Racial Discrimination

Racial Discrimination
q&a
Addressing Anti-Asian Racism: Q&A with Lu Dong and Jennifer Bouey
Lu Dong, Jennifer Bouey @BoueyHuang, Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Sep 8, 2021
Lu Dong, Jennifer Bouey, and RAND their colleagues are working to examine how Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are responding to the surge in hate against their communities, and how research can help.
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Racial Discrimination
q&a
Mapping Environmental Racism: Q&A with Jaime Madrigano and Benjamin Preston
Jaime Madrigano @JMadrigano, Benjamin Lee Preston @bl_preston, Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich
Sep 7, 2021
Environmental policy experts Jaime Madrigano and Benjamin Preston are leading an effort to highlight how discriminatory policies have shaped environmental health disparities. Their goal: create an interactive map of the United States to motivate environmental policy that advances antiracism.
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Racial Discrimination
blog
Historic Lynchings and Voter Registration, China in Space, Firefighters' Mental Health: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 30, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on the link between historic lynchings and voter registration, Afghanistan in the era of fentanyl, supporting firefighters’ mental health, and more.
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Racial Equity
blog
Equity in Research, North Korean Instability, Traffic Stops: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 9, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on how RAND applies an equity lens to research, instability in North Korea, what police think about traffic stops, and more.
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Racial Equity
essay
How RAND Applies an Equity Lens to Research and Analysis
Jul 7, 2021
RAND recognizes that serving the public good requires tackling the factors that contribute to inequities head-on. Current projects focus on such issues as environmental racism, mass incarceration, and anti-Asian violence.
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Police-Community Relations
commentary
Stop, Start, or Continue? A National Survey of the Police About Traffic Stops
Bob Harrison
Jun 30, 2021
Police1
As research continues to show widespread racial disparities of those stopped by police, it is increasingly seen as a practice that, if ended, would serve the cause of social justice. Should the police continue to conduct traffic stops? Police1 conducted a survey of officers to find out what they think.
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Black Populations
commentary
A Black Brother Needs Love, Too
Jhacova Williams @jhacova
Jun 17, 2021
Brookings
Elected and appointed to important roles, Black women may have the clout needed to play a significant role in shaping policy. How will they use it? Will they make more and stronger calls to protect Black women? Or will they use their influence to extend these calls to protect Black men and highlight the similar yet unique barriers Black men face?
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Infrastructure
commentary
Promoting Social Equity in Infrastructure Planning and Delivery
Melissa L. Finucane @MelissaFinucane, Jaime Madrigano @JMadrigano, Jhacova Williams @jhacova
Jun 17, 2021
Inside Sources
The American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan propose to address racial inequities through significant infrastructure, workforce, education, and child care investments. Multiple barriers may need to be addressed for the funds to reach their intended destination.
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Law Enforcement
commentary
Policing in the Post-Floyd Era
Bob Harrison
Apr 30, 2021
Police1
Calls to reform, reimagine, or disband the police can be seen as existential threats. But they present opportunities for progressive change that can work to the advantage of law enforcement.
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Asian Populations
blog
Supporting Asian Americans, U.S. Gun Policy, Climate Migrants: RAND Weekly Recap
Mar 26, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on how to support Asian Americans, the U.S. gun policy debate, the education “arms race,” and more.
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Asian Populations
commentary
Asian American Lives and Livelihoods Don't Just Deserve Our Qualified Support
Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung, Peter Nguyen, Regina A. Shih @ReginaShih
Mar 22, 2021
The RAND Blog
Racism against Asian Americans is deeply rooted in the history of the United States. Enduring stereotypes about and bias towards Asian Americans, as well as lack of concern about them, have had long-standing harm on Asian American lives and livelihoods. What can the Asian American community and its allies do?
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
RAND Commentary Highlights from 2020
Dec 18, 2020
The roughly 400 op-eds and blog posts published by RAND researchers during the year reflected an enormous variety of expertise and perspectives, from remote education to election cybersecurity to the economic harms of racial disparities. Here are 10 highlights that landed in high-profile news outlets.
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Employment and Unemployment
commentary
'Holes Just Big Enough': Unemployment's History with Black Workers
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Oct 5, 2020
Los Angeles Times
There's a long-standing accusation leveled at the U.S. unemployment insurance system: that it's structurally racist, deliberately discriminatory from the outset, and remains so today. That claim has been met with doubt. But why doesn't unemployment insurance treat all workers and all earnings the same?
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Incarceration
commentary
Elevating Equity in Los Angeles Juvenile and Criminal Justice Reform
Margaret Chamberlin, Stephanie Brooks Holliday
Aug 12, 2020
The RAND Blog
At age 13, Black children are placed in juvenile detention at nearly 3.5 times the rate of white children. By age 17, that ratio increases to 4.5 to 1. And the trend continues into adulthood. Without ongoing attention and deliberate policies and programs, injustices are likely to persist.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Reopenining Schools, Affordable Housing, Unemployment: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 24, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on the debate about reopening schools, how a decline in commercial real estate demand could help address the housing crisis, challenges facing the U.S. unemployment system, and more.
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Summer Learning
blog
COVID Learning Loss, Russian Trolls, Artificial Intelligence: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 17, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on helping students recover learning losses, fighting Russian trolls, racial disparity in unemployment benefits, the race for AI leadership, and more.
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Racial Discrimination
commentary
Confederate Statues Symbolize Role of Racism in America
Thomas S. Szayna
Jul 16, 2020
United Press International
Monuments are public art and symbols important to those who hold power. The renewed debate about monuments to historical figures associated with the Confederacy is part of the larger debate about the role of racism in the United States and the treatment of African Americans by institutions.
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Racial Discrimination
commentary
The Racial Disparity in Unemployment Benefits
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Jul 15, 2020
The RAND Blog
Economic racial inequality in America cannot be solved through unemployment insurance, but it certainly shouldn't be exacerbated by it. And yet, Black workers are less financially supported during unemployment, simply by virtue of where they live.
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Police-Community Relations
blog
Protests and Police Reform, Facial Recognition, Gun Policies: RAND Weekly Recap
Jun 19, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on protests and police reform after the killing of George Floyd, facial recognition bans, gun policies that likely reduce deaths, and more.
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Police-Community Relations
q&a
Protests and Police Reform: Q&A with RAND Experts
Jun 18, 2020
After the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and subsequent nationwide protests, the United States is seeing urgent action to reform policing. Here are insights from four RAND researchers who work on policing and community safety issues.
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Emerging Technologies
commentary
Bans on Facial Recognition Are Naive. Hold Law Enforcement Accountable for Its Abuse
Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba, Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung
Jun 17, 2020
The Hill
Broader police reform may be difficult to achieve. But in the long run, it will be more effective than any specific technology ban.
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Health Disparities
commentary
Incarceration Rates: A Key Measure of Health in America
Carolyn E. Miller, Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung
Apr 3, 2020
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health blog
There's widespread agreement that incarceration has adverse effects on health and health equity, not just for prisoners but also for families and communities. That's one important reason why incarceration in the United States needs to be reduced.
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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
Keeping Artificial Intelligence Accountable to Humans
Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba
Aug 20, 2018
TechCrunch
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are often only as intelligent and fair as the data used to train them. To enable AI that frees humans from bias instead of reinforcing it, experts and regulators must think more deeply not only about what AI can do, but what it should do—and then teach it how.
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commentary
Discipline Disparities and Discrimination in Schools
Nathan Barrett, Andrew McEachin, Jonathan Mills, Jon Valant
Nov 21, 2017
Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard
In the United States, black and poor students are suspended at much higher rates than their white and non-poor peers. While the existence of these disparities is not controversial, how to interpret the disparities is bitterly disputed.
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Community Health and Well-Being
commentary
Should the Definition of Health Include a Measure of Tolerance?
Robert H. Brook
Feb 15, 2017
The Journal of the American Medical Association
Involving the medical community in helping to measure and increase tolerance could help make individuals and communities healthier. Since hate is both deadly and contagious, now is the time to engage the medical profession in eradicating it.
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Police-Community Relations
commentary
Data Key to Tackling Racial Profiling in Ferguson
K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley
Aug 21, 2014
Cincinnati Enquire
Authorities in Ferguson would be wise to consider following Cincinnati's example in dealing with mistrust between police and citizens after the police shooting of a young black man. The city embarked on a thorough examination of racial profiling by its police force and took steps to deal with the perception that bias was influencing the way police officers performed their duties.
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Terrorism Threat Assessment
commentary
More Secure or Less Free?
Henry H. Willis @HenryHWillis
Dec 17, 2012
The RAND Blog
It is thus not surprising that people report a willingness to trade convenience, money, and liberty for security. Legal precedent reinforces that decreased civil liberties may be accepted when confronting existential threats with demonstrably effective security—to a point, writes Henry H. Willis.
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Religion and Civil Society
commentary
Victims of Terrorism-by-Mistaken-Identity
Jonah Blank
Aug 8, 2012
The RAND Blog and GlobalSecurity.org
Perpetrators of hate-crimes against Sikhs often think they're attacking Muslims. This may not make the slaughter any more or less heinous, but it's another example of hatred flowing from ignorance, writes Jonah Blank.
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Law Enforcement
commentary
The Decline of Racial Profiling
Greg Ridgeway, Nelson Lim
Jul 30, 2009
CNN.com
President Obama called the arrest of Professor Henry Gates a "teachable moment." This is a moment to learn the facts of race and policing these days. Racial profiling has indeed been an ugly reality for many years. But our research finds little evidence that it continues to be a major problem, write Greg Ridgeway and Nelson Lim.
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Police-Community Relations
commentary
Police Need to Do a Better Job of Explaining Stop-and-Frisk
K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley, Greg Ridgeway
Dec 6, 2007
New York Daily News
Good relations between the police and the public are a cornerstone of civil society. Everyday interactions between cops and citizens are at the heart of what defines those relations, write Jack Riley and Greg Ridgeway.
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commentary
Racial Profiling Won't Stop Terror
K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley, Greg Ridgeway
Oct 11, 2006
The Washington Post's Think Tank Town
Logical as it may seem to a fearful traveling public, a profiling policy focusing on people who appear to be “flying while Muslim” would be extraordinarily difficult to implement and counterproductive. There are more than 1 billion Muslims in the world and only a tiny fraction are members of a terrorist group.
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commentary
Selecting for Security
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Jul 26, 2005
Newsday
The recent decision to conduct random searches of backpacks and packages carried by passengers on New York and Boston subways, commuter trains, and buses has provoked controversy. Americans want better security, but remain wary about how it is provided.
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commentary
Measuring Racial Profiling by Police
K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley, Greg Ridgeway
Jul 6, 2004
Law Enforcement News
We all want to know whether racial profiling is taking place in communities, but we won't get those answers from incomplete data. Unless we take the time to ask the right questions and get the right answers, the truth about how much racial profiling is really going on will remain unknown.
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