The 21-Day Equity Challenge - A Self-Guided Learning Journey
What does it take to go from being an ally to a leader in the fight for equity?
United Way of Pierce County invites you to participate in the 21-Day Equity Challenge to become a leader in the fight for equity. You can help end racism and build a community in which people's outcomes in life are not determined by their skin color. Through 21 days of equity challenges, you will gain awareness and understanding of racism, which asserts itself in nearly all aspects of our daily lives.
Debby Irving and Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr. developed the original equity challenge, and the United Way Worldwide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team curated the content for United Way. United Way of Pierce County has further adapted the challenge for our community with the help of partners. The 21-Day Equity Challenge is an interactive digital resource for individuals and groups to deepen their understanding of -- and willingness to confront -- racism. The Challenge will inspire you to act, on your own or with others in your organization, business or group, to dismantle systemic racism.
What happens during the Challenge?
During the Challenge, you will receive an email each business day introducing a topic supported by links to articles, video, podcasts, and more that dive deeper into the day's topic. We encourage you to take your time with these resources, reflect on the questions, and sit with what you are learning. We also encourage you to join our Equity Conversation via Zoom following the Challenge. The Equity Conversation will feature a panel of community leaders sharing their experiences and insights.
Do I participate in the Challenge alone or with others?
It's your choice. You can certainly do the Challenge on your own by engaging with the material provided each morning during the Challenge. But we are learning that the work of making our community more just and equitable requires a team effort! Below, we have provided resources and tools to support individuals and also for groups to take on the Challenge together. To provide additional opportunities for people to share and reflect on their learnings, United Way of Pierce County will also host an Equity Conversation via Zoom.
What if I can't engage in all the daily emails?
It's great if you are able to do a little bit with each email Monday through Friday. However, we realize that it might be hard to keep it going for the full twenty-one days. The links you receive will stay live so that you can come back later on. You can use the weekends to get caught up and reflect as needed.
CLICK HERE to get notifications of future Equity Challenge opportunities!
Why is this important for Pierce County? Meet ALICE...
As Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett document in their recent book The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again, African Americans are worse off today than in 1968 across many socioeconomic measures of well-being. We write report after report documenting the levels of racial, economic, and social inequalities. We march, vote, and protest to incremental effect. The problems persist and, in fact, have become deeper and more embedded into the fabric of our community.
Financial Hardship In Black Households
For Pierce County, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, 11% of households were living below the poverty line, while another 23% were struggling to make ends meet. We call these families ALICE because they are Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, and Employed. The pandemic only worsened these percentages, with many more families are now faced with unemployment, possible eviction and hunger. Local data for ALICE shows the following disparities in BIPOC households living below the ALICE threshold:
- Black 47%
- Hispanic 43%
- Native 43%
- Asian 39%
- Hawaiian 35%
- Two or More Races 39%
Poverty and racism have been inextricably connected since this country’s inception, yet official federal statistics have never fully portrayed the economic impact of that link. United For ALICE was founded on the need to more accurately measure and track financial hardship nationwide. For more than a decade, our research has been shedding light on the disparity of economic opportunity that exists in every community, in every state. The data show that while hardship is pervasive, the history of slavery and its ongoing legacy of systemic and institutional racism stigmatizes Black households uniquely. In every state, our research unequivocally documents the persistent and widening disparities in income and wealth between Black households and households of other races and ethnicities.
United For ALICE data show that nationwide more than 40% of American households do not earn enough to cover basic expenses, including housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and a basic smartphone plan. This is a structural economic problem; wages are not keeping pace with increases in the cost of living. But for Black households, those numbers are far higher. And the number of those households that are struggling is three times the rate of hardship shown for Black households by the antiquated and arbitrary Federal Poverty Level (FPL). And it is nearly double the rate of hardship for White households.
KNOW THE FACTS
United For ALICE will continue to provide the data needed to recognize and upend racial barriers to financial stability and reform institutional bias. The coronavirus pandemic has thrown our broad, systemic failures of economic and racial justice into even sharper relief; going back to pre-COVID-19 norms will not produce a sustainable or growing economy. By more accurately identifying need, the ALICE measures can guide better policies and practices to help families and communities thrive. We know that:
- Racial and ethnic disparities in hardship are growing, not shrinking. From 2010 to 2018 — which covers the “recovery” from the Great Recession — the number of Black households below the ALICE Threshold (the minimum income needed to afford household basics) increased by 12%, while the number of White households struggling to make ends meet barely changed, increasing only 2%.
- Black families continue to have persistently lower wages, fewer educational and job opportunities, poorer health, and lower life expectancy. Structural racism and discrimination continue to restrict job opportunities and wage levels for Black workers. Even when controlling for age, gender, education, and region, Black workers are paid 16% less than White workers (up from 10% in 2000). This disparity directly impacts quality of life for Black households and communities. Black families remain disproportionately likely to live in substandard housing in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty — those with few grocery stores, banks, parks, or recreation facilities, with inadequate health care and under-resourced public schools, and with high levels of violence and exposure to environmental hazards.
- Black households continue to be less able to accumulate and pass on wealth. Like disparities in income disparities in wealth and assets persist for Black households. Unable to save, many Black families do not have the means to build assets, let alone catch up to those who have been building assets for generations. The discrimination that these families face in areas from hiring to housing to lending, when compounded, creates an even bigger wealth gap.
- Black households are at greater risk from COVID-19. Black people are contracting COVID-19 at higher rates and dying at higher rates than their White counterparts. These disparities are being fed by multiple factors — including more Black workers in “essential” jobs that require on-site, frontline presence with a higher risk of exposure, and historically poorer access to quality health care for Black communities.
DAILY CHALLENGE TOPICS
Day 1 - Race & Racism
Day 2 - Internalized Racism
Day 3 - Biases
Day 4 - Microaggressions
Day 5 - White Privilege
Day 6 - Reflection Day
Day 7 - Systemic Racism
Day 8 - History of Inequity
Day 9 - Racism in Criminal Justice
Day 10 - Racism in Politics
Day 11 - Racism in Healthcare
Day 12 - Racism in the Media
Day 13 - Racism in Education
Day 14 - Reflection: Racism in Our Society
Day 15 - Opportunities and Race
Day 16 - Black Business & Entrepreneurship
Day 17 - Housing Inequity
Day 18 - Respecting Cultural Differences
Day 19 - How to Make Change
Day 20 - Reflection
Day 21 - Next Steps/Taking Action
