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Racial Discrimination

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In many communities, the practice of racial profiling and ethnic discrimination is still commonplace. RAND studies have shown the effects of ethnic and racial discrimination on health care utilization, children's mental health, job markets, and sports, as well as in police departments, where racial profiling prevention training is now common.

Commentary
'Replacement Theory' Is a Danger to Us All
“Replacement theory” is woven into the very fabric of American society—and made all the more visible by the precipitous rise in hate crimes today. What can be done to reject this zero-sum thinking?
Jul 8, 2022
Essay
What Would It Take to Close America's Black-White Wealth Gap?
White Americans hold ten times more total wealth than Black Americans, a disparity that has worsened in recent decades. RAND researchers modeled wealth across millions of households and tested several funding scenarios to see which could most effectively close the gap.
May 9, 2023

Explore Racial Discrimination

Report
Assessing the Effect of Race Bias in Post-traffic Stop Outcomes Using Propensity Scores
Addresses the role race plays a role in officers' use of discretion in traffic stops by proposing a technique to determine the extent to which race bias affects citation rates, search rates, and the duration of the stop.
Jan 1, 2006
Journal Article
African American Women and Family Planning Services: Perceptions of Discrimination
African American women may be vulnerable to prejudice within reproductive health care contexts, including family planning.
Jan 1, 2006
Journal Article
Use of Geocoding and Surname Analysis to Estimate Race and Ethnicity
Review two indirect methods, geocoding and surname analysis, for estimating race/ethnicity as a means for health plans to assess disparities in care.
Jan 1, 2006
Commentary
Selecting for Security
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.
Jul 26, 2005
Journal Article
Testing for Statistical Discrimination in Health Care
To contend effectively with inequities in health care, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms behind the problem.
Jan 1, 2005
News Release
Study of Racial Profiling in Oakland Finds Mixed Evidence of Bias in Stop Decisions; Evidence of Bias in Searches
An Oakland, California, Police Department study conducted by RAND found mixed evidence of racial bias in the initial decision by police to stop motorists. The study, however, did find evidence of bias in certain traffic enforcement actions by police.
Aug 24, 2004
Commentary
Measuring Racial Profiling by Police
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.
Jul 6, 2004
Research Brief
Assessing Racial Profiling More Credibly: A Case Study of Oakland, California
Working with data from Oakland, California, we demonstrate the effectiveness of more credible methods for assessing racial profiling.
Jan 1, 2004
Journal Article
Addressing Racial and Ethnic Barriers to Effective Health Care: The Need for Better Data : Health Plans Can Play a Critical Role in Eliminating Health Disparities by Developing Viable Data Collection Strategies--And Using Them
National efforts to eliminate these disparities are hindered by the lack of race/ethnicity data.
Jan 1, 2002
Journal Article
Charges of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Discrimination in the Workplace: The Americans with Disabilities Act in Action
Epidemiology of ADA charges alleging employment-related discrimination due to HIV and to investigate the charge-filing behavior of workers with HIV.
Jan 1, 2002
Commercial Book
Foxholes and Color Lines: Desegregating the U.S. Armed Forces
This insightful study chronicles the progress made over the last 50 years with the desegregation of the U.S. military.
Jan 1, 1998
Journal Article
Applying Demographic Analysis in Affirmative Action Disputes: An Instructional Case
Applications of demographic concepts, data, and techniques in evaluating affirmative action goals for equalizing employment opportunity.
Jan 1, 1998
Journal Article
A Riot of Color: The Demographic Setting
The Los Angeles riots of 1992 were examined in the context of changing demographic and socioeconomic conditions.
Jan 1, 1994
Journal Article
Racial Differences in the Elderly's Use of Medical Procedures and Diagnostic Tests
This study sought to examine racial differences in the use of medical procedures and diagnostic tests by elderly Americans.
Jan 1, 1993
Journal Article
More Than Meets the Eye
In 1991, the Justice Department threatened litigation against a city in Southern California citing alleged discrimination in the city's hiring practices. Closer study, however, revealed a far different picture.
Jan 1, 1993
Journal Article
Emerging Parallels in the American Health Care and Legal-Judicial Systems
Deals with the problems of discrimination when health care priorities are set, by examining parallels in the American health care system and the legal-judicial system. It suggests that, by defining legitimate health care needs, society can eliminate the need to ration necessary care. Such needs can be defined using carefully developed coverage rules, rather than the informal rules currently in place, in conjunction with the already-existing due-process methods for interpreting and implementing those rules.
Jan 1, 1992
Report
Racial Disparities in Sentencing Decisions
Discusses the distinction between racial disparity and racial discrimination; summarizes what is known about racial bias in capital and non-capital cases; and points out the reasons that the serious limitations of the research methods in this field...
Jan 1, 1991
Report
Some Models of Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market
Part of a RAND study on the measurement of racial discrimination in the economic sphere.
Jan 1, 1971
Report
Racial Discrimination in Organized Baseball
Estimates of the parameters of a model of salary determination — in which the independent variables include measures of performance and experience, alternative earnings potential, and race — explain from one-half to three-fourths of the variation in...
Jan 1, 1970
Report
Racial Discrimination in the Job Market : The Role of Information and Search.
A theory of the value of discrimination in the job market as a function of the business cycle, based on elementary models of economic behavior in which, among other things, employer uncertainty about employee capacity to produce is incorporated. A fa...
Jan 1, 1970

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RAND Topic:
Racial Discrimination

Topic Synonyms:
Bigotry;
Racial Profiling

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

John Engberg

Senior Economist

John Engberg (he/him) is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. He specializes in applied statistical methods and microeconomics. Engberg's research spans the areas of education, crime, health, labor markets, and economic development, with a focus on the evaluation of policies and programs…
Shawn D. Bushway

Adjunct Policy Researcher

Shawn D. Bushway is an economist and criminologist at RAND, a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and a professor at the University at Albany (SUNY) where he received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship. He is a fellow of the American Society of…

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