Resistance to Racial Equity in U.S. Federalism and Its Impact on Fragmented Regions

Sheila R. Grigsby; Alicia Hernàndez; Sara John; Désirée Jones-Smith; Katie Kaufmann; Cordaryl Patrick; Christopher Prener; Mark Tranel; Adriano Udani

doi:10.1177/0275074020942063

Resistance to Racial Equity in U.S. Federalism and Its Impact on Fragmented Regions

Sheila R. Grigsby, Alicia Hernàndez, Sara John, Désirée Jones-Smith, Katie Kaufmann, Cordaryl Patrick, Christopher Prener, Mark Tranel, Adriano Udani

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In this commentary, we provide our ground-level observations of how the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19 or COVID) has exposed weaknesses in our federal system to respond to local communities, particularly Black and Latina/os who live and work in the St. Louis region. Our perspectives come from a virtual town hall hosted by the Community Innovation and Action Center (CIAC) at the University of Missouri, St. Louis on April 18, 2020. Based on these initial public discussions, we use St. Louis as a lens for arguing that government’s attenuated impact is not due to a natural disaster itself, but the inevitable result of race-based policies that had worked against Black peoples over generations. The real failure involves our federalist system’s lack of a commitment to racial equity—when race no longer is used to predict life outcomes, and outcomes for all groups are improved—when designing the federal plan to respond to COVID-19 in local communities.

Original language	American English
Journal	The American Review of Public Administration
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020942063
State	Published - 2020

Keywords

COVID-19
federalism
public health
racial equity
urban studies

Disciplines

Political Science

Access to Document

10.1177/0275074020942063License: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "Resistance to Racial Equity in U.S. Federalism and Its Impact on Fragmented Regions",

abstract = " In this commentary, we provide our ground-level observations of how the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19 or COVID) has exposed weaknesses in our federal system to respond to local communities, particularly Black and Latina/os who live and work in the St. Louis region. Our perspectives come from a virtual town hall hosted by the Community Innovation and Action Center (CIAC) at the University of Missouri, St. Louis on April 18, 2020. Based on these initial public discussions, we use St. Louis as a lens for arguing that government{\textquoteright}s attenuated impact is not due to a natural disaster itself, but the inevitable result of race-based policies that had worked against Black peoples over generations. The real failure involves our federalist system{\textquoteright}s lack of a commitment to racial equity—when race no longer is used to predict life outcomes, and outcomes for all groups are improved—when designing the federal plan to respond to COVID-19 in local communities. ",

keywords = "COVID-19, federalism, public health, racial equity, urban studies",

author = "Grigsby, {Sheila R.} and Alicia Hern{\`a}ndez and Sara John and D{\'e}sir{\'e}e Jones-Smith and Katie Kaufmann and Cordaryl Patrick and Christopher Prener and Mark Tranel and Adriano Udani",

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language = "American English",

journal = "The American Review of Public Administration",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Resistance to Racial Equity in U.S. Federalism and Its Impact on Fragmented Regions

AU - Grigsby, Sheila R.

AU - Hernàndez, Alicia

AU - John, Sara

AU - Jones-Smith, Désirée

AU - Kaufmann, Katie

AU - Patrick, Cordaryl

AU - Prener, Christopher

AU - Tranel, Mark

AU - Udani, Adriano

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - In this commentary, we provide our ground-level observations of how the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19 or COVID) has exposed weaknesses in our federal system to respond to local communities, particularly Black and Latina/os who live and work in the St. Louis region. Our perspectives come from a virtual town hall hosted by the Community Innovation and Action Center (CIAC) at the University of Missouri, St. Louis on April 18, 2020. Based on these initial public discussions, we use St. Louis as a lens for arguing that government’s attenuated impact is not due to a natural disaster itself, but the inevitable result of race-based policies that had worked against Black peoples over generations. The real failure involves our federalist system’s lack of a commitment to racial equity—when race no longer is used to predict life outcomes, and outcomes for all groups are improved—when designing the federal plan to respond to COVID-19 in local communities.

AB - In this commentary, we provide our ground-level observations of how the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19 or COVID) has exposed weaknesses in our federal system to respond to local communities, particularly Black and Latina/os who live and work in the St. Louis region. Our perspectives come from a virtual town hall hosted by the Community Innovation and Action Center (CIAC) at the University of Missouri, St. Louis on April 18, 2020. Based on these initial public discussions, we use St. Louis as a lens for arguing that government’s attenuated impact is not due to a natural disaster itself, but the inevitable result of race-based policies that had worked against Black peoples over generations. The real failure involves our federalist system’s lack of a commitment to racial equity—when race no longer is used to predict life outcomes, and outcomes for all groups are improved—when designing the federal plan to respond to COVID-19 in local communities.

KW - COVID-19

KW - federalism

KW - public health

KW - racial equity

KW - urban studies

UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020942063

U2 - 10.1177/0275074020942063

DO - 10.1177/0275074020942063

M3 - Article

JO - The American Review of Public Administration

JF - The American Review of Public Administration

ER -

Resistance to Racial Equity in U.S. Federalism and Its Impact on Fragmented Regions

Abstract

Keywords

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