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Diversity

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Good morning,

I hope you’re having a good week and that you have been able to spend time with some of the resources shared throughout the week.

Today, we’re going to focus on structural racism and how it affects people of color in communities across the country. Gaps in wealth and other economic indicators have long existed between races in America, and this article has very good visualizations of this data and its trends. These gaps occur over generations, and policies like redlining have created disparities that we still see playing out today. The lasting effects of redlining policies can be seen in communities around the country. These effects are explored broadly in The Atlantic’s “Why Black Families Struggle to Build Wealth” and, specifically to Harrisburg, in The Burg’s “My City Was Gone: How Redlining Helped Segregate, Blight Harrisburg”.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) serves more than three million low-income Pennsylvanians. Because poverty disproportionately impacts non-white people, people of color are disproportionately served by DHS-administered public assistance programs. Only 12.9 percent of white Pennsylvanians are below 125 percent of the federal poverty line compared to 32.9 percent of black Pennsylvanians (a poverty rate that is more than 2.5 times higher in comparison). While black Pennsylvanians represent 13 percent of the general population, they make up 25 percent of our Medicaid population, 29 percent of our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) population, and 53 percent of our Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) population.

We need to do a better job of leveraging these programs to help improve the circumstances of the people we serve. This approach alone cannot correct generations of structural disparities, but we must still do the work. DHS has spent the last three years planning a redesign of our employment and training programs, which primarily serve TANF recipients, to focus on how to better support this population and assist them in moving out of poverty. The redesign focuses on getting participants into educational or vocational training programs that they are interested in. It also provides wraparound supports to help them along this journey. Redesigning this program allows us to shift the focus away from keeping clients in compliance with the work requirements and over to what we can do to help them move out of and stay out of poverty.

DHS’s work allows us to interact with and affect people who have not always had the easiest lives. For different people, those challenges come in different ways. We must recognize the effect that structural racism still has today and how it persists. We must then use our work as an opportunity to work against this problem. You can learn more about income inequality in the Economic Security and Economic Development sections of the Racial Equity Tools.

As you read and watch these resources, I encourage you to think about the following questions:

  • What stands out to you as you read about the racial wealth gap? Is this something you were familiar with before today?
  • What is redlining? Do you see the effects of redlining playing out in your community today?
  • Consider the implications of the racial wealth gap in your food system, community, health, and other areas. Do you see disparities playing out in your work?

I also encourage you to have these conversations with your coworkers if you are comfortable and able to do so. This is an opportunity for us to learn together, share our experiences, foster understanding and community, and build stronger bonds through these difficult but extremely necessary conversations. Remember, these articles are meant to be a foundation and introduction that you can build from. They are not the only sources and perspectives on these issues.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Teresa Miller, Secretary of the Department of Human Services

 

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Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Good morning,

I hope you’re having a good start to your day! Today, we’re going to focus on interpersonal racism, how it can manifest in the workplace, and how indirect or unintentional statements or actions can perpetuate stereotypes and discrimination.

What comes to mind when you hear the term professionalism? Chances are that your thoughts are likely influenced by Western and primarily white cultural norms. As discussed in the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s “The Bias of ‘Professionalism’ Standards” (in today’s articles), our nation’s history has established Western white traits as our culture’s norms and expectations. Even as we as a society are marking strides toward greater representation and a respect for diversity, this work is never complete. We must recognize where there are still opportunities to broaden our perspective and make spaces more understanding, accessible, and accepting of all people.

As always, we must remember first that our experiences may not be the same as those of our colleagues. My experience as a woman is not the same as the experiences of my male colleagues. My experience as a white woman is not the same as those of my black, Latinx, Asian, and Middle Eastern colleagues. My experience as an able-bodied person is not the same as those of someone who has a disability.

Speaking in the racial equity context, existing in a professional environment influenced by white cultural norms can create challenges for people of color. From eliminating people from hiring pools based off of their names to needing to overperform to avoid scrutiny, studies from the National Bureau of Economic Research demonstrate barriers that non-white people can experience in the workplace because of their race. You can learn more about these in today’s readings. Code-switching is defined by the Harvard Business Review as “adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression in ways that will optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality service, and employment opportunities”.

Over the last few months, I’ve spoken with people of color who work at the Department of Human Services (DHS) about their experience working here and their treatment in the workplace. I’ve heard stories of people in management positions having their authority distrusted and sometimes undermined, people who have been afraid to discuss their feelings on national and local news stories related to race for fear of alienating their coworkers, and people who have been objectified because of their race. We must all build an awareness of the challenges and barriers that people of color can face in the workplace in order to actively break down systems, structures, and norms that make people feel unwelcome, unsupported, or unseen. This TED talk on microaggressions gives an overview of something we can all do to build a more actively equitable and welcoming workplace culture. Organizational Change Processes and Leadership Development from the Racial Equity Tools give an overview of what we can do to advance equity among our teams and in our workplace.

As you read and watch these resources, I encourage you to think about the following questions:

  • What are the racial connotations of the word “professionalism”?
  • What is code switching? Have you ever noticed yourself or your coworkers engaging in this?
  • Where and how did you learn to exist in a professional environment? What were you told to do?
  • Have you ever felt uncomfortable in a professional environment because of your identity?
  • Have you ever been the receiver of a microaggression? How did it make you feel?
  • Have you ever said a microaggression, whether you realized it at the time or not? How can you work to eliminate them in your workplace?

I also encourage you to have these conversations with your coworkers if you are comfortable and able to do so. This is an opportunity for us to learn together, share our experiences, foster understanding and community, and build stronger bonds through these difficult but extremely necessary conversations. Remember, these articles are meant to be a foundation and introduction that you can build from. They are not the only sources and perspectives on these issues.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Teresa Miller, Secretary of the Department of Human Services

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Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Good morning,

I hope that you’re all feeling well today and that you found yesterday’s readings helpful and informative. Today, we are going to talk about types of racism and how it can exist and persist even in today’s society. For some, the topic of race was never discussed, and for others, race has been inextricably linked to all parts of their lives. Some of us grew up learning that if we see people as people and do not “see color”, we will overcome racism. Unfortunately, while well-intended, we know today that that approach has not served people of color well. It’s important to understand how this perspective can create more challenges; these challenges are outlined in “Being ‘Color Blind’ Doesn’t Make You Not Racist—In Fact, It Can Mean the Opposite”. This article and all other articles from today are available here.

As yesterday’s readings taught, racial identity can deeply affect how a person experiences the world and how they are treated by the world. People of color cannot separate their racial identity from their lives, and disregarding that fact disregards how they experience the world. As I said yesterday, my experience as a woman is different from how a man experiences the world. In the same vein, we cannot remove race as a factor in how a person experiences the world.

Many of us are now learning how our own education on race and racism in post-Civil-Rights-Era America has not done enough to help us understand the nuances of how racism still persists throughout our country, systems, and communities today. This can happen both passively and actively. Through these conversations, there are often different types of racism discussed. Understanding these types is important to understanding how they present themselves and affect people in different ways. For now, I invite you to explore more about these different types of racism and how they intersect. The Aspen Institute defines these well, and “What is Systemic Racism and Institutional Racism?” breaks down how they play out in society.

As we progress through our educational journey, we must remember that people of color are not a monolith. They can in fact experience racism in different ways. Teaching Tolerance’s “What’s ‘Colorism’?” explains this varying dynamic.

As you read these resources, I encourage you to think about the following questions:

  • How has your race influenced your sense of self?
  • How were you taught about racism? Do you feel it adequately prepared you to identify and respond to racism?
  • Has racism affected how you perceive your own community?
  • What were your reactions to the four levels of racism? Do they match your understanding of racism?
  • How do you see structural and institutional racism in the world today?
  • Were you familiar with colorism? Have you considered how it may affect a person’s experience?

I also encourage you to have these conversations with your coworkers if you are comfortable and able to do so. This is an opportunity for us to learn together, share our experiences, foster understanding and community, and build stronger bonds through these difficult but extremely necessary conversations.

Remember that these articles are meant to be a foundation and introduction that you can build from. They are not the only sources and perspectives on these issues.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Teresa Miller, Secretary of the Department of Human Services

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Good morning,

I hope you all had a good weekend! Today is the first day of the Department of Human Services’s (DHS’s) Racial Equity Action Kick-Off, and we’re going to start the week with a foundational overview on racial identity – how it is established and how it influences our lives. When you have time, please read the Summary of Stages of Racial Identity Development from the Racial Equity Tools website. That website is a wealth of information, and I highly encourage you to peruse their resources, particularly the Core Concepts as they give a strong overview that can help guide these conversations as we move forward. Another great source is The New York Times’s Conversations on Race Series. Through this series, you can learn about how race affects a person’s daily life directly from people of different races, ages, genders, and other varying perspectives that influence their experiences and world views.

Our social identities can shape our world view. How I experience the world as a woman is different from how a man experiences life and society. At the same time, how I experience the world as a white woman is different from how a woman of color experiences life and society. Recognizing that the experience of life is not “one size fits all” and that our identities shape our realities is critical in building empathy and understanding. Without empathy and understanding, we cannot progress.  In addition to social identities, other factors can also influence our perspectives and experiences. Variables such as income and education level can, in some cases, serve as barriers for people and add to their personal challenges in life. You may be familiar with the term intersectionality – this term speaks to the interplay between social identities and barriers. Kimberlé Crenshaw, a scholar and professor at both the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law and Columbia Law School, gives an overview of intersectionality in an article included in 12.7 articles. There are also numerous other speeches and articles from her if you are interested in learning more.

I’m sure most of you have heard the term “white privilege” in the last couple of years. This term is one that people often misunderstand. White privilege does not assume that white people are exempt from struggles or challenges in life. Rather, the term works to point out the inequitable access to power, resources, and social currency that white people have in comparison to their black and brown equivalents. “What is White Privilege, Really?” from Teaching Tolerance (available in the 12.7 Articles PDF) details what privilege can mean, including how it affects people even if they do not feel that they experience privileges in their lives. If this term has been confusing or alienating, I encourage you to delve a little deeper because, in that discomfort, you may find an opportunity for learning, reflection, and empathy for others who do not have this privilege.

As you read and watch these resources, I encourage you to think about the following questions:

  • What is a racial identity? How has my race impacted my life?
  • How were my ideas and beliefs about race formed?
  • Have you previously considered your own racial identity? If so, how? Do you feel your race influences your life? If no, what do you think your life would be like if that answer were yes?
  • What is intersectionality? Am I impacted by intersectionality? If you are not, can you think of someone in your life who is impacted by intersectionality?
  • Do you believe you have experienced privilege? Do you believe you have experienced marginalization? Has this ever affected your day-to-day life? Interactions?

I also encourage you to have these conversations with your coworkers as you are comfortable and able. This is an opportunity for us to learn together, share our experiences, foster understanding and community, and build stronger bonds through these difficult but extremely necessary conversations. Remember, these articles are meant to be a foundation and introduction that you can build from. They are not the only sources and perspectives on these issues.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Teresa Miller, Secretary of the Department of Human Services

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