CHALLENGES TO SOLVE

Racial voter suppression is ripping through current news headlines in the wake of the 2020 Presidential election.

Voter suppression at its purest began with Black slaves not being recognized as human citizens of our country. In 1787, the “Three-Fifths Compromise” began counting three-fifths of each state’s enslaved population when calculating each state’s seats in the House of Representatives, but did nothing to change voting rights.

In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote to men of all races (later followed by the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 guaranteeing women the right to vote).

These policy changes were followed by decades racial segregation “Jim Crow Laws” that systematically suppressed Black voting until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices.

Since 1965, systematic voter suppression has continued to plague the Black community through practices like gerrymandering, manipulation of voter registration, and voter manipulation.

To ensure the voice of the Black community is heard and represented in our government, the ROOT ISSUE of voter suppression must be resolved.

Although 13.4% of our nation’s population is Black, only 8% of Managers and 3.8% of CEOs are Black. Around 7% of teachers are Black, a disappointing statistic given that “having just one black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade reduced low-income black boys' probability of dropping out of high school by 39 percent” (NPR). Seeing yourself in role models, both in school and in the workplace, matters. Without intentional change, underrepresentation is a ROOT CAUSE be a self-perpetuating problem that can limit success of Black people.

Many members of the Black community understandably mistrust healthcare. Centuries of biased, unethical, and inequitable practices built a foundation for lasting mistrust that negatively impacts Black engagement in healthcare, worsening inequitable health outcomes.

The “Tuskgegee Syphilis Study” is a particularly egregious cornerstone in this foundation of mistrust in healthcare - Black men were used for 40 years as human test subjects without their knowledge or consent. This shameful, government-sponsored study eventually led to large-scale changes in standard research practices and a formal presidential apology by President Bill Clinton.

Tackling the ROOT ISSUE of mistrust in healthcare will be an important unlock in improving health equity for the Black community.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the practice of “redlining” neighborhoods in Columbus created a systematic, racist formula for denying mortgages and business loans. This triggered a lack of investment in Black communities and a wave of evictions that continue to have ripple effects on home ownership and community stability.

Government-backed redlining gave legitimacy to racist language in housing deeds - called “restrictive covenants” - that ensured properties could not be leased or sold to non-white people.

Even as official policies changed to outlaw such practices, racism related to housing continues with inequitable home appraisals, harming wealth accumulation and buying power of the Black community.

The legacy of discriminatory lending and anti-Black deed restrictions continue to be a ROOT CAUSE of inequity in home ownership.

The Columbus Police Department kills Black people at 5.1X the rate of white people (15.9/year vs. 3.1/year). Our community has made national headlines recently with the killings of Ma’Kia Bryant, Andre Hill, and Casey Goodson Jr.

An independent study commissioned by the City of Columbus highlighted how the Black community feels about policing: “43% believe the police make decisions that are good for all residents, compared to approximately 70% of white residents who hold similar views.”

American history shows the deep roots of racist policing, tracing back to slave patrols intended to systematically enforce the oppression of Black people.

Reforming the ROOT ISSUE of racist policing is instrumental in reshaping how our community stays safe.