Diversity, Discrimination, and Persistent Inequality: Hope for the Future through the Solidarity Economy Movement

Abstract

Despite considerable attention to "valuing diversity" among scholars and practitioners, discrimination, exclusion, and inequality persist in American organizations. In particular, similarly educated African Americans typically have higher unemployment and lower earnings than other groups, and continue to face discrimination in access to jobs and in treatment at work. Black-White wage gaps are higher than they were decades ago, and without significant change, the wealth gap will take centuries to bridge. The solidarity economy, an economic framework that encourages governance that creates equity, shared prosperity, power, and ownership may help provide jobs, help build wealth, and yield other positive outcomes in African American communities. Cooperation Jackson, operating under solidarity economy principles, aims to create sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership in Jackson, Mississippi, a predominantly black city plagued by poverty and unemployment. We discuss ways in which the

When Similarities are More Important than Differences: “Politically Black” Union Members’ Experiences of Racism and Participation in Union Leadership

“…These types of research questions can tell us something valuable about the institutional role/effects of unions and provide a metric for how likely they are to foster solidarity across various forms of oppression. For instance, is it the case that union socialization leads to less class‐based prejudice and associated legitimizing ideologies, while, at the same time, leading to less race‐based prejudice and associated legitimizing ideologies (see also Bell et al., ).…”

“…Given the intersectional insights of radical black theory (Davis, ; Gilroy, ; hooks, ; Robinson, ) and radical economic theory (Albert, ; Hahnel, ), it seems that the beautiful struggle for a new world in which systems of oppression are replaced with participatory and humane forms of social organization hangs on the success of progressive forces, such as unions, to recognize the intersections of various systems of oppression, and to dedicate themselves to eliminating the coreproduction of such systems. For example, structuring dominant economic institutions in a participatory (read democratic) way should lead, at least, to the elimination of the coreproduction of racial hierarchy (Albert, ; Bell et al., ; Hahnel, ). And vice versa, structuring dominant ethnic and cultural institutions in a participatory way (Prashad, ) should lead, at least, to the elimination of the co‐reproduction of economic hierarchy.…”

“…The extent to which findings from business or electoral politics can be generalized to King's case of union and labor movement leadership is an open question. Although it's possible that more democratic and progressive organizations like trade unions may have lower levels of racial prejudice and discrimination than standard corporations (see Bell, Leopold, Berry, & Hall, ), one would still expect stereotyping and prejudice to account for some of the remaining racial inequality in union leadership. In fact, an AFL‐CIO survey of 70 union leaders of color found that racism was perceived to be one of the three most important barriers making it difficult for people of color to move into leadership positions within their unions (AFL‐CIO, ).…”

Forging Diversity‐Science‐Informed Guidelines for Research on Race and Racism in Psychological Science

“…Several scholars have noted individual ways in which researchers contribute to the generation of knowledge on issues surrounding race and racism, including the use of racially diverse samples (e.g., Richeson, 2018;Stewart & Sweetman, 2018) and examining the effects of racial diversity on individual and collective outcomes (e.g., Bell, Leopold, Berry, & Hall, 2018;Craig, Rucker, & Richeson, 2018;Plaut, Thomas, Hurd, & Romano, 2018;Richeson & Sommers, 2016). Each of these elements is important.…”

Scholarship and Activism Diverge: Responding to MLK's Call with Theory and Research on Diversity, Political Action, and Resistance to Oppression

“…As such, the first section of this special issue focuses on diversity and leadership among people of color. Bell, Leopold, Berry, and Hall () begin by reviewing how racism continues to be endemic to institutions and workplaces and how diversity goals have changed from their antiracist origins to their focus on profit and serving the interests of capitalist institutions. The authors examine how more democratic and cooperative forms of economic organization in “the solidarity economy” offer academics an opportunity to teach and research more “radical” solutions to racial inequality.…”