Two Perspectives on Addressing Racial Disparities.

• Author: Nguyen, Khanh
• Position: NCSL Base Camp 2020

"This year has brought these issues [of racial disparities in health, well-being and economic security] into focus more than ever before, with the issue of the pandemic ... as well as our national reckoning on race."

Moderator Jenifer Sarver framed the conversation with these words as two national experts joined NCSL Base Camp 2020 to share their thoughts and experiences, and to challenge assumptions, broaden worldviews and provide potential solutions to racial disparities.

Dr. Camara Jones, family physician, epidemiologist and past president of the American Public Health Association, opened with an allegory that illustrated her understanding of the way in which systems and structures create and contribute to disparities. "When I look at racial disparities in health, education, housing outcomes... I understand racism to be the root cause of all of these race-related differences that we see across sectors," she said.

Ian Rowe, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, agreed that systemic issues create barriers, but argued that when strong family support and educational institutions "help children develop character-based strengths like integrity, resiliency, agency, the belief that you can be a master of your own destiny, then those children can lead life on their own terms, even in the face of structural barriers."

Rowe underscored the need to highlight African American success stories and emulate the qualities and conditions that led to those successes.

He shared the success of a charter school network he led in creating pathways to prosperity for many low-income families of color by providing access to high-quality education and school choice. Rowe challenged the narrative that racism is the sole cause of every racial disparity because it typically leads to "the universe of solutions to address that disparity [being] narrowed to race-based interventions."

Jones agreed that individual effort and behavior are important, but she emphasized the need...