Disadvantages that afflict blacks are not a coincidence

By Syl Jones

A 45-year old African-American woman with two kids has just been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Frightened by her prognosis, she is also livid that the health care system took so long to tell her that she is sick.

A 13-year-old African-American kid can't seem to grasp what his teachers are saying in class and therefore doesn't do well in school. His parents insist that he is diligent in his studies. They are bewildered by his failures, and he acts out in class.

A 52-year-old African-American man with a college degree and a history of achievement can't find a job in Minnesota. He interviews well but never quite makes the cut. Now, he is often too depressed to look for work.

These three individuals and their families are suffering. Is there a link among them, their race and the negative issues they face? Or is race a mere coincidence? Some people prefer to think so because, after all (they say), we live in a post-racial society. Still others harbor a suspicion they will not voice: that people of color are genetically inferior to whites, and that is why they suffer.

I see it differently.

New research shows that race is an accurate predictor of both success and suffering in our society. For example, even after going to a physician's office, African-American women must wait twice as long as white women to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer. The delay in diagnosis, in turn, delays treatment.

Likewise, African American and Hispanic students of all ages and social classes underperform their white counterparts on standardized tests. This so-called achievement gap is real and will likely result in a shortage of qualified workers once the bulk of the baby boomers have retired.

Finally, new studies show that black people in the Twin Cities metro area are three times more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts. Education, experience and even communication skills don't seem to matter. Something prevents these individuals from being gainfully employed.

None of this is a coincidence. In fact, it's just the opposite. These three examples of systemic disparities are racially predictable, meaning that regardless of socio-economic and other factors, whites usually wind up on top, while blacks, Hispanics and Southeast Asians in particular remain, in the startling words of Harvard Law Prof. Derrick Bell, "Faces at the bottom of the well."

Why does any of this matter? Racially predictable disparities cause undue suffering to families, needlessly shorten individual life expectancy and ultimately deprive us all of human resources that could revitalize our institutions.

Given the growing number of statistics confirming these disparities, why would we ever believe that they weren't related?

-- Syl Jones, Minnetonka, is a playwright and corporate communications consultant.

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