Cliff’s Take: Chasm Between Black and White America

This week, we got yet another glimpse of the ugly underbelly of America.  On Sunday, Jacob Blake—a young unarmed Black man—was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha, Wisconsin police officer.

The national reaction has been powerful and unequivocal.  Protests in the streets; professional athletes boycotting games; political and civic leaders speaking out.

Though the outrage was immediate, it’s not being digested in the same way by all Americans. This is a tale of two Americas—not red and blue —but Black and white. Our politics presents this as Black Lives Matter on one side, and, on the other, a call for “law and order” to quell urban anarchy. But this is really a tale about our differing experiences.

I detail the most relevant polling of the week.  I believe the data is as telling as it is striking.

1. Institutional racism, but… In our recent NPR/Ipsos poll, a majority of Americans agree that institutional racism is baked into the system. But race itself defines the balance of this belief. White Americans are divided; Black Americans are not. Welcome to our two Americas. 

    

2. Racism is not an abstraction. Black Americans are three times more likely than white Americans to have experienced some form of racism (82% versus 26%). And they are more likely to be the object of racial profiling and racial slurs—look at the data! Our experience conditions everything. Again, two experiences; two Americas. 

    

3. Is all the concern really warranted? Yes, COVID-19 lingers, shaping our world in all aspects of our lives. But Black America sees much more risk than white America. Where does this outsized fear come from? Well, let’s see what the data says. 

    

4. COVID-19 is not color blind. Look at the data. Black Americans are more than twice as likely to know someone who has died than white Americans (39% versus 18%). The official death statistics only validates this. Our views on life are shaped by our experiences. The facts speak for themselves. For me, two experiences; ergo, two Americas. 

    

5. Make sense now? As an analyst, I often consider Black Lives Matter through a political frame—a Red/Blue divide. But remember experience conditions our views. Ask yourself this—through which lens are Black Americans seeing BLM? Just based on the lived experience, it shouldn’t surprise that we have markedly different views. For me, a fitting capstone to our tale of two Americas. 

    

We live in uncertain times.  Yes, the signals are scary.  Our experiences are different; our views are different.

But we need not be prisoners of our experience; as humans, we are perfectly able to imagine ourselves in our fellow’s shoes. Please stop for a moment and try it. Such empathy is needed right now.

As always, be healthy and be sane.