RWL #178 - Structural Racism, Harsh Critics, Madame Secretary, etc.
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire - Forward Operating Base Last Homely House (FOB LHH)!
I feel like this past week even as we seemed to be emerging from one dark shadow, we are suddenly careening into another one. I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the video of the murder of George Floyd, but I have heard enough about it and seen the stills. It’s amazing to think that had there not been civilians filming the moment, the event might have just been another statistic. The read links this week deal with this topic. I hope they are useful. I’ve included some other, lighter links as well. But it’s hard to put this outrage out of my mind. Hopefully some good will come of all of this.
Stay well and stay safe.
(No picture this week - it just doesn’t seem appropriate.)
Read
What: Du Bois Review, STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HEALTH INEQUITIES Old Issues, New Directions, Gilbert C. Gee and Chandra L. Ford
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306458/
Why: In light of the ongoing unrest around police violence towards minorities, I looked for a good article that explains the idea of structural racism. This is an academic article, not from the popular press, but I think it is clearly written and accessible (minimal academic jargon). The abstract:
“Racial minorities bear a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality. These inequities might be explained by racism, given the fact that racism has restricted the lives of racial minorities and immigrants throughout history. Recent studies have documented that individuals who report experiencing racism have greater rates of illnesses. While this body of research has been invaluable in advancing knowledge on health inequities, it still locates the experiences of racism at the individual level. Yet, the health of social groups is likely most strongly affected by structural, rather than individual, phenomena. The structural forms of racism and their relationship to health inequities remain under-studied. This article reviews several ways of conceptualizing structural racism, with a focus on social segregation, immigration policy, and intergenerational effects. Studies of disparities should more seriously consider the multiple dimensions of structural racism as fundamental causes of health disparities.”
Worth reading to familiarize with the terminology.
What: The Sociological Eye: SEVEN REASONS WHY POLICE ARE DISLIKED
http://sociological-eye.blogspot.com/2020/06/seven-reasons-why-police-are-disliked.html
Why: If you are interested in thoughtful, carefully reasoned sociological observations, Randall Collins’ blog is really excellent. He doesn’t write often, but when he does, he produces full blown essays with citations. This one is particularly timely given the unrest and protests we are seeing. He gives seven structural reasons why police are disliked, the last one of which is that they (maybe) are racist. The essential argument is police are forced into situations that often result in negative interactions, and those negative interactions are likely to occur whether the officers her/himself is racist or not. The post doesn’t deny that there aren’t sadistic, racist cops - just that you can get behavior that looks like racism without necessarily individual racism as a factor. Some of these factors could be called structural racism.
If you’re interested in an amazing ethnographic approach to mob violence, I highly recommend Among the Thugs by Bill Buford. The book is a study of mob violence associated with soccer “hooligans” in Europe. We see this violence in the US when some sports team wins a major event (SuperBowl, World Series) and the town rips itself apart in violence when something good has happened.
Watch
What: John Stuart Mill's big idea: Harsh critics make good thinkers (6 min)
Why: A positive approach to thinking about disagreement and discourse. Given the incredible amount of intolerance in our society today, it would be useful to actually engage in some tolerance and try to understand each other’s positions and priors. At a minimum actual understanding can help you better define your own position.
Listen
What: Tim Ferriss Show, Secretary Madeleine Albright — Optimism, the Future of the US, and 450-Pound Leg Presses
https://tim.blog/2020/05/27/secretary-madeleine-albright/
Why: I’m on again, off again with Tim Ferriss. He interviews a lot of random people about a lot of stuff I’m not interested in, but when I saw he had former Sec State Madeleine Albright I had to listen. I feel like it's easy to romanticize the relatively recent past suddenly - you know, the one without a global pandemic and race riots. As the first female Sec State, I have always seen her as a feminist icon. With three daughters of my own, and with students who are 80% young women, I like to seek out strong women role models. One of the great points Albright makes is that she didn’t have her first “real” (i.e., non-household) job until she was 39. I love the idea that it is never too late to reinvent yourself - perhaps because I have been trying to do that since I retired from the Army. But there is something optimistic about seeing a person start their career at middle-age and become so incredibly successful. I also didn’t know she was a refugee, which is amazing in this time when our politics have turned against refugees. Great interview - a lot of great attitudinal advice about pursuing success and playing the long game.
What: Conversations with Tyler, Ashley Mears on Status and Beauty
https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ashley-mears/
Why: Mears is a sociologist who studies fashion models. Mears was a fashion model before becoming a sociologist and has written about beauty and status. The conversation is interesting to me because it gets at different ways we think about work and the institutions around work and what is work. It’s also a bit fun to get to gawk and the rich and powerful through her lens.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)