsibilities. The three-prong test to classify a worker as an independent contractor is: the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact; The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed. See, ABC Test. (2022). California Department of Labor & Workforce. https://www.labor.ca.gov/employmentstatus/abctest/

[61] Donnan,S., et al. “Georgia shows just how broken American unemployment benefits are,” Bloomberg, November 19, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-georgia-unemployment-bias/.

[62] Herman, J. (2021). Increasing the Taxable Wage Base Unlocks the Door to Lasting Unemployment Insurance Reform. The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/commentary/increasing-taxable-wage-base-unlocks-door-lasting-unemployment-insurance-reform/

[63] The uniform method of high multiples does not consider the level of unemployment or the size of the workforce in a state, which can also affect the funding needs of a UI system. As a result, this can lead to a mismatch between the funding provided and the actual needs of a state’s UI system, resulting in underfunding or overfunding. See, Galle, Brian. 2019. “How to Save Unemployment Insurance.” Arizona State Law Journal 50: 1009–1064. https://arizonastatelawjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Galle-Pub.pdf

[64] Ibid.

[65] US Department of Labor announces funding to states to modernize the unemployment insurance system, combat fraud, and address equity. (2021). U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20210811

[66] See, Farren, M., & Kaiser, C. (2021). COVID-19 Expanded Unemployment Insurance Benefits May Have Discouraged a Faster Recovery. Mercatus Center. https://www.mercatus.org/students/research/policy-briefs/covid-19-expanded-unemployment-insurance-benefits-may-have

[67] Faberman, J., & Ismail, A. (2020). How Do Unemployment Benefits Relate to Job Search Behavior? Chicago Fed Letter, 441. https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/chicago-fed-letter/2020/441

[68] Ganong, P., et al. Spending and Job-Finding Impacts of Expanded Unemployment Benefits: Evidence from Administrative Micro Data (August 2022). NBER Working Paper No. w30315, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4190156

[69] Dube, A. (2021). A Plan to Reform the Unemployment Insurance System in the United States. Hamilton Project. https://www.hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/A_Plan_to_Reform_the_Unemployment_Insurance.pdf

[70] For a compelling analysis of flaws of racial zero-sum politics and how structural racism negatively impacts everyone, including white Americans, see McGhee, H. (2022). The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. Penguin Random House.

The post A Net with Gapping Holes: Unemployment Insurance and Racial Inequality appeared first on Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

“As cannabis goes mainstream, it’s easy to forget the past.” – Fred “Fab 5 Freddy” Brathwaite, Hip hop pioneer and director of Netflix’s Grass is Greener, 2019

Despite an increasing number of states across the United States moving to legalize the medical and recreational use of cannabis, the federal government has held to its century-long position that cannabis is an illegal drug with no recognized safe use. But even in the face of federal prohibition, the cannabis market continues to explode. In 2022, the legal U.S. cannabis market was worth an estimated $29 billion across state medical and recreational sales.[i] And even further, industry research analysis projects that the likelihood for several new cannabis legalization efforts can drive the U.S. legal cannabis market to become a $72 billion industry by 2030.[ii]

According to the analysis, even if its estimated 18 new state markets do not enact legalization measures, existing legal markets, alone, have the potential to reach $57 billion by 2030. As one of few industries to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic stronger, the market’s growth rate makes cannabis one of the fastest growing industries in the nation.[iii] However, not everyone will have an equal chance to participate in this historic economic opportunity.

Although more than half of the American population are people of color, most cannabis businesses are majority-owned and operated by white people.[iv] A 2017 survey found that 81% of cannabis business owners in the U.S. were white, 5.7% identified as Hispanic, and 4.3% identified as Black.[v] However, a more recent 2021 analysis reported that Black people only represent 1.2% to 1.7% of cannabis business owners.[vi] But the racial disparities in the cannabis industry go beyond just a lack of representation in minority business ownership and extend to a long history of minority overrepresentation in punishment for cannabis-related crimes.[vii] This is in part due to the “War on Drugs,” where Black individuals were singled out and charged with more serious or lengthy sentences for the same drug offenses when compared to white offenders.[viii] Many states have implemented “social equity” programs to help communities most impacted by the War on Drugs obtain licensing in their legal cannabis markets.[2] But these programs are failing to create a diverse and inclusive cannabis industry.[ix]

As the central reigning governmental body of the 50 states and territories, the federal government is uniquely poised to address such issues of social equity and justice in the cannabis community, and as a driving force of the racialized War on Drugs, it is uniquely obligated to help address such issues. With the legal cannabis market in the U.S. slated to become a $72 billion market by 2030 across the legal states, the federal government must emphasize, model, and encourage states, to engage in effective social equity programming. It must also approach prospective federal cannabis-focused policy through the lens of social equity.

A Budding Industry

“Make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” – President George Washington, 1794

Cannabis Legalization Across the States

The projected growth of the cannabis industry in the coming years will not be the plant’s first big economic boom. Hemp, a type of cannabis known for its industrial uses, was such an essential crop to the establishment of the U.S. that farmers could be fined, and even jailed, for not growing it.[x] A 1619 decree by King James I required Virginia colonists to grow hemp, and by the mid-1700s, mandatory cultivation was imposed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the middle colonies.[xi] A primary crop of President George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation, hemp remained a critical economic resource in post-colonial America through the 18^th and 19^th centuries until its domestic production declined after the Civil War.[xii] Then, a crusade for its prohibition in the early 20^th century made the plant illegal, federally and in most states.

A decade ago, no state had legalized cannabis for recreational use. This was until late 2012, when Colorado and Washington authorized their adult use programs. Today, public attitudes have shifted dramatically. Since then, support in favor of cannabis legalization has grown from about half to two-thirds of Americans.[xiii] And now, most states have laws to permit cannabis use under certain circumstances. In October 2022, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. attorney general to expedite a medical and scientific re-examination of the Schedule I classification of cannabis. Although cannabis remains federally illegal, medical cannabis is currently legal in 37 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia. Additionally, the recreational use of cannabis has been legalized in 21 states, two territories, and D.C.

The industry centers on the production and sale of medical and recreational cannabis products such as cannabis flowers, edibles, concentrates, oils, and tinctures. Licensing, tax, and regulatory requirements vary by state. But businesses typically fall into one of several categories:  

• Retail: Dispensaries and other shops sell finished cannabis products directly to consumers.
• Cultivation: Using a variety of techniques—such as hydroponics, aeroponics, and cloning—cultivators grow, harvest, and process cannabis products for sale.
• Manufacturing: Laboratories and kitchens make, package, and properly label a wide range of cannabis products. This includes edibles, tinctures, salves, concentrated wax and oil extracts, and other products.  
• Distribution: Under strict regulations, distributors transport cannabis products from cultivators and manufacturers to dispensaries, smoke shops, and other retailers.
• Ancillary Businesses/Service Operations: A host of “non-plant-touching” businesses provide services related to the cannabis industry. This includes software, advertising, packaging suppliers, and cannabis real estate and regulatory compliance expertise.

The industry’s estimated growth reflects a new wave of job creation and fresh business opportunities. But social equity will be critical to ensuring that communities that bore the brunt of racist drug policy and enforcement can capitalize on the industry’s transition from illicit to emerging market.  

The Racialized Prohibition of Cannabis

Cannabis Prohibition Measures

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, results from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others.” – Harry J. Anslinger, Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics

A long history of racially targeted law enforcement and mass incarceration underscore the need for social equity in the cannabis industry. 

Over a century ago, California became the first state to outlaw cannabis in 1913, and its motivations were expressly racist.[xiv] On the national level, Harry J. Anslinger pushed for the federal prohibition of cannabis. Appointed as the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) in 1930—just three years before alcohol prohibition failed—Anslinger was one of the first architects of the War on Drugs.

Despite previously taking the stance that it was an “absurd fallacy” that cannabis made people violent or mentally ill, while at the FBN he waged a relentless war against cannabis.[xv] Armed with scant scientific evidence and racial prejudice against non-white groups, for 32 years Anslinger worked to shift the cultural mindset toward the idea that cannabis was dangerous.[3] He played on racist and xenophobic sentiments to win public favor.[4] Anslinger claimed that Black people and Hispanics were the primary users of cannabis, and its intoxicating effects made them forget their place in the fabric of American society and led them to create social chaos.[xvi] He, and other propogandists, even changed the word itself, from cannabis to marijuana, a Spanish word, so that it would more likely be associated with Mexicans.[xvii]

The spread of alarming myths about the propensity of cannabis to provoke madness, violence, and death grew in the early 20^th century, and by 1931—a year into Anslinger’s term—29 states outlawed cannabis.[xviii] The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 (MTA) was the first attempt at national cannabis prohibition. Designed to heavily regulate the drug’s sale and distribution, it criminalized cannabis and restricted its possession to individuals who paid an excise tax for certain medical and industrial uses.

A 1944 investigation, commissioned by New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and compiled by researchers from the New York Academy of Medicine, largely refuted the propogandist claims that cannabis caused feral madness among its users. Known as the LaGuardia Report, it concluded that cannabis had relatively mild effects, especially compared to alcohol and opium, and did not lead users to psychosis or make them prone to crime.

Despite contradictions to racialized prohibitionist propaganda—which ignored rational assessments of the actual risks of cannabis—the period of racialized prohibition lasted for decades and resulted in the overwhelming criminalization of minority groups.[xix]

Even today, despite legalization, racial disparities continue. In some states, racial disparities in cannabis arrests were larger in 2018 than in 2010, when only two states adopted recreational use.[xx] Overall, Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for cannabis offenses despite similar usage rates.[xxi]

The War on Drugs and its Criminalization of Black Communities

Fueling Mass Incarceration

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies—the anti-war left and Black people. We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or Black. But by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin, and then criminalize both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.” – John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Nixon, 1994

The legacy of the racialized prohibition of cannabis in the early 20^th century and President Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs in the latter half of the century run parallel.

In 1971, Nixon launched his War on Drugs, a national campaign to increase support to federal drug control agencies to reduce the use, possession, and sale of illegal drugs. Its efforts imposed stiffer criminal and civil punishments for drug offenses. The Nixon Administration’s first attack on drug trafficking was its authorization of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Controlled Substance Act of 1970 (CSA). An extension of the MTA of 1937 (held unconstitutional in 1969), the CSA provided the framework for listing cannabis as a Schedule I drug. The law, which marked cannabis as a substance with no medical value and a high potential for abuse, was the product of a commission to establish the dangers of cannabis. However, it was later revealed that the commission, led by former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer, worked to target Black people and the antiwar movement instead of engaging in a legitimate scientific inquiry about cannabis.[xxii]

Today, the War on Drugs is criticized for its role in the excessive criminalization and racial profiling of communities of color, particularly Black communities. At the height of the drug war, a Black man was 11 times more likely to be arrested than a white man.[xxiii] Now, Black and Latino people make up more than half of all Americans who have been to prison.[xxiv] More likely to receive harsher sentence, they also account for nearly 80% of people in federal prison and almost 60% of those incarcerated in state prison on drug-related offenses.[xxv] Black men alone make up 35% of the U.S. prison population.[xxvi]

The War on Drugs is also criticized for its failure to thwart the demand for drugs and its role in creating a public health crisis due to its diversion of social support and harm reduction resources to law enforcement. Congress has allocated increasingly large amounts of money to agencies and programs related to drug control. Annually, it spends $51 billion on drug policy enforcement. It is estimated that Congress has cumulatively spent $1 trillion on the War on Drugs.[xxvii] Since its inception, the national prison population has skyrocketed to unprecedented rates. From 1980 to 1997, the number of Americans incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses soared from 50,000 to over 400,000.[xxviii] America is now the world’s most incarcerated country per capita.[xxix] Although the U.S. represents less than 5% of the international  population, its jails and prisons account for nearly 16% of the global incarcerated population.[xxx] Currently, drug offenses are the country’s leading cause of arrest, with more than a million Americans arrested for simple drug possession each year.[xxxi]

For those millions of Americans arrested and incarcerated for drug-related offenses, punishment is far reaching, and disproportionately so for people of color. The consequences for such offenses extend beyond incarceration to a range of matters such as employment, voting rights, public housing and other public assistance programs like food stamps, child custody, student aid, immigration status, driver’s licensing, and business loans.

Advancing Social Equity and Justice Through the Federal Government

“Segregation forced interdependence. Today that entrepreneurial spirit can only be recaptured with the support of the established business community, by prodding of government, and from Black folks helping black folks. The only Black business that can make it without such accords is a funeral home. To go it alone, blacks have to die.”- Don Ross, The Oklahoma Eagle, 1994

The enforcement of low-level, nonviolent drug policy has fueled mass incarceration and widened the national racial economic divide, making it difficult for minorities to participate in the cannabis industry. Just 2.7% of cannabis entrepreneurs with a plant-touching business are Black and 5.3% are Latinos and only 5.6% of cannabis ancillary businessowners are Black, while 6% are Latino.[xxxii] In sharp contrast, 81.3% and 80% of plant-touching and ancillary businessowners, respectively, are white.[xxxiii]

Economic disparities directly flow from racial injustices in the nation’s criminal legal system.[xxxiv] Today, the net worth of white households is 10 times higher than Black households—only a slight improvement in the five decades since the Civil Rights Movement.[xxxv] A Brennan Center for Justice analysis of the long-term economic effects of encounters with the criminal legal system found that Black and Latino people suffer greater lifetime earning losses due to system involvement than white people.[xxxvi] According to the report, formerly incarcerated Black and Latino people lose $358,900 and $511,500, respectively, in lifetime earnings, while their white counterparts lose about $267,000. Concluding that the prison system has had profound impacts on Black and Latino wealth, it explained that Black and Latino people’s overrepresentation in the criminal system concentrated the economic impacts of system involvement within those communities and exacerbated the racial wealth gap.

The cost of doing business in the cannabis industry are higher than other startups, so much so that it can be prohibitive for those disproportionately penalized for cannabis-related crimes trying to capitalize on the legal cannabis market. According to Forbes, while its costs $50,000-$150,000 to open a regular retail clothing shop, it costs at least $250,000 to open a retail cannabis operation.[xxxvii] Nonrefundable application fees can cost up to $200,000. Additionally, potential licensees may be required to show proof of assets upwards of $2 million, with the state-imposed capital requirements requiring a portion of assets to be held in cash amounts ranging from $150,000-$250,000. Then, the complicated legal nature of federal and state cannabis regulations drives up costs for financial services, inventory packaging, specialized point-of-sale software to integrate with government systems, and other day-to-day operation services. Initial security equipment can cost $65,000, while legal services, alone, can cost as much as $50,000 a year.

To address the lack of diversity in the cannabis industry, some states have enacted social equity programs that aim to promote equity and inclusion by providing resources, mentorship opportunities, and incentives for diverse ownership. The goal is to ensure that communities unduly harmed by discriminatory drug enforcement are included in the new and growing legal cannabis industry. In 2018, Massachusetts became the first state to create and implement a state social equity program whose regulations provide for resources, training, and education to minority and other marginalized communities. However, efforts to help communities of color succeed in the cannabis industry have not created a diverse cannabis market anywhere.[xxxviii]

Having played a major role in starting and funding the War on Drugs, that heavily criminalized nonviolent drug offenses for decades, the federal government has a unique responsibility to rectify the harms of the drug war. This includes developing reforms that shape the cannabis sector into a just and equitable industry, especially as President Biden calls on his administration to rethink the federal government’s position on cannabis scheduling. While the federal government has taken a largely hands-off approach on state-legal cannabis activity, the federal prohibition continues to create complex legal barriers that make it harder for minority operators, who often struggle to access capital, to enter the industry.

While federal legalization would be a huge step towards equity, it is unlikely.[xxxix] But even in the face of its own prohibition, the federal government can still make positive contributions to social equity in cannabis, and it is uniquely positioned to nudge states towards equity through Congress’ robust spending power.  

The subsequent section identifies specific areas where federal action is necessary to further social equity.

1. Federal Model

The primary barriers affecting minority operators are that licenses are expensive and difficult to get; complicated applications; federal policies making it nearly impossible to obtain bank loans; limited access to private investors and low-interest loans; and maintaining compliance.[xl]

While some legal states have opted to enact social equity initiatives, the state-level approach means the aims, resources, and regulations of social equity vary greatly by state.[xli] The federal government should develop a comprehensive social equity model that drive national cannabis-related policy and sets standards for the national cannabis industry.

Critique of Federal Model Policy Options 

Calls for social equity in the cannabis industry have grown increasingly louder in recent years, but only about a third of legal states have such program. Out of the 19 states with adult-use cannabis, 13 have developed social equity programs to help marginalized people enter their legal cannabis markets. States with social equity programs include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Vermont, and Virginia. Colorado and Washington are in the process of implementing social equity programs. However, executing social equity has proven to be challenging, with diverse ownership and employment lagging even in the most regulated markets.

Although social equity programs vary greatly by state, the 2022 Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) Social Equity report—one of the most comprehensive reviews of social equity programs nationwide—identified major flaws in existing social equity programs across the country.[xlii] It found that despite broad calls for social equity, certain barriers prevented minority operators from advancing in the industry:

• Despite cannabis prohibition having race-based harms, there is a lack of race-based criteria in social equity qualifications and definitions. Only Arizona, California, and Michigan use remedial race classifications. Some others make ethnic minorities eligible for fee waivers and other resources. Most others use alternative for race such as income, criminal conviction, and residency in a qualified neighborhood. 

• Twenty-six states impose license caps that arbitrarily inflate the value of licenses in the state, due to lack of competition, and give little incentive for the legacy market to transition to the regulated market. Limited licenses often result in lawsuits by large operators, which can be an obstacle for minority operates.

• Too few programs provide funding for social equity applicants and licensees. Despite income the persistence of racial wealth inequity, only six programs (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and Virginia) provide funding for applicants beyond fee waivers or reductions. Lack of timely funding can leave applicant vulnerable to partners who deprive the social equity operator of meaningful ownership.

• Requirements to secure premises prior to issuance of a license or conditional license can be a barrier for social equity applicants given the high cost of commercial real estate and premium on properties in areas zoned for cannabis businesses. Twenty-three programs (11 adult use, 12 medical) require applicants to secure a building prior to obtaining a license.

• Out of 36 medical programs, 34 exclude those with felony convictions for participating. Similarly, 14 of 18 adult use programs explicitly disqualify applicants for certain felony convictions. New Jersey, Alaska, Oregon, Montana, and Maine bar applicants due to previous cannabis convictions. The remaining nine states exempt individuals with qualifying cannabis offenses from their bans.

Social equity programs must continue to prioritize and expand current to support minority applicants and licensees.

Federal Model Policy Recommendations

By outlining the parameters of social equity, the federal government will bring the national cannabis industry closer to ensuring stakeholders have equitable opportunities to participate:

• Adopt a Social Equity Model. Federal standards guide a range of businesses and industries, including labor and safety regulations, environmental standards, and other requirements. Such standards protect the rights of all stakeholders, encourage fairness, and ensure uniformity across jurisdictions. A comprehensive federal social equity model to guide new and veteran legal states in reducing racial disparities in their cannabis markets is an important step toward economic and social justice in the industry. The model should identify priority policy areas as well as way to approach meeting the model’s goals.[xliii]

• Pass the MORE Act. Reintroduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act would end federal prohibition. The House previously passed the act in 2020, but it did not advance in the Senate.  The bill would also eliminate related criminal penalties and take steps towards social and criminal justice as well as advance economic development. Under MORE Act, federal cannabis-related record would be automatically expunged. Further, a 5% tax on the retail sales of cannabis products would go into an Opportunity Trust Fund. It would also create the Office of Cannabis Justice to oversee federal social equity provisions.

• Provide funding. Economic and wealth disparities are among the many collateral consequences of the War on Drugs. Despite this, only six of 18 state social equity programs provide funding for social equity applicants and operators beyond fee reductions and waivers.

• Promote equitable licensing schemes. Requirements to secure a premises prior to issuance of a license is a barrier for social equity operators, especially considering the high cost of “green zone” properties. Schemes that require applicants to acquire property or hold large amounts of liquid cash are also generally inaccessible to minority entrepreneurs.

• Embrace the legacy market. The federal government should incentive states to create pathways from the legacy market to the legal market. Often marked by a criminal history, the legacy market is comprised of those who participated in cannabis before it became a legal industry. The federal government should open the market for those even with a prior conviction.

2. Banking

Under current federal law, any deposit of cannabis proceeds, legal or otherwise, to a financial institution, can be deemed as money laundering because of cannabis’ federal classification as a Schedule I drug. Forced to operate without bank accounts, checks, credit cards, loans, or lines of credit, businesses in the nearly $30 billion cannabis industry, operate largely in cash. However, this cash-only model can be a serious liability, and restricted access to business loans makes business unsustainable for minority operators.[xliv]

Through the third quarter of 2022, only 489 banks and 166 credit unions nationwide provided banking services to cannabis businesses.[xlv] That is because federal laws such as the Controlled Substances Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, and anti-money laundering laws subject financial institutions that provide financial services to the cannabis industry to severe legal and regulatory consequences. This is true even if the serviced cannabis business operates legally under state law for medical or adult recreational use. Struggling to obtain and maintain financial services, upwards of 70% of cannabis business operate wholly in cash—which carries financial and safety liabilities that cause additional overhead expenses.[xlvi]

Storing cash onsite increases the risk of robbery and employee theft for cannabis businesses. In fact, about 90% of all loss in the industry is attributed to employee theft.[xlvii] As a safeguard, many states have imposed stringent security requirements on cannabis businesses. The additional labor and other costs associated to meet compliance with security regulations also increase the general expenses of cannabis businesses. Cash operation also creates complications to typical operational tasks such as managing payroll, as it can make it more difficult to document wages paid for taxation purposes, and therefore, increase the likelihood of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits. Further, operating without relationships with financial services makes it impossible for cannabis businesses to accept check and credit card payments. And these challenges are only amplified for Black and minority cannabis business owners.[xlviii]

The SAFE Banking Act

To help cannabis businesses cope with the financial obstacles imposed by federal banking regulations, federal lawmakers introduced legislation that would allow legal cannabis businesses to bank without the fear of prosecution. The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was first introduced in the U.S. House in 2019. The bill’s aim was to provide banks and credit unions with a legal avenue to do business with cannabis businesses operating legally under state law. Under the law, banks and credit unions could avoid persecution and penalties from federal regulators for providing loans and other financial services to legitimate cannabis businesses. The bill also required federal banking regulators to provide guidance on how to safely provide financial services to cannabis businesses.

The bill aimed to establish a framework for financial institutions to provide services to cannabis businesses with assurance that they could remain compliant with both state and federal laws. The central provision of the Safe Banking Act prohibited federal banking regulators from penalizing deposit institutions for providing financial services to legitimate cannabis businesses. For example, the bill would have prevented termination and limitation of deposit insurance solely because a bank or credit union offered services to a cannabis business. It would also have prevented federal regulators from ordering a depository institution to terminate a customer account unless it had a valid reason for doing so that was not solely based on its status as a cannabis business.

Additionally, the bill would have required banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to adhere to certain guidelines when engaging with cannabis businesses. Under the act, financial institutions would have to limit the type and number of accounts offered to cannabis businesses as well as impose additional due diligence requirements for such account holders. It further required financial institutions to report suspicious activity to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for purposes of anti-money-laundering compliance. Cannabis businesses would also have to send monthly reports to maintain eligibility for banking services.

However, the SAFE Banking Act failed, for the third time, to pass the Senate in its most recent December 2022 vote as part of a larger budget package—leaving cash management up in the air for cannabis businesses and keeping small cannabis operators without support from financial institutions.

Making SAFE Banking Better

Entrepreneurship is often viewed as a tool for alleviating racial disparities in economic mobility, wealth accumulation, and job creation in minority communities, and access to financial capital is a critical element of new business formation.[xlix] While Black businesses have traditionally faced difficulties getting bank loans, the complicated legal nature of financial regulation in the cannabis industry has only deepened their lack of access to capital. Sponsors of the SAFE Banking Act claimed that it would also help address small and minority-owned cannabis businesses access needed banking services and loans. However, critics of the SAFE Banking Act called out its lack of social equity measures that would result in equitable access to financial services.[l] The most recent version of the bill did not include any language about racial equity that would ensure that it would help minority cannabis business owners or those affected by discriminatory drug law enforcement.

Low-income, Black and Hispanic, and formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs have been historically disadvantaged by cannabis prohibition laws and face a great deal more barriers to participating in the economic opportunities of the burgeoning legal cannabis market.[li] Cannabis businesses are uniquely expensive and difficult to operate, and experts are often necessary to navigate the abundant and strict regime of state and federal regulations.[lii] While large firms with angel investors and venture capitalist can use private funds to build cannabis empires, people of color and small operators must often rely on themselves. Minority entrepreneurs generally lack financial backing, and the federal regulations on banking and taxation make bank loans and tax cuts unavailable to them.

Banking discrimination has long been a challenge facing Black-owned businesses in the United States. Despite various federal legislative measures to reduce financial discrimination taken, little progress has been made in mitigating the financial system’s decades-long practice of discriminating against Black business loan seekers.[liii] Banks still tend to prefer providing services to white customers and provide them with cheaper interest rates than African American loan seekers.[liv] A 2023 Intuit QuickBooks survey showed that 57% of Black business owners were denied a bank loan at least once when starting their businesses, compared to 37% of non-Black business owners.[lv]

Banking Policy Recommendations

The SAFE Banking Act has the potential to address issues of social equity in cannabis banking and lending. By clarifying the legal landscape for providing financial services to cannabis businesses and creating a more secure banking environment, the bill may increase minority operators’ access to needed financial resources. 

However, its most recent introduction was absent of any language to ensure that Black and minority businesses would be adequately served and protected by the law. In addition to passing the SAFE Banking Act, federal legislators must clarify the bill’s social equity aims and amend its language to include anti-discrimination provisions:

• Require Federal Anti-Discriminatory Compliance. The SAFE Banking Act should be amended to require financial institutions to demonstrate compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws as a condition of safe harbor.

• Protect Minority Depository Institutions. The SAFE Banking Act should be amended to explicitly protect Minority Depository Institutions and Community Development Financial Institutions.

• Require State and Local Compliance. Amendments to the SAFE Banking Act should promote compliance with state and local regulatory requirements regarding business ownership and other social equity measures. 

• Update the Community Reinvestment Act. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted in 1977 and has largely gone unchanged since 1995. The law required the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to assess how financial institutions meet the needs of the communities they serve, including poor ones. While the OCC sought to modernize the CRA, it later moved in favor of an interagency approach, the efforts of which were criticized for making it too easy for banks to pass CRA evaluations.[lvi]

• Despite the legislation, there are wide disparities in access to credit for Black communities at the local level, including higher interest rates on business loans and lower bank branch density.[lvii] The current CRA framework restricts geographic footprint of CRA activities to areas around physical locations. The CRA evaluation standards are vague and can be subject to examiner discretion across the agencies, which can create confusion about how banks should serve low-income areas. Agencies should update the definition of an assessment area, clarify the kinds of investments banks are permitted to make, and revise the regulatory framework to establish an evaluation method for banks without physical locations.[lviii] CRA evaluations can also take years to complete. This means that upon release, the reports do not reflect the communities banks currently serve or any progress made since the evaluation. Updates to the CRA evaluation process should require examiners to issue final evaluations in a timely and defined period.

• Pass the CLAIM Act. In addition to complicating banking, the division between federal and state law regarding the legal status of cannabis has also made it more difficult for cannabis businesses to receive comprehensive and affordable insurance policies. The Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana (CLAIM) Act was introduced in the Senate in March 2021, where it awaits further action. The bill would allow insurer to provide coverage to cannabis businesses without the threat of federal prosecution.

• According to a 2021 report by New Dawn Risk, only about 30 U.S. insurers offer cannabis businesses insurance.[lix] According to the report, such insurance products are not formally advertised and required to operators to pay their premiums in cash to obtain coverage, which is a “unique obstacle that most other businesses do not face.”[lx] Further, current providers currently offer inadequate policy limits on coverage. While operators may need limits between $5-10 million, insurers generally only offer $1 million per occurrence/$2 million aggregate policies in commercial and general liability, property damage, and product liability coverage.[lxi]

3. Taxation

Federal business taxes are generally very simple—to calculate taxable income, a business typically subtracts its business expenses from its gross income and pays taxes on that amount. Businesses are then often able to gain profits from business deductions. However, under federal regulations, cannabis businesses are taxed on their gross income with no deductions.

Provision 280E of the Internal Revenue Code prevents companies from deducting expenses from gross income if the income is earned from “trafficking” a controlled substance. Enacted in 1982 as an effort to prevent drug dealers from using deductions to lessen their tax obligations and deter illegal drug trafficking. Under the provision, cannabis businesses can only write off cost of goods sold (COGS). However, the tax code strictly defines COGS and excludes common expenses such as rent, payroll, employee benefits, and supplies. Cannabis businesses are, however, allowed to claim tax credits. This includes discounts from vendors, housing credits, and research and development credits—all of which can be used to offset a portion of their taxable income.

Unable to write off normal business expenses under 280E, cannabis businesses often have tax burdens much higher than their traditional counterparts. In January 2015, the IRS issued an internal memorandum that imposed strict interpretation of Section 280E as it applies to state-legal cannabis businesses, rejecting many of the tax deductions that these businesses had previously made.[lxii] This is true even if they are compliant with the laws of the state they operate in.

Critique of Taxation Policy Options  

Section 280E affects all businesses that engage in the cultivation, sale, or processing of cannabis plants and products. Its resulting tax can be 70% or higher, which creates a difficult financial obstacle, particularly for minority entrepreneurs, who often have less access to financial resources.[lxiii] Given the challenges that minority business owners often face in accessing resources for business, the tax provision only allows those who can afford the substantial burden of it participate in the market, which are often large, white-owned corporations. 

Tax penalties collected under 280E generates millions of tax dollars for the federal government. Yet, little is known about how these taxes are used. But what is known is that the provision creates huge barriers for legally operating cannabis businesses and can be an even greater impediment to minority businessowners. Instead, taxes collected under 280E should be used for restorative drug war programs, including funding and promoting social equity in the legal cannabis space.

Overall, Section 280E, combined with limited access to financial relief, puts minority cannabis businesses at an extreme financial disadvantage. Unless the federal government takes steps to promote the growth of these businesses and provide them with the resources needed to succeed, financial obstacles will remain stacked against minority cannabis businessowners.

Taxation Policy Recommendations

As more states choose to establish a regulatory framework for legal cannabis businesses, the federal government should reconsider its stance to hold such businesses to a different economic standard as other businesses. Amending Section 280E in the following ways will help alleviate some of the adverse effects it has on minority business owners and social equity initiatives:

• Amend 280E to exclude its application to state-legal cannabis operations. Several legislative proposals could make Section 280E inapplicable to cannabis businesses operating legally under state law. Some involve rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule III controlled substance or de-scheduling it altogether. Others would simply exempt cannabis businesses operating compliant with state law.

• Fund social equity causes. Revenue collected under the 280E provision should be used to fund restorative justice efforts to help those harmed by the War on Drugs, including capital for minority cannabis businessowners. Although it is difficult to estimate the total taxes overpaid by cannabis businesses, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in a 2017 letter sent to Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) that repealing 280E would lower federal receipts by up to $5 billion over ten years.[lxiv] For as long as the provision is valid, funds collected under it should be used to repair the related harms of the federal government’s War on Drugs.

Conclusion

The century-long prohibition of cannabis has long been rooted in racist efforts to criminalize Black people and other communities of color. Policymakers, with the help of the media, pushed racially charged narratives about the potential of cannabis to cause violence and crime, particularly among groups of color. While progress patients, activists, and businessowners have made for decades toward opening a thriving legal cannabis market are realized in most states across the U.S., much work is still needed to reduce the harm of disproportionate drug policy enforcement. Policymakers and those profiting from sale of legal cannabis have a responsibility to ensure the economic empowerment of the communities most impacted, and a socially equitable cannabis industry can create lasting restorative justice. Although the end of the federal prohibition is unlikely anytime soon, the federal government can still take steps to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive cannabis industry. This includes developing a social equity model and addressing areas of concern to minority business owners in the industry.

[1] Legally, marijuana is cannabis that contains more than 0.3% of the cannabinoid Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC. Hemp, another type of cannabis plant, has 0.3% or less THC. Both marijuana and hemp are cannabis plants. Throughout this paper, cannabis will be used to refer to all products—including the dried leaves and flowers, dried resin, oil, and other extracts—of the Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, or Cannabis ruderalis plant. Although the dried leaves of the cannabis plant that are usually smoked in a joint or bong, is most referred to as “marijuana,” this paper will not use that term to describe products of the cannabis plant. As discussed later, the development of the term marijuana includes a controversial and racially charged history. As a result, the author only uses the term “marijuana” where there is appropriate historic or legislative context.

[2] While the definition of social equity can vary, depending on context, it generally means advancing justice and fairness through social policy. Rather than creating equal opportunities, social equity acknowledges and aims to correct systemic inequalities to level the playing field.

[3] Anslinger contacted 30 scientists for scientific evidence to support his claims that cannabis was dangerous, and 29 denied those claims. Yet, he presented the findings of the single expert who would agree with his position to campaign for its prohibition. See Adams, supra note 15.

[4] Following its 1839 introduction to Western medicine by William O’Shaughnessy, cannabis become a popular ingredient in American pharmacy medical preparations in the late 19^th century. However, after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Mexican immigrants increasingly came to the U.S. and became associated with the recreational use of cannabis. By the Great Depression, massive unemployment and increased public resentment of Mexican immigrants grew as well as public concern about the potential problem of “marijuana,” a term used by prohibitionists that “emphasized the drug’s foreignness to white Americans and appealed to the xenophobia of the time.” See Gieringer, D. H. (1999). The Forgotten Origins of Cannabis Prohibition in California. Contemporary Drug Problems, 26(2), 237–288. https://doi.org/10.1177/009145099902600204.  See also Public Broadcasting Service, supra note 18.

[i] Kveen, B. (2023). (rep.). New State Markets Could Inject an Additional $18 Billion Annually into U.S. Legal Cannabis Market by 2030. New Frontier Data . Retrieved from https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/new-state-markets-could-inject-an-additional-18-billion-annually/.

[ii] Morrissey, K. (2022). (rep.). New State Markets Could Boost U.S. Legal Cannabis Sales to $72B by 2030. New Frontier Data . Retrieved from https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/new-state-markets-could-boost-u-s-legal-cannabis-sales-to-72b-by-2030/#:~:text=Media%20Access%E2%80%8B-,New%20State%20Markets%20Could%20Boost%20U.S.%20Legal,to%20%2472B%20by%202030&text=Based%20on%20New%20Frontier%20Data’s,%2472%20billion%20in%20that%20year.

[iii] Wallace, A. (2021, October 28). Cannabis Is One Industry That’s Actually Coming Out of Covid Even Stronger. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/28/business/cannabis-booming-industry-mjbizcon/index.html. See also Holland, F. (2021, April 20). Cannabis Is One of the Fastest Growing Industry in the U.S. CNBC. broadcast. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/04/20/cannabis-is-one-of-the-fastest-growing-industry-in-the-u-s.html#:~:text=April%2020%20marks%20the%20unofficial,CNBC’s%20Frank%20Holland%20reports.

[iv] Marijuana Business Daily. (2017). (rep.). Women & Minorities in the Marijuana Industry. Retrieved from https://mjbizdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Women-and-Minorities-Report.pdf.

[v] Id.  

[vi] Barcott, B., Whitney, B., & Bailey, J. (2021). (rep.). Jobs Report 2021. Leafly. Retrieved from https://leafly-cms-production.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/13180206/Leafly-JobsReport-2021-v14.pdf.

[vii] Edwards, E., Greytak, E., Madubuonwu, B., Sanchez, T., Beiers, S., Resing, C., Fernandez, P., & Galai, S. (2020). (rep.). A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/report/tale-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-era-marijuana-reform.

[viii] Id. 

[ix] Littlejohn, A., & Green, E. (2022). (rep.). National Cannabis Equity Report: 2022. Minority Cannabis Business Association.

[x] Deitch, R. (2003). In Hemp: American History Revisited: The Plant with a Divided History (p. 7). essay, Algora Pub.

[xi] Tara, B. C. (2003). The Argument for The Legalization of Industrial Hemp. San Joaquin Agricultural Law Review, 13, 85–103. See also Deitch, supra note 10 at 16.

[xii] Deitch, supra note 10 at 26.

[xiii]Heimlich, R. (2019, December 30). Nearly Half Support Legalization of Marijuana. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2012/11/12/nearly-half-support-legalization-of-marijuana/. See also Jones, J. M. (2022). (rep.). Marijuana Views Linked to Ideology, Religiosity, Age. Gallup. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/405086/marijuana-views-linked-ideology-religiosity-age.aspx.

[xiv] White, K. M., & Holman, M. R. (2012). Marijuana Prohibition in California: Racial Prejudice and Selective-Arrests. Race, Gender & Class, 19(3/4), 75–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43497489.

[xv] Adams, C. (2016, November 17). The Man Behind the Marijuana Ban for All the Wrong Reasons. CBS News. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-anslinger-the-man-behind-the-marijuana-ban/.

[xvi] Id. 

[xvii] Halperin, A. (2018). Marijuana: Is It Time To Stop Using a Word With Racist Roots? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/29/marijuana-name-cannabis-racism.

[xviii] Public Broadcasting Service. (1998). Marijuana Timeline: Busted-America’s War on Marijuana. PBS Frontline. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/etc/cron.html.

[xix] Institute of Medicine. 1992. Treating Drug Problems: Volume 2. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/1971.

[xx] Edwards, E., Greytak, E., Madubuonwu, B., Sanchez, T., Beiers, S., Resing, C., Fernandez, P., & Galai, S. (2020). (rep.). A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/report/tale-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-era-marijuana-reform.

[xxi]Id. 

[xxii] Solomon R. (2020). Racism and Its Effect on Cannabis Research. Cannabis and cannabinoid research, 5(1), 2–5. https://doi.org/10.1089/can.2019.0063.

[xxiii] Craigie, T.-A., Grawert, A., Kimble, C., & Stiglitz, J. E. (2020). (rep.). Conviction, Imprisonment, and Lost Earnings: How Involvement with the Criminal Justice System Deepens Inequality. Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved from https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/conviction-imprisonment-and-lost-earnings-how-involvement-criminal.

[xxiv] Id. 

[xxv] Race and the Drug War. Drug Policy Alliance. (2023). Retrieved from https://drugpolicy.org/issues/race-and-drug-war.

[xxvi] Criminalization & Racial Disparities. Vera Institute of Justice. (2023). Retrieved from https://www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration/criminalization-racial-disparities.

[xxvii] Betsy, P. (2021, October 28). Ending the War on Drugs: By the numbers. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/article/ending-war-drugs-numbers/. See also Wagner, P., & Rabuy, B. (2015). (rep.). Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2015. Northampton, MA: Prison Policy Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2015.html.

[xxviii] Drug Policy Alliance. (2023). A History of the Drug War. Drug Policy Alliance. Retrieved from https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war.

[xxix] Vera Institute of Justice. (2023). Ending mass incarceration. Vera Institute of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration?ms=awar_comm_all_grant_BS22_ctr_AP2&utm_source=grant&utm_medium=awar&utm_campaign=all_AP2&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3eGfBhCeARIsACpJNU81hPfROOH-ZDx15PAD3CZgyjeKMqJ6Pyvvc6Ds-jIkAiAYeM3_I1waAlukEALw_wcB.

[xxx] Id. 

[xxxi] Drug Policy Alliance. (2021). (rep.). Drug War Statistics. Retrieved from https://drugpolicy.org/issues/drug-war-statistics?ms=5B1_22GoogleSEM&utm_source=GoogleSEM&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SEM&cid=7011K000001SFcBQAW&gclid=CjwKCAiA9NGfBhBvEiwAq5vSy6e1Hts5jkkHkfbV8llnjHpENlPs7IXUiBgz2QHmBpUAgbZUXKnF1xoClA0QAvD_BwE.

[xxxii] Marijuana Business Daily. (2017). (rep.). Women & Minorities in the Marijuana Industry. Retrieved from https://mjbizdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Women-and-Minorities-Report.pdf. Marijuana Business Daily, supra note 4.

[xxxiii] Id. 

[xxxiv] Craigie, supra note 23.  

[xxxv] Dionissi Aliprantis and Daniel Carroll, What Is Behind the Persistence of the Racial Wealth Gap?, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 2019, 1, https://www.clevelandfed.org/newsroom-and-events/publications/economic-commentary/2019-economic-commentaries/ec-201903-what-is-behind-the-persistence-of-the-racial-wealth-gap.aspx. See also William Darity Jr. et al., What We Get Wrong About Closing the Racial Wealth Gap, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, April 2018, https://socialequity.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/what-we-get-wrong.pdf.

[xxxvi] Craigie, supra note 23. 

[xxxvii] Taylor, A. (2022, April 26). Black Cannabis Entrepreneurs Account for Less Than 2% of the Nation’s Marijuana Businesses. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickkovacevich/2019/02/01/the-hidden-costs-of-the-cannabis-business/?sh=6e21f9f57da3.

[xxxviii] Littlejohn, supra note 9.

[xxxix] Kveen, supra note 1.

[xl] Barcott, B., supra note 6.

[xli] Hanson, K. (2020, November). Social Equity in State Regulated Cannabis Programs. Presentation for the Washington State Senate Labor & Commerce Committee. Retrieved from https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Document/223893.

[xlii] Littlejohn, supra note 9.

[xliii] Littlejohn, A., supra note 9. See also WM Policy. (n.d.). (rep.). Social Equity in Cannabis: Advancing Restorative & Equitable Cannabis Policies. Retrieved from https://wmpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Social-Equity-in-Cannabis-Policy-Paper-WM-Policy.pdf.

[xliv] Quinton, S. (2021, January 15). Black-Owned Pot Businesses Remain Rare Despite Diversity Efforts. Pew Charitable Trusts. Retrieved from https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/01/15/black-owned-pot-businesses-remain-rare-despite-diversity-efforts.

[xlv] Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Marijuana Related Businesses Metrics (updated through September 2022) (2022). Retrieved from https://www.fincen.gov/frequently-requested-foia-processed-records.

[xlvi] New Dawn Risk. (2021). (rep.). Understanding and Opening Up the U.S. Cannabis Insurance Market. Retrieved from https://www.newdawnrisk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Cannabis_report-FINAL.pdf.

[xlvii] Hatzopoulos, A. (2020, July 13). The Cost of Cash for Unbanked Cannabis Businesses. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2020/07/13/the-cost-of-cash-for-unbanked-cannabis-businesses/?sh=4ce94c58f4dd.

[xlviii] Quinton, supra note 44.

[xlix] Kerr, William R., and Ramana Nanda. 2011. “Financing constraints and entrepreneurship.” Handbook of Research on Innovation and Entrepreneurship eds. David B. Audretsch, Oliver Falck, Stephan Heblich and Adam Leder: 88.

[l] Packer, Cat and Title, Shaleen and Crockett, Rafi Aliya and Dawson, Dasheeda, Not a SAFE Bet: Equitable Access to Cannabis Banking, An Analysis of the SAFE Banking Act (August 11, 2022). Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper No. 721, 2022, Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, August, 2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4188072 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4188072.

[li] Quinton, supra note 44.

[lii] Id. 

[liii] Blanchflower, David G., P. Levine and D. Zimmerman. 2003. “Discrimination in the small business credit market”, Review of Economics and Statistics, November, 85(4), pp. 930-943.

[liv] Broady, K., McComas, M., & Ouazard, A. (2021). (rep.). An Analysis of Financial Institutions in Black-Majority Communities: Black Borrowers and Depositors Face Considerable Challenges in Accessing Banking Services. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/an-analysis-of-financial-institutions-in-black-majority-communities-black-borrowers-and-depositors-face-considerable-challenges-in-accessing-banking-services/. 

[lv] Brown, J. (2023). (rep.). Black History Month survey: Legacy and Community Prevail Against Social and Economic Inequalities. Intuit QuickBooks. Retrieved from https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/small-business-data/black-history-month-survey-2023/. 

[lvi] Van Tol, J. (2020, February 21). Reduce lending in low-income neighborhoods? Incredibly, the government has a plan that could help banks do that. The Hill. Retrieved from https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/484063-the-government-has-a-policy-that-could-help-banks-reduce-lending/. 

[lvii] Broady, supra note 54.

[lviii] BPI Statement on Proposal to Modernize the Community Reinvestment Act. (2022, May 5). Bank Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://bpi.com/bpi-statement-on-proposal-to-modernize-the-community-reinvestment-act/. 

[lix] New Dawn Risk. (2021). (rep.). Opportunity Knocks at Last in the U.S. Cannabis Insurance Market. Retrieved from https://www.newdawnrisk.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/US-Cannabis-Report-New-Dawn-Risk-2021-Edition.pdf.

[lx] New Dawn Risk, supra note 46.

[lxi] New Dawn Risk, supra note 59.

[lxii] National Cannabis Industry Association. (2015). (working paper). Internal Revenue Code 280E: Creating an Impossible Situation for Legitimate Businesses. Retrieved from https://thecannabisindustry.org/uploads/2015-280E-White-Paper.pdf.

[lxiii] Boesen, U. (2021). (rep.). https://taxfoundation.org/federal-cannabis-administration-opportunity-act/. The Tax Foundation. Retrieved from https://taxfoundation.org/federal-cannabis-administration-opportunity-act/.

[lxiv] Joint Committee on Taxation, Letter to Sen. Cory Gardner, Dec. 1, 2017, https://newtax.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/370531229-Senator-Gardner-280E-Score-12-04-2017.pdf.

The post Road to 2030: Federal Legislative Solutions to Social Equity in a Booming Cannabis Industry appeared first on Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Black youth and families are disproportionally impacted by child-serving systems, including the child welfare, child protection, and juvenile justice systems in America.[i] Undeniably, racism and racial bias are the leading cause of Black families being overrepresented in the child welfare and foster care system.[ii] Black youth, compared to white youth, on average, spend a longer time in foster care. Being placed in foster care can be a traumatic experience that can make foster youth vulnerable to poor outcomes in adulthood, such as homelessness, incarceration, and teen pregnancy. Historically, Black youth have been impacted by disproportional school disciplinary rates and criminalization. Being a part of the foster care system adds complex risks for Black youth and the existing injustices they face.

The Children’s Bureau (CB), housed within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) through the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), oversees the implementation and management of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). AFCARS is one of the national reporting tools that reports during each federal government fiscal year (FY) on children and young people in foster care.[iii] The latest AFCARS report was published in November 2022 and covers fiscal year 2021 (October 1 to September 30). On September 30, 2021, 391,098 children/ young people were in the United States Foster Care System.[iv] African American/Black children represented 22 percent of the foster youth population, with 86,645 in foster care.[v] With 13.6 percent of Black people representing the U.S. population and 22 percent representing the U.S. foster care system, it is evident that Black youth are overrepresented in the foster care system.[vi]

This capstone serves as a resource guide regarding Black youth within the foster care system. It explores the child welfare system, how historic federal child welfare legislation impacts Black families, and trends in outcomes for Black youth in foster care. The publication also serves as a tool to provide industry professionals, policymakers, community members, and families with insight on how to serve Black youth in foster care best. The capstone provides resources—presentations, books, podcasts, literature, and other educational forms— that readers can access.

What is the Child Welfare and Foster Care System?

Child Welfare

The child welfare system can be thought of as a group of services to ensure the well-being and safety of children, strengthen families, and promote permanency.[vii] Permanency can be defined as a legal, permanent family living arrangement in which the youth is either reunified with the birth family, living with relatives, placed in guardianship, or adopted.[viii] It’s important to note that the child welfare system is not a single institution or entity. The child welfare system may consist of public and private service agencies.[ix] The Children’s Bureau describes the child welfare system best as “public agencies, such as departments of social services or child and family services, often contract and collaborate with private child welfare agencies and community-based organizations to provide services to families, such as in-home family preservation services, foster care, residential treatment, mental health care, substance use treatment, parenting skills classes, domestic violence services, employment assistance, and financial or housing assistance.”[x]

Source: Children’s Bureau[xi]

Foster Care

The foster care system engages with families in crisis and children in need of services due to social problems.[xii] Foster care is intended to be temporary when a child’s caregiver cannot care for them, and the child welfare system intervenes. Children and families usually enter the foster care system when child maltreatment and unsafe conditions occur in the home. Maltreatment can be displayed in different forms, such as psychological abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect.[xiii] In FY21, the AFCARS reported that 63 percent of youth entered foster care due to neglect, 36 percent entered due to a parent’s drug abuse, 9 percent entered care due to housing instability, and 6 percent entered due to parental incarceration.[xiv] Child behavior problems, parental alcohol abuse, and the caretaker’s inability to cope are circumstances associated with a child being removed from their home and placed in foster care.[xv] It’s important to note that poverty can be mistaken for neglect. Arguably, children and families have been punished by separating the family due to the family being considered poor. Entering foster care, the goal is the same as other child welfare services: to obtain a stable, safe, and permanent home for the child—reunifying the child with parents, relatives, or adoption. Obtaining a permanent home for young people is not always the case, and some youth age out of the foster care system between the ages of 18-21 without gaining a stable, safe, and forever family. Typically, the aging out process involves youth who are deemed independent by their state and reach the maximum age to receive foster care service.[xvi] There are circumstances where youth age out of foster care due to being overlooked for adoption because of their age and stigmas.[xvii]

The History of the United States Child Welfare, Laws and Policies, and Its Impact on Black Families

History of Child Welfare

In the early 1800s, private charitable organizations and religious institutions primarily drove child welfare efforts. These organizations established orphanages and child asylums to care for abandoned, neglected, and orphaned children.[xviii] The history of the United States Child Welfare System can be traced back to the early 19th century when societal concerns about child abuse, neglect, and exploitation began to emerge. The system has evolved with various policies, legislation, and social movements aiming to protect and support the well-being of children.[xix] Federal legislation has played a vital role in the discrimination, harm, and overrepresentation that Black people have experienced navigating the United States’ child welfare system. To reduce harm, provide adequate resources for Black children needing services, and acknowledge Black families and children’s humanity, one must course correct by not repeating history. Understanding the history of the United States Child Welfare System can help society improve child welfare legislation in the future.

The Social Security Act

Currently, the largest source of federal funding for child welfare services is authorized through Title IV-B and Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (SSA). In 1935, the first set of federal grants for child welfare services was authorized through the SSA.[xx] The funding established through the Social Security Act of 1935, the original SSA, allowed states to create child welfare agencies and implement local programs to deliver child welfare services.[xxi] The Social Security Act of 1935 also established Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), later renamed Aid to Families with Depended Children (AFDC).[xxii] ADC was instituted to provide states with financial support for needy, dependent children.[xxiii] During the 1950s, mothers and needy children were denied ADC benefits under “suitable” and “man-in-the-house” policies[xxiv] Though there was a great need for ADC, benefit eligibility was determined by the mortality and worthiness of recipients.[xxv] Unsuitable recipients were often denied due to a parent being viewed as having immoral behavior or having given birth out of wedlock.[xxvi] Policymakers and those with authority used policy antics to “arbitrarily den[y][ADC] benefits to African Americans because their homes were seen as immoral, men other than biological fathers were identified as assuming care of the recipients’ children, the worker believed a man was living in the home, and/or the mother had children born out-of-wedlock.”[xxvii] In 1960, Louisiana disposed of 23,000 children from the ADC welfare program due to being cast as unsuitable.[xxviii] The majority of the children removed from the welfare benefit were Black. This removal is referred to as the Louisiana Incident, and it prompted the Flemming ruling.

The Flemming Rule was established in the 1961 amendments to the Social Security Act.[xxix] The Louisiana incident fueled the Department of Health Education and Welfare (DHEW) Secretary, Arthur Flemming, to rule that states had to see about children living in conditions declared unsuitable.[xxx]  Under the rule, states had two options: 1. They could make the home/living arrangements suitable for children in need by providing appropriate child welfare services. 2. They could move the children to homes or placements deemed suitable while still providing financial assistance for the child.[xxxi] Since the Flemming Rule indicated that an out-of-home placement may be deemed necessary, a foster care component was established under Aid to Dependent Children within SSA.[xxxii] ADC-Foster Care allowed the federal government to match state funds regarding out-of-home foster care payments that supported children removed from homes considered unsuitable.[xxxiii] One could argue that the Flemming Ruling may have interfered with states denying welfare benefits on the premises of the parent’s marriage status but fueled states to remove children from “unsuitable” homes while providing services to foster caregivers rather than services to the family the child was removed from.[xxxiv] The SSA Public Welfare Amendments that became law in 1962 required state child welfare agencies to report children eligible for removal from their unsuitable homes to the court system.[xxxv] In the 1960s, the amendments increased foster care out-of-home placement cases throughout the United States.[xxxvi] In 1967, the SSA was amended again, making AFDC-Foster Care mandatory for all states.[xxxvii]

The laws that have come into place following the Louisiana Incident and the Flemming Rule have set a precedent for the harmful child welfare laws in-current-time that have disproportionately punished Black families and children today.  The 1962 Public Welfare Amendments made the child welfare system another avenue to surveil and police Black bodies by requiring that “neglectful” parents be reported to the court system.[xxxviii]  Black and Brown families experience poverty at higher rates than white families, putting them at a higher risk of being labeled as neglectful and having their children removed from their care.[xxxix]  

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)

CAPTA is a federal legislation that provides support and guidelines for preventing, identifying, and addressing child abuse and neglect and was first enacted in 1974.[xl] CAPTA provides a federal definition of child abuse and neglect—a guideline for states in creating their definitions and laws.[xli] CAPTA mandates that states establish procedures for reporting and responding to suspected cases of child abuse and neglect.[xlii] Teachers, doctors, and other service providers are mandated reporters and are responsible for reported suspected child maltreatment, which opens the door to investigating families.[xliii] CAPTA’s requirements further police Black families and create opportunities for biased reporting.[xliv] Research revealed that Black families, compared to white families, are more likely to be reported and screened by mandated reporters, proving that mandated reporting can be racially biased.[xlv]  CAPTA requiring mandated reporting resulted in skyrocketing numbers of children being removed from their homes and placed in the foster care system.[xlvi] In 1974, there were 60,000 reports of suspected child welfare cases, and by 1990 there were two million suspected child welfare cases reported.[xlvii]

Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)

ASFA marked a significant shift in child welfare policy. With the increase of children entering foster care at rapid rates in the 1970s came the issue of children staying in foster care for long periods. It emphasized child safety and permanency, prioritizing adoption over long-term foster care. It also set strict timelines for reunification efforts and promoted the termination of parental rights in some instances.[xlviii] The policy also shifted the focus from long-term foster care to timely permanency for children needing placement.[xlix] The Act significantly impacted the child welfare system by emphasizing timely permanency and adoption, promoting the well-being of children, and providing financial resources to support these efforts.[l] However, it also generated some debate and concerns about potential unintended consequences, such as the possibility of rushing to terminate parental rights without sufficient consideration of family circumstances and the potential for a disproportionate impact on marginalized communities.[li] The law has increased parental rights termination rates, drastically impacting Black families.[lii] Of all Black children in the child welfare system, one in 41 will undergo legal parental termination.[liii] When a child is adopted out of the child welfare system after the birth or legal parents’ rights have been terminated, they are considered a legal orphan.[liv] Today, Black children represent the majority of legal orphans.

The Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA)

(MEPA), enacted in 1994 and amended in 1996, was established to ban federally funded child welfare agencies from using a child’s or potential adoptive/foster parent’s race, color, or national origin (RCNO) as factors to refuse, delay, or deny foster or adoptive placements.[lv] The target population was youth in the child welfare system and foster and adoptive parents. The Act  intended to “decrease the length of time that children wait to be adopted; to prevent discrimination in the placement of children based on race, color, or national origin; and to facilitate the identification and recruitment of foster and adoptive parents who can meet children’s needs.”[lvi] The public problem stemmed from the amount of time youth, especially youth of color, were waiting to be assigned to adoptive placements or other adequate permanency placements. The idea of case workers insisting on race-matching placements and foster youth contributed to young people staying longer in the child welfare system.[lvii]

According to a statement released by the National Association of Black Social Workers, MEPA and the Inter-Ethnic Placement Act (IEPA) are “flawed because they were based on the incorrect assumption that African American children were disproportionately represented in the child welfare system because their adoptions were being delayed and denied because white people were being denied transracial placements.”[lviii] In 2019, over 50 percent of youth waiting to be adopted had been in care for over two years.[lix] Experts point out that foster youth of color are more likely to have extended stays in foster care leading up to adoption than their white counterparts.  Black youth still have longer wait times to get adopted compared to their white counterparts. The number of transracial adoptions has increased for Black youth, while same-race adoptions have decreased.[lx] It’s important to note that foster care isn’t a long-term structure; every child deserves permanency and a stable home. Children also deserve cultural permanency and lasting ties to their culture and traditions. Arguably MEPA can hinder Black children from achieving cultural permanency if the law continues to use a color blindness approach.

Because child welfare is primarily handled at the state level, it results in variations in policies, practices, and terminology across different states in the United States. Through analyzing key historic federal child welfare policies, one can argue that the policies were never created to help Black families and improve the quality of life for Black families. Child welfare legislation has historically been centered around whiteness and a one-size-fits-all approach, resulting in Black people being deprived of adequate services, increased surveillance, and being criminalized for being poor.

Analyzing Trends and Outcomes Regarding System-Involved Black Youth and Black Families  

Trends on the Front End

The child welfare system consists of policies and government entities that are set in place to protect children from maltreatment. Child maltreatment refers to children being victims of abuse and neglect. When maltreatment is suspected, a series of events occur, such as receiving a maltreatment report, investing the claim, determining if there has been an incident of maltreatment, and if the children need to be removed from the home.[lxi] These series of events are often referred to as the front end of the child welfare system. The front-end process contributes to the overrepresentation of Black youth within the foster care system. Compared to white children, Black children are reported for abuse and neglect at twice the rate.[lxii] Once maltreatment is reported, the reports must be screened to determine if the abuse or neglect legal definition has been met and if there needs to be further investigation.[lxiii] The chances of Black children having their report screened for further investigation is between two and five times more likely when compared to white children.[lxiv] By the age of eighteen, over 50 percent of Black children would have experienced a child welfare investigation,[lxv] and 18.4 percent of Black children, compared to 11 percent of white children, faced substantiated maltreatment cases.[lxvi] After the investigation and instead of receiving in-house services, Black children are 15 percent more likely to be removed from their families when compared to white children.[lxvii]

Racism is alive and well at the front-end process of the child welfare system. While the child welfare system is intended to strengthen families, it instead has historically dismantled Black families and caused harm.

The experiences that youth withstand while in foster care can serve as risk factors for poor outcomes and foreshadow their experiences within adulthood. Once Black youth are placed in foster care, they continue to undergo racial discrimination coupled with the experiences of being a part of the foster care system. Black foster youth are less likely to be reunited with their parents when compared to white youth in care. Black foster youth, compared to white youth, experience longer stays in foster care while experiencing more placements. Experiencing multiple placements can increase a youth’s risk of being incarcerated. In recent years, scholars have started exploring the foster care-to-prison pipeline. If a child involved in the foster care system has been placed in five or more placements, they have a 90 percent chance of being involved with the criminal legal system.[lxviii] The foster youth-to-prison pipeline is more likely to impact Black and Brown youth, youth with mental illness, and youth who identify as LGBTQ+. 

Foster youth are subjected to higher rates of being human sex trafficked, risk developing poor mental health conditions, and are more likely to be treated with psychotropics compared to the U.S. general population youth.[lxix] Evidence reveals that youth placed in foster care are more likely to experience abuse than youth in the general population.[lxx] When considering the harsh realities and experiences that foster youth face, youth of color have a higher risk of experiencing these outcomes due to racial discrimination.

Not all foster youth are reunited with their parents or relatives, nor adopted—some youth age out of the foster care system. Aging out of foster care refers to youth who have reached an age where they begin to transition to adulthood and exit the foster care system.  Youth who age out are more likely to experience housing insecurities, poor mental health conditions, employment and education challenges, and incarceration.[lxxi] When considering racial disparities within the child welfare system, Black youth who age out of care face an increased risk of withstanding poor outcomes.[lxxii]

Intersectional lens 

Using an intersectional lens to understand the trends and outcomes regarding Black youth impacted by the child welfare system is important. Black girls, Black boys, and Black youth who identify as LGBTQ+ may have additional unique experiences based on their other marginalized identities. Further research is needed to understand how intersectionality may impact Black youth.

Overview of Black Girls’ Outcomes and Experience in Foster Care

Research conducted by the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality reveals that society perceives Black girls as more adult-like and not as innocent as white girls.[lxxiii] The study further explains that Black girls are seen as needing less nurture, protection, support, and comfort.[lxxiv] Scholars argue that the treatment of Black girls is due to the paradigms of Black femininity created during slavery that positioned Black women as “hypersexual, boisterous, aggressive, and unscrupulous.[lxxv]” Due to systemic issues, Black girls are still reaping the harms of these paradigms. The research concludes that Black girls experience adultification bias and are perceived as more independent by society, furthering the potential of aiding the disparities for Black girls in education, child welfare, and the juvenile justice system.

Research suggests that Black girls are overrepresented in the foster care system.[lxxvi] Black girls in foster care are also subjected to higher rates of residential and school changes, higher discipline rates, lower achievement rates, lower graduation rates, involvement in the juvenile system, and human sex trafficking.[lxxvii] At the same time, white children in foster care receive resources and treatment faster than Black children.[lxxviii] Adultification can affect how child welfare providers protect and serve Black girls, increasing disparities.[lxxix]

Black Foster Girls and Human Sex Trafficking

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a nonpartisan organization, published a report on human sex trafficking regarding Black girls and women. The report revealed that Black girls in foster care are overrepresented and experience sexual abuse at a rate than white foster children.[lxxx] Regarding the inequalities in the foster care system, the report highlighted that the likelihood of Black girls experiencing poverty, disturbances in education, family instability and dislocation, and sexual and physical abuse is great.[lxxxi] Youth involved in child welfare, youth with abuse history, youth disconnected from education, and youth with family instability are among the most vulnerable for human sex trafficking.[lxxxii] Data pulled from Los Angeles County juvenile justice system identified 92% of girls involved in the system for trafficking as Black.[lxxxiii] Furthermore, out of 92% of the Black girl sex trafficking victims, 62% were from the child welfare system.[lxxxiv]

Black Foster Girls and Education

In general, data suggests that due to factors such as adultification bias, Black girls experience higher disciplinary rates for subjective infractions than white girls.[lxxxv] Girls in foster care face challenges such as abuse, teenage motherhood, juvenile justice involvement, and frequent placements that impact their academic achievement.[lxxxvi] Research further reveals that frequent placement moves require foster youth to change schools, affecting their ability to stay connected to the education system. Data demonstrates that 22.9 percent of girls in foster care are Black, yet 35.6 percent of Black foster girls experience 10-99 residential placements throughout their time in foster care.[lxxxvii]  While many of these disparities negatively affect Black girls in society, unfortunately, little research focuses on the specific experiences of Black girls in foster care. All research indicates that more information is needed to understand Black girls’ experiences in child welfare. In addition to the experiences of Black girls in foster care, there is limited research available to analyze the experiences of Black boys and Black LGBTQ+ youth impacted by the foster care system.  One study did indicate that LGBTQ+ youth are overrepresented in the foster care system.[lxxxviii] A survey conducted in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County showed that 32 percent of the youth that participated in the survey identified as LGBTQ.[lxxxix] 

Best Practices and Resources for Serving Black Families and Youth in Foster Care

A network of individuals was asked to fill out a survey indicating effective resources that would help improve outcomes regarding Black foster youth and Black child welfare system-involved families. The network consisted of people with lived experience in the child welfare systems, industry professionals, policymakers, community members, and foster parents. The network was asked to identify resources they have witnessed beneficial when serving Black families and youth involved in the child welfare/foster care system. The resources fall into several categories: articles, literature reviews, presentations, social media platforms, podcasts, and books. The resources are also classified as program models, theories, best practices, and approaches.

Federal and State Policy Recommendations

Policy is the blueprint for change. The child welfare legislative history has demonstrated policy that does not center Black lives. There is a need for policy that centers prevention methods and aims to decrease the policing of Black families. Child welfare laws must start to center Black voices and value Black lives. The child welfare system and policies can no longer operate from a perspective that sees Black people as disadvantaged but instead from a lens that sees Black people as targets of oppression. The child welfare industry must address the harm child welfare policies have inflicted on the Black community.

To help protect Black families and Black youth impacted by the child welfare system:

• Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should require states receiving federal Title IV-B and Title IV-E funding to report the number of placements a child experiences during their time in foster youth care. States should report the number of placements experienced to federal reporting systems such as AFCARS and the National Youth Transition Databases.  The number of placements that a child is moved to while experiencing the child welfare system can be a risk factor for poor outcomes. Understanding the number of placements, a youth has experienced can serve as a prevention tool and help industry professionals improve services.

Federal and state policymakers and administrators should use a culturally appropriate and intersectional lens when regulating policies, allocating funds, and creating policies impacting Black families. Additionally, states should take steps to reevaluate and revise their definition of neglect so that families aren’t penalized for being poor.

Conclusion 

The lives of Black foster youth matter. The one size fits all approach to serving youth in foster care is not effective in serving Black foster youth. To offer effective support to Black youth and families impacted by the child welfare system, its essential to understand the history of how Black families and children have been dehumanized and undervalued by the United States Child Welfare System. This resource guide serves as a tool to provide industry professionals, policymakers, community members, and families with insight on how to serve Black youth in foster care best. Endn

[i] Children’s Bureau. (n.d.). Working With Black Families. Child Welfare Information Gateway; Children’s Bureau Child Welfare Information Gateway. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/diverse-populations/

[ii] Id.

[iii] Children’s Bureau. (n.d.). About AFCARS. About AFCARS Fact Sheet; Administration for Children and Families. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/fact-sheet/about-afcars

[iv] Children’s Bureau. (2022). The AFCARS Report No. 29 (No. 29; Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau.

[v] Id.

[vi] United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). United States Census Bureau QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/IPE120221

[vii] Children’s Bureau. (2020). Fact Sheet: How the Child Welfare System Works. Child Welfare Information Gateway.

[viii] National Center for Child Welfare Excellence. (n.d.). What is Youth Permanency? Retrieved from National Center for Child Welfare Excellence at the Silberman School of Social Work: http://www.nccwe.org/toolkits/youth-permanency/what_is_youth_permanency.html.

[ix] Supra Note 8.

[x] Id.

[xi] Id.

[xii] The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2019, June 6). What is Foster Care? Retrieved from The Annie E. Casey Foundation: https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-foster-care/

[xiii] JBS International Inc. (n.d.). Types of Maltreatment. Retrieved from Child and Family Services Reviews Information Portal: https://training.cfsrportal.acf.hhs.gov/section-2-understanding-child-welfare-system/2979

[xiv] Supra Note 2.

[xv] Id.

[xvi] Shared Justice Initiative of the Center for Public Justice. (2017, March 30). Aging Out of Foster Care: 18 and On Your Own. Retrieved from Shared Justice: http://www.sharedjustice.org/most-recent/2017/3/30/aging-out-of-foster-care-18-and-on-your-own

[xvii] Children’s Home Society and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. (2019, January 2019). Infographic- What Happens When Kids Age Out of Foster Care?. Retrieved from Children’s Home Society and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota: https://chlss.org/blog/infographic-what-happens-when-kids-age-out-of-foster-care/

[xviii] Id.

[xix] Gordon, L. (2011). Child Welfare: A Brief History. Social Welfare History Project; VCU Social Welfare History Project. https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/child-welfarechild-labor/child-welfare-overview/

[xx] Supra Note 21.

[xxi] Id

[xxii] Id

[xxiii] Id

[xxiv] Id

[xxv] Lawrence-Webb, C. (1997). African American Children in the Modern Child Welfare System: A Legacy of the Flemming Rule. Child Welfare, 76(1), 9–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45399315

[xxvi] O’Neill Murray, Kasia , & Gesiriech, S. (n.d.). A Brief Legislative History of the Child Welfare System. Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation. https://www.masslegalservices.org/system/files/library/Brief%20Legislative%20History%20of%20Child%20Welfare%20System.pdf

[xxvii] Supra Note 25.

[xxviii] Alliance for Children’s Rights. (2021). The Path to Racial Equity in Child Welfare: Valuing Family and Community (2021 Policy Summit Report). https://allianceforchildrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/REJPS_summit_report.pdf

[xxix] Supra Note 26.

[xxx] Id.

[xxxi] Id.

[xxxii] Id.

[xxxiii] Id.

[xxxiv] Supra Note 28.

[xxxv] Supra Note 26.

[xxxvi] Id.

[xxxvii] Id.

[xxxviii] Supra Note 28.

[xxxix] Id.

[xl] Supra Note 26.

[xli] Supra Note 28.

[xlii] Id.

[xliii] White, S., & Persson, S. (2002, October 13). Racial Discrimination in Child Welfare Is a Human Rights Violation—Let’s Talk About It That Way. American Bar Association; American Bar Association. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2022/fall2022-racial-discrimination-in-child-welfare-is-a-human-rights-violation/

[xliv] Id.

[xlv] Id.

[xlvi] Supra Note 28.

[xlvii] Supra Note 43.

[xlviii] Id.

[xlix] Wulczyn, F. (2002). Adoption Dynamics: The Impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/adoption-dynamics-impact-adoption-safe-families-act-asfa

[l] Id.

[li] Id.

[lii] Supra Note 43.

[liii] Id.

[liv] Id.

[lv] Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. (2020). The Multiethnic Placement Act 25 Years Later. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

[lvi] Partners For Our Children. (2021). The Multi-Ethnic Placement Act and Interethnic Adoption Provisions (MEPA-IEP): A Failed Policy Filled with Unintended. Alexandria: Partners for our Children.

[lvii] Florida’s Center for Child Welfare. (n.d.). MEPA/ IEPA Overview. Tampa: Florida’s Center for Child Welfare.

[lviii] National Association of Black Social Workers. (2021). The National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) Calls for the Repeal of the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA) and Inter-Ethnic Placement Act (IEPA). The Guardian, 43(04).

[lix] Supra Note 55.

[lx] Id.

[lxi] Children’s Rights. (2023). Racism At the Front End of Child Welfare: Fact Sheet. Children’s Rights. https://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CR-Racism-at-the-Front-End-of-Child-Welfare-2023-Fact-Sheet.pdf

[lxii] Id.

[lxiii] Id.

[lxiv] Id.

[lxv] Supra Note 43.

[lxvi] Supra Note 61.

[lxvii] Id.

[lxviii] Perez, J. (2023, February 24). The foster care-to-prison pipeline: A road to incarceration. The Criminal Law Practitioner. https://www.crimlawpractitioner.org/post/the-foster-care-to-prison-pipeline-a-road-to-incarceration

[lxix] Supra Note 43.

[lxx] Id.

[lxxi] The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2023, May). Child Welfare and Foster Care Statistics. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. https://www.aecf.org/blog/child-welfare-and-foster-care-statistics

[lxxii] Id

[lxxiii] Epstein, R., Blake, J., & Gonzalez, T. (2017). Girlhood interrupted: The erasure of black girls’ childhood. Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/poverty-inequality-center/wpcontent/uploads/sites/14/2017/08/girlhood-interrupted.pdf

[lxxiv] Id.

[lxxv] Id.

[lxxvi] Patrick, K., & Chaudhry, N. (2017). Let her learn: Stopping school pushout for girls in foster care. National Women’s Law Center. https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/final_nwlc_Gates_GirlsofColor.pdf

[lxxvii] Id.

[lxxviii] Id.

[lxxix] Supra Note 33.

[lxxx] Davey, S. (2020, May). Snapshot on the State of Black Women and Girls: Sex Trafficking in the U.S. Retrieved from CBCFINC.org: https://www.cbcfinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SexTraffickingReport3.pdf

[lxxxi] Id.

[lxxxii] Right4Girls. (2018). Domestic Child Sex Trafficking and Black Girls. Retrieved from Right4Girl.org: https://rights4girls.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/JJ-DCST-UPDATED-SEPT-2020_Final-1-1-1.pdf

[lxxxiii] Id.

[lxxxiv] Id.

[lxxxv] Supra Note 33.

[lxxxvi] Supra Note 36.

[lxxxvii] Id.

[lxxxviii] https://theinstitute.umaryland.edu/media/ssw/institute/Cuyahoga-Youth-Count.6.8.1.pdf

[lxxxix] Id

[xc] Jackson, M. (2012). Cultural Broker Family Advocate Program. California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/cultural-broker-program/detailed

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