Unbound: Race matters, so we must make it count

If you are reading this newsletter, you are probably already familiar with the notion that race is a construct. Rather than being a marker of any tangible ancestral or biological difference, race is a societal classification. So when you fill out a form that asks about race, it may seem inconsequential or even annoying.

But it matters because race matters,?write Neda Khoshkhoo and Jasmine Gonzales Rose?of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.

The authors, who wrote a report on the state of racial data collection and reporting in the United States, underscore the importance of collecting data about race in America. From housing, to political power, to education and beyond, we need data to assess the state of racial justice. Look no further than the center’s own?COVID Racial Data Tracker, which laid bare how the virus harmed Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities the most, for proof.

“Missing and incomplete data, lack of information that can be compared across time and geography, infrequently updated data, and other problems make the work of data scientists who are trying to study racism exponentially harder,” Khoshkhoo and Rose write. “This, in turn, directly affects people’s day-to-day lives.”?Read more here.

I thought of another way race matters while watching this week’s final public hearing of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 capital insurrection. Anyone familiar with the history of the nation and laws intended to prevent insurrectionists from holding office understands how foundational the issue of race was on that day.

Anyone who watched the violent mob storm the capital — some carrying Confederate flags, some wearing symbols of White nationalism, and some hurling racial slurs — understands it, too. But it seemed the committee members gave it short shrift, proof that history repeats itself. You can?read my piece here

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Culture in context

The late U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney has the distinction of authoring the Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) decision that denied citizenship to Black Americans. Much like Taney’s ruling, overturned with the ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments, his place of honor in the U.S. Capitol building is also coming to an end after the U.S. Congress?voted to remove his bust?from the Old Supreme Court Chamber.

The bust will be replaced by a figure of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, whose very presence on the high court served as a rejection of Taney’s worldview. I can think of nothing more fitting.

And with that, I wish you the happiest of holidays, and a new year filled with prosperity, progress, and perseverance. Thank you for making Unbound a part of your 2022!

A note from the editors

As we reimagine the nation’s abolitionist news outlets for a new day, The Emancipator takes a solutions-oriented approach to solving our most pressing social problems. In resolving to do better and be better in the new year, the solutions offered by our contributors — scholars, journalists, and community members — point the way toward 2023 ReSolutions. Here are a couple of the things we’ve learned to help us get ahead.?Follow these ideas on Instagram and our other social channels.

Until next time,

Kimberly Atkins Stohr?

Senior columnist, The Emancipator

Senior opinion writer, The Boston Globe