🧵 1/ @TamaraSurin’s smart (and *very* generous) take on recent @JAMA_current podcast on “structural racism”...
https://twitter.com/TamaraSurin/status/1367100410020978693
🧵 2/ Now here’s my take: I believe that the host, JAMA editor Edward Livingston, inadvertently makes a strong argument against his own thesis!
🧵3/ Dr. Livingston argues that using the word “racism” is counterproductive for addressing “very real” “structural problems in our society”
🧵 4/ Examples of the “very real structural problems”: “there are neighborhoods that are impoverished....the racism part means that..there tends to be a disproportionate share of races such as Blacks and Hispanics”*
5/ “Disproportionality does exist, and we as a society need to figure out why that occurs” and “ensure that all people who live in these disadvantaged circumstances have equal opportunities to become successful and have better QOL”
6/ This call to action is my jam!! Ok... #1 Figure out why these differences exist along racial/ethnic lines (yay! this is #causalinference!)
7/ But looking again, the framing is strange. When I start a new research project, I review the literature & talk to experts who’ve been working in the area. Like I tell my students, it’s rare to have a research Q w no relevant lit to build on. There’s always relevant prior work
8/ So the framing here (we just don’t know why this is happening; someone should figure it out) is so odd. There’s lots of great research addressing these questions. But maybe the host’s problem is that much of it implicates racist processes...
9/ Generally, if one starts a research process with restriction that Hypothesis A can’t be true, that’s not science. In fact, if Hypothesis A is true & researchers see evidence it’s true, telling them to go find the “real” reason is just... gaslighting en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighti…
10/ Now on to #2: call to ensure equal opportunity: To maintain the stance that racism can’t be the cause, the host studiously avoids naming any individual or institutional actors when talking about observed disproportionate harm along racial lines
11/ The careful linguistic contortions reveal a problem. It’s impossible to change a system without identifying the levers you want to act on...
12/ Even the 1960s Civil Rights legislation that Livingston reveres had effects on specific actors (businesses, governments, social organizations, individuals). It demanded they change some of their behaviors, which is why there was (and remains) enormous pushback
13/ It would be wonderful to be able to change social systems without needing any entity or person to change behavior, but I can’t think of any good examples of that
14/ (A frustrating part of the podcast is that the host does imply there’s one group who can make change happen. No, it’s not powerful health care, corporate, or political leaders. These are not the entities or people he thinks should bear any burden for fixing structural racism)
15/ I do whole-heartedly agree with the host on one thing!
He notes that “many people like myself are offended by the idea that we are somehow racist”
Believe me, we know!
He notes that “many people like myself are offended by the idea that we are somehow racist”
Believe me, we know!
16/ my personal experience: Most White people in US do not like conversations in which they are implicated in racism. They feel very uncomfortable. Most become defensive. And many retaliate against the person who brought it up
17/ As a racial equity researcher, it’s uncomfortable for me too: I make careful calculations about how honest to be, how much to push against illogical reasoning. I know that I may pay a cost by making the wrong person too uncomfortable (this Twitter thread runs that risk)
18/ if I could identify the causes of and provide data to fix these problems without ever mentioning racism, I 100% would!!! It would be SO much easier to avoid talking about racism with powerful people who *really* don’t want to talk about their own racism
19/ The host point-blank asks the guest:
Is there another phrase to use so I don’t have to talk about racism?
And @DrKatzNYCHH kind of pauses and is like, No...? (That part was actually kind of funny! 🤣)
Is there another phrase to use so I don’t have to talk about racism?
And @DrKatzNYCHH kind of pauses and is like, No...? (That part was actually kind of funny! 🤣)
20/ The podcast shows the problem. You can’t do good causal inference if you refuse to consider a whole class of plausible causes. And you can’t make change if you refuse to admit that there are actors in causal processes.
21/ Again, I too wish there were a way to prevent the gross inequities we see playing out again and again (#COVID19) without making people in power feeling uncomfortable and defensive. I am being sincere. If any of you have found a way to do that, hit me up! 📲📞
22/22* [I purposely skipped the part where Livingston says that housing & job discrimination don’t exist. There are a raft of recent RCT audit studies showing this claim is untrue. It’s astounding that these statements passed an editorial process]
Oh! And here’s a link to listen for yourself: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/str…
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