Looking for concrete statistics & stats about racism in the U.S.
March 18, 2025 12:31 PM Subscribe
In prep for a possible upcoming discussion for the need for measures to counteract the United States' history of racism I would appreciate it if people could point me to information and studies that might demonstrate the continuing dimensions the problem.
One fact I plan to be ready to cite is the difference in callback rates for jobs when identical resumes are submitted, differing only in whether the resume had a distinctly "white" or "black" name on it, as described in this article.
I would like to be able to cite similar studies and statistics that would demonstrate the continuing existence and effects of racism in the U.S.
One fact I plan to be ready to cite is the difference in callback rates for jobs when identical resumes are submitted, differing only in whether the resume had a distinctly "white" or "black" name on it, as described in this article.
I would like to be able to cite similar studies and statistics that would demonstrate the continuing existence and effects of racism in the U.S.
Are you looking for evidence of inequality or of current bias? Current inequality is caused by both past and current bias.
One area where this distinction is relatively easy to understand is in policing: Because of historical inequities, even completely unbiased policing would result in higher arrest rates of Black and Hispanic people. Researchers attempt to figure out what portion of inequality is due to "taste-based racial discrimination." For example, police disproportionately stop Black drivers. At night, when it is difficult to identify the driver's race, they still disproportionately stop more Black drivers, but the gap is smaller, which implies both that Black drivers are more likely to speed and that police target Black drivers when they can identify them.
The motivation for affirmative action is that even if there were no current racism, existing inequality reflects the current effects of past racism, and that inequality should be remedied.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:31 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
One area where this distinction is relatively easy to understand is in policing: Because of historical inequities, even completely unbiased policing would result in higher arrest rates of Black and Hispanic people. Researchers attempt to figure out what portion of inequality is due to "taste-based racial discrimination." For example, police disproportionately stop Black drivers. At night, when it is difficult to identify the driver's race, they still disproportionately stop more Black drivers, but the gap is smaller, which implies both that Black drivers are more likely to speed and that police target Black drivers when they can identify them.
The motivation for affirmative action is that even if there were no current racism, existing inequality reflects the current effects of past racism, and that inequality should be remedied.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:31 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
One way to illustrate this effectively would be to show not just the racism doled out here and there, but the cumulative effects of racism over the course of a lifetime.
Infant mortality
- A Review of Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality in the US
- Explaining Disproportionately High Rates of Adverse Birth Outcomes Among African Americans: The Impact of Stress, Racism, and Related Factors in Pregnancy
- Separate and unequal: Structural racism and infant mortality in the US
Childcare
- Equity starts early
- Interrogating the role of anti-Blackness in the early care and education experiences of Black children and families
Childhood and Education
- Racial inequality in education
- Education Inequality: K-12 Disparity Facts
- Research Confirms that Black Girls Feel the Sting of Adultification Bias
- Girlhoood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls' Childhood
- Mitigating the Criminalization of Black Children
- Study confirms school-to-prison pipeline
- Exploring the school-to-prison pipeline
Racism's effect on teenagers
- Daily multidimensional racial discrimination among Black U.S. American adolescents
- Exploring the impact of racism on black youth
- Emerging Into Adulthood in the Face of Racial Discrimination
Adulthood
- Racial differences in economic security (US Dept of Treasury): housing, wealth gap
- Racial discrimination and housing outcomes in the U.S. rental market
- Maternal mortality in non-Hispanic Black women, which doesn't improve with socioeconomic status level of education
- Drivers of racial/ethnic differences in perceived end-of-life care quality
.
.
.
as a start.
posted by cocoagirl at 2:25 PM on March 18 [4 favorites]
Infant mortality
- A Review of Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality in the US
- Explaining Disproportionately High Rates of Adverse Birth Outcomes Among African Americans: The Impact of Stress, Racism, and Related Factors in Pregnancy
- Separate and unequal: Structural racism and infant mortality in the US
Childcare
- Equity starts early
- Interrogating the role of anti-Blackness in the early care and education experiences of Black children and families
Childhood and Education
- Racial inequality in education
- Education Inequality: K-12 Disparity Facts
- Research Confirms that Black Girls Feel the Sting of Adultification Bias
- Girlhoood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls' Childhood
- Mitigating the Criminalization of Black Children
- Study confirms school-to-prison pipeline
- Exploring the school-to-prison pipeline
Racism's effect on teenagers
- Daily multidimensional racial discrimination among Black U.S. American adolescents
- Exploring the impact of racism on black youth
- Emerging Into Adulthood in the Face of Racial Discrimination
Adulthood
- Racial differences in economic security (US Dept of Treasury): housing, wealth gap
- Racial discrimination and housing outcomes in the U.S. rental market
- Maternal mortality in non-Hispanic Black women, which doesn't improve with socioeconomic status level of education
- Drivers of racial/ethnic differences in perceived end-of-life care quality
.
.
.
as a start.
posted by cocoagirl at 2:25 PM on March 18 [4 favorites]
Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow" does a pretty thorough job.
posted by lapis at 3:49 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
posted by lapis at 3:49 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Are you looking for evidence of inequality or of current bias? Current inequality is caused by both past and current bias.
I am mostly looking for concrete examples of current bias if you want to put it like that. I'm taking the existence and harm of past bias as a given for now. I'm also hoping people can provide what they think are relatively easily grasped and significant examples of bias with the citations to back them up, rather than a firehose of links about bias in general. Although I appreciate the effort I can also google for information. What I'm really looking for is things that stick out for you; concrete, direct details that people can easily understand and digest; the *first or most powerful thing* you think of that illustrates this topic. The bias in hiring based strictly on names is an example of that for me.
posted by Reverend John at 4:22 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
I am mostly looking for concrete examples of current bias if you want to put it like that. I'm taking the existence and harm of past bias as a given for now. I'm also hoping people can provide what they think are relatively easily grasped and significant examples of bias with the citations to back them up, rather than a firehose of links about bias in general. Although I appreciate the effort I can also google for information. What I'm really looking for is things that stick out for you; concrete, direct details that people can easily understand and digest; the *first or most powerful thing* you think of that illustrates this topic. The bias in hiring based strictly on names is an example of that for me.
posted by Reverend John at 4:22 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]
If you look at the articles from the Treasury, skimming for citations in the text will point you to some good concise bits of information like you're looking for. The other links are similar. For example (each block of text is a separate quote):
Indeed, researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimate that removing racial gaps in educational attainment alone—separate from any effect on employment or hours—would have increased GDP in 2019 by $190 billion.
Black-white gaps in reading and math are about one-half and three-quarters of a standard deviation, respectively, and Hispanic-white gaps in both subjects are similarly large.
First, there is evidence that racial segregation in school districts is strongly associated with the magnitude of racial achievement gaps.[23] This is particularly concerning because although it has been nearly 70 years since the end of legal segregation, many of America’s public schools remain segregated by race and ethnicity today: 31 and 23 percent of Hispanic and Black students, respectively, attended a predominately same-race-or-ethnicity school, where 75 percent or more of the students are of their own race or ethnicity, in the 2020-2021 school year.
posted by papayaninja at 4:34 PM on March 18
Indeed, researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimate that removing racial gaps in educational attainment alone—separate from any effect on employment or hours—would have increased GDP in 2019 by $190 billion.
Black-white gaps in reading and math are about one-half and three-quarters of a standard deviation, respectively, and Hispanic-white gaps in both subjects are similarly large.
First, there is evidence that racial segregation in school districts is strongly associated with the magnitude of racial achievement gaps.[23] This is particularly concerning because although it has been nearly 70 years since the end of legal segregation, many of America’s public schools remain segregated by race and ethnicity today: 31 and 23 percent of Hispanic and Black students, respectively, attended a predominately same-race-or-ethnicity school, where 75 percent or more of the students are of their own race or ethnicity, in the 2020-2021 school year.
posted by papayaninja at 4:34 PM on March 18
Black women in the US are three times more likely to die during pregnancy/childbirth than white women.
posted by a.steele at 6:35 PM on March 18
posted by a.steele at 6:35 PM on March 18
Ta-Nehisi Coates' "The Case For Reparations" likely has some info you can use.
posted by entropone at 4:50 AM on March 19
posted by entropone at 4:50 AM on March 19
Race Effects on eBay "Cards held by African-American sellers sold for approximately 20% ($0.90) less than cards held by Caucasian sellers..."
Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment "In an experiment on Airbnb, we find that applications from guests with distinctively African American names are 16 percent less likely to be accepted relative to identical guests with distinctively white names."
Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities "Generally, discrimination occurs against African American names; however, when the content of the e-mail messages insinuates home-seekers with high social class, discrimination is non-existent."
Searching for "field experiment racial discrimination" (without quotes) will lead to other similar research.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:29 AM on March 19
Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment "In an experiment on Airbnb, we find that applications from guests with distinctively African American names are 16 percent less likely to be accepted relative to identical guests with distinctively white names."
Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities "Generally, discrimination occurs against African American names; however, when the content of the e-mail messages insinuates home-seekers with high social class, discrimination is non-existent."
Searching for "field experiment racial discrimination" (without quotes) will lead to other similar research.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:29 AM on March 19
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posted by papayaninja at 12:38 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]