What Systemic Social Distancing Means to Proximity and Untapped Talent
“We practiced social distancing way before the pandemic, and it hurts us.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic makes social disparities more apparent and physical social distancing more of civic duty, it reminds us that our nation still practices socioeconomic separation. Justice advocate Bryan Stevenson suggests that it is because we lack the “power of proximity.” In other words, American communities are practicing what I call “systemic social distancing,” which impacts our nation’s ability to be globally competitive
Systemic social distancing is a historical and evolving process by which society members create physical, socioeconomic, and emotional distance between communities, neighborhoods, and individuals based on social identity. It is both a consequence and driver of de jure and de facto segregation and relies on the myth of meritocracy. While segregation divides the social lines, systemic social distancing adds a layer of comfort, relieving individuals of privilege from experiencing any emotional consequences of their role in perpetuating systemic racism or poverty.
Advocates like Stevenson view proximity to the poor as a moral and ethical imperative for developing healthy communities. I suggest it also is essential to sustain our nation’s capacity to compete globally. Neighborhoods of color and more impoverished communities have an abundance of untapped talent that we overlook; we are not close enough to these communities to know about the people who live there.
Our recent history clarifies how a lack of proximity and systemic social distancing impacts our economy and competitive edge; I refer to this as creative and talent suppression.
In 1990, America ranked sixth globally for education and health, vital foundations for talent development. This success was the budding fruit cultivated by civil rights activists as they advocated for the desegregation of our education and social systems. Black and brown students began to attend less segregated schools and more resourced educational settings that led to higher achievement. Forty-three percent of black children attended desegregated schools, the highest in history until that point. However, at the same time, many white-middle class proponents of neighborhood and segregated school systems aggressively advocated for the turning over of significant desegregation policies. The impact of their lobbying coincided with budget cuts to skilled labor programs in high schools. The result of all these factors diminished America’s talent pool and educational standing in a global economy.
Segregation and cuts to skilled trade education negatively impacted portions of our talent pipeline by alienating individuals into areas of educational insufficiency. This closed off access to career-related experiences also created economic deserts. Because so many people in power of our economic and educational structures lack proximity to communities of color or high poverty, decisions that affect these communities occur with little understanding of those policies’ long-term impacts. Court cases such as Oklahoma City v. Dowell (1991), Freeman v. Pitts (1992), and the 1999 reversal of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971) increased re-segregation by eliminating court supervision for district desegregation plans and desegregation tools such as busing. This form of school reassignment impacted coincided with other missed opportunities for workforce development.
By the year 2000, skilled trades and traditional shop programs experienced cuts for the past two decades, especially in areas with higher black and brown populations. This lack of proximity allows new segregation forms and diminishes focus on black and brown communities’ skills to meet our economy’s demands. The creative and suppression policies of the 1990s lowered our standings for talent development. Well into the 21st century, a 2016 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study revealed that schools with at least 75 percent of African-American and Hispanic youth or high-poverty students doubled from 2001–2014.
Today, a little over 23 percent of black and brown students attend desegregated schools, which is a reversal to 1968. Only 6% of U.S. high school students are enrolled in career technical education (CTE) programs, compared to Germany at 59%, Switzerland at 64%, and Japan at 25%. The National Association of Manufacturers reported that over 2.4 million advanced manufacturing jobs in the U.S. would go unfilled by 2028. The decreased funding of skilled trade education and the reversal of desegregation laws contributed to weakening our ability to produce talent in these areas. Just as critical, systemic social distancing and a lack of proximity to vulnerable communities perpetuated an ignorance of their capabilities. They decreased our nation’s ability to compete in an innovative world.
Our story does not have to remain this way. We can create proximity by developing intimate relationships with economically challenged communities built on mutual respect for their ideas and aspirations. Proximity will help leaders make the appropriate investments in education, infrastructure, and businesses to benefit communities experiencing high poverty levels. We can reverse the systemic social distancing that suffocates talent in communities of color and high poverty areas to develop a new creative class. The answer to America’s global competitiveness waits on the other side of the tracks.
