I continue to try and find evidence of "systemic racism." Not racism. I know that exists and I know there are racists. But I'm having trouble with the idea of "systemic racism."
One definition of systemic is "something that is spread throughout, affecting a group or system, such as a body, economy, market or society as a whole."
I look around every once in a while and I found a Business Insider article entitled "26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren't convinced racism is still a problem in America."
They started with two critical observations.
"Extensive academic research and data collected by the federal government and researchers has documented numerous ways that Black Americans experience life in the United States differently from their white counterparts."
I don't know of anyone who would argue with this but the question is WHY is this the case?
"It's called "systemic" racism because it's ingrained in nearly every way people move through society in the policies and practices at institutions like banks, schools, companies, government agencies, and law enforcement."
But you have to demonstrate that this is the case because of race. There are simple facts that can be quoted that demonstrate there are differences but, again, he question is WHY is this the case?
Before we look at the charts let's establish three things which are verifiable facts.
A. Blacks commit crimes way out of proportion to the size of their population. This includes violent crimes such as homicide.
B. There is almost a standard deviation difference in the intelligence scores between white Americans and black Americans. That comes out to about 15 points. This is a significant difference. It's important to understand that this difference exists but also to understand that no one knows WHY it exists.
To quote the American Psychological Association in "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns."
"The cause of that differential is not known; it is apparently not due to any simple form of bias in the content or administration of the tests themselves. The Flynn effect* shows that environmental factors can produce differences of at least this magnitude, but that effect is mysterious in its own right. Several culturally based explanations of the Black/White IQ differential have been proposed; some are plausible, but so far none has been conclusively supported. There is even less empirical support for a genetic interpretation. In short, no adequate explanation of the differential between the IQ means of Blacks and Whites is presently available."
*Flynn effect = the increase in IQ scores all over the world over time.
The same document makes the point that IQ is the best predictor of both academic and employment success. I know a lot of folks don't like to hear this but there really isn't any scientific controversy about this.
C. Blacks default far more often than whites on loans.
So these are three reasons that contend with the idea of "systemic racism" to explain observed differences between white and black Americans.
Now let's get to the 26 charts.
1. Difference in employment/population ratio. - Possibly explained by B.
2. Difference in unemployment rates. - Expected given #1.
3. Blacks underrepresented in high paying jobs. - Possibly explained by B.
4. Blacks underrepresented at the top of the corporate hierarchy. - Possibly explained by B and expected given #3.
5. Blacks underrepresented in the highest echelons of government. - Possibly explained by B and expected given #3 & #4.
6. Black workers earn less than white workers. - Expected given #3 & #4
7. The income of black Americans is less. - Expected given #3, #4 & #6
8. The poverty rate for black Americans is higher.- Expected given #1 & #2.
9. The aggregate wealth of black Americans is less.- Expected given #3, #6 & #7
10. Student loans add to the wealth disparity. - This chart makes little sense. The difference looks negligible.
11&12. The racial wage gap interacts with the gender wage gap. - The so-called "gender wage gap" has been debunked many times. Studies that claim a gap don't normalize for type of job or even hours worked. So the most this means is that black women make less which would be expected given #3, #6 & #7.
13. Upward mobility is less for blacks.- Expected given #3, #4, #6 & #7.
14. Advanced course credits earned in secondary school are less. - Possibly explained by B.
15. A higher percentage of whites are college graduates. - Possibly explained by B.
16. Inter-generational education mobility is less for blacks. - Possibly explained by B.
17. Black mortgage applicants are more likely to be denied. - Possibly explained by C.
18. The percentage of black household that own a home is lower. Possibly explained by C and expected given #6, #7, #9 and #17.
19. More blacks lack health insurance. - Expected given #1 & #2.
20. More blacks are hospitalized with Covid-19. - Expected given #19
21. Blacks are over represented in US prisons. - Possibly explained by A.
22. Black men are five times more likely to be imprisoned than whites.- Possibly explained by A.
23. Blacks are more likely to be arrested on marijuana charges despite similar usage. - Not enough information. The conditions under which the arrests are made would have to be known as well as the number of similar cases where arrests are not made.
24. The marijuana arrest disparity has gotten worse even though states are legalizing marijuana. - This one is just weird but it has the same issue as #23.
25. Black people are overwhelmingly more likely to be under parole supervision. Expected given #21 & #22.
26. Blacks are disproportionately shot by police based upon the size of their population. - This is an invalid comparison. You have to calculate based upon encounters with police and not the size of the population. Given A, once you use police encounters rather than population size the difference disappears.
As you can see I'm not impressed with Business Insider's list. These aren't 26 independent statistics. Many are so closely related as to actually be the same thing.
I've encountered #26 a few times and the math is just flat out wrong. I'm not sure what to make of #23. It might well be the best evidence of the lot. It is the only case that doesn't really have an obvious alternative to police treat blacks more harshly than whites.
But then the question becomes WHY is that case? Are the police racist or are they reacting to previous unpleasant encounters.
I don't know. A lot of really smart people seem to accept the idea of systemic racism. But I'm pretty smart too and I have my doubts.
I have this suspicion that "system racism" is the "god of the gaps" of sociology. People are either too lazy, or too afraid, to look deeper into the issues so they use the easy way out and declare disparities the fault of "systemic racism."
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