Racism in twenty-first century America is harder to see than its previous incarnations because the most overt and legally sanctioned forms of racial discrimination have been eliminated. Nonetheless, subtler racialized patterns in policies and practices permeate the political, economic, and sociocultural structures of America in ways that generate differences in well-being between people of color and whites... This contemporary manifestation of racism in America can be called "structural racism."
Structural Racism and Community Building
The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change
In 1946, community leaders undertook the first modern-day study of racial inequality in Jacksonville. Since then, there have been others studies and initiatives. Today, more than 60 years later, Jacksonville still struggles with racial disparities, inequities and intolerance in areas such as education, health care, housing and the workplace, among others.
Race is among the toughest -- if not the toughest -- challenge for communities. So much is invested in the status quo, and the path to change is not clear. The conversation too easily becomes accusatory, punitive and personal.
Yet Jacksonville, for all of its shortcomings, has taken steps down the path to change that are both bold and innovative. In addition to a rich body of research, the community has, for the last five years, maintained an annual report card on improvements in race relations. It also has Project Breakthrough, an initiative led by OneJax, in partnership with The Aspen Institute, The Community Foundation in Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (JHRC), which is both a resource for and an emblem of community change.
Project Breakthrough: Changing the Story of Race in Jacksonville was conceived in 2006, with the encouragement and support of The Community Foundation in Jacksonville and the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. It did not involve a study or a survey. Instead, it looked at the manner in which the very infrastructure of our lives, our history and our culture serves to perpetuate racial inequality. This is "structural racism."
Structural racism describes how history, public policies, institutional practice and cultural representations interact to maintain privilege and disadvantage.
The goals of Project Breakthrough are:
- To introduce a common frame for understanding the causes of Jacksonville’s - and the nation’s - racial disparities
- To promote a common language for thinking, talking and problem-solving around Jacksonville’s racial disparities
- To build and support a critical mass of those committed to changing the story of race in Jacksonville by dismantling structural racism.
Click here to learn more about Project Breakthrough's programs and activities, plans for the future and how you can get involved.
