St. Petersburg City Council members are moving forward with a plan created by an interdisciplinary
team of researchers coordinated by the University of South Florida on how to identify
and address structural racism in the community.
Ruthmae Sears, associate professor in mathematics education and director of the Coalition of Science
Literacy, and her fellow researchers presented the report, “The Examination of Historical and Modern-Day Impact of Structural Racism on the Lives
of Black People in the City of St. Petersburg, Florida” to the city council. A resolution to act upon the recommendations of the report passed.
Sears led a diverse team that included university and community researchers, racial
justice advocates and student collaborators. These individuals documented relevant
historical evidence, analyzed current data trends, collected narratives from residents
and activists, and wrote the final report.
“We are truly appreciative for the residents who willingly shared their personal experiences
and provided insights into the best path forward for the city,” Sears said. “The experiences
and wisdom of the community are essential to advancing the recommendations of this
study, building bridges, promoting racial equity, and improving the overall quality
of life for residents in St. Petersburg.”
Based on the evidence discovered during the intensive study, the five immediate action
steps recommended were:
- Create an equity department within the Office of the Mayor. The director will serve
as a liaison between the community and the budget committee, using an annual equity
assessment and other data to negotiate funds for city projects and promptly bring
issues to light. - Create and implement an effective accountability strategy that includes a commitment
to a race equity review of existing city policies and practices and of all future
proposed policies and practices. The strategy will be supported by measurable outcomes
that are tracked over time and used to influence incremental improvements to the strategy
until equitable outcomes are achieved. - Create a permanent resident race equity commission aligned with the motion approved
in April 2018, which supported an African American Quality of Life Sunshine Committee.
This will advance the unanimously approved motion. The performance monitoring will
ensure progress towards equity is made and it is recommended that this becomes a permanent
way of conducting business in the city. - Examine and initiate action steps to reparations to address disparities that have
been made visible by this report. In conversations with those most impacted by racism
in the community, topics focused on wanting more tangible efforts of restitution such
as affordable housing, reforms in the criminal-legal system, free health services
or tertiary education. - Continue support for the work started in the study.
Researchers hope that this is where repair, healing and making amends can begin in
St. Petersburg and that their results can be used as a national model for eliminating
systemic racism.
“My sincere thanks to Dr. Ruthmae Sears and the entire team at USF for leading the
way on this critically important endeavor,” Mayor Kriseman said. “While this work
was initiated by the city of St. Petersburg, it is now a part of a long-overdue community
conversation, and it will be up to not just city officials, but community leaders
and citizens to have that conversation going forward.”
The report was undertaken and authored over a six-month period to research, examine
and document the history of structural racism in the city of St. Petersburg before
providing the five recommendations. The team started sharing the findings and obtaining
additional feedback from the community in October.
Funding and support are needed to advance a second phase as well as dig deeper in
areas identified by the community, such as factors that contribute to social determinants
of health and steps to achieving reparation.
As evidence, the research team provided St. Petersburg leaders a historical overview
of how policies, practices and infrastructures have evolved since 1868 when John Donaldson
became the first Black individual to settle in the city. Data pertaining to the criminal-legal
system, economic development, education, and the health care system illustrated how
opportunities for growth in the Black community have been limited.
The data showed that for 100 years following Donaldson’s arrival, city officials –
both elected and appointed – played a role in perpetuating the Black-white economic
gaps. From exerting unmitigated influence over public policy decisions and the allocation
of public investments, to empowering the Jim Crow racial economic hierarchy, officials
ensured that economic opportunity remained an exclusively white domain. These public
policies are only partly abated in the present day.
Public records show two dozen local officials supported violations of federal and
local laws that upheld segregation. They openly colluded with white property owners
to limit Black ownership and charted policies to prevent wealth building through home
values and opportunities.
City policy and practice blocked Black economic growth through Black labor control
policies, Black entrepreneurship limitations and employment and contracting discrimination.
City leaders also supported a city-run convict labor work program and pipeline that
was openly targeting Blacks, costing their families hundreds of millions of dollars
in labor.
Black-only schools received a fraction of the tens of millions of dollars poured into
white-only schools. Then, when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered desegregation of public
schools, segregation continued until the Pinellas County School District was sued
in 1964 and forced to desegregate countywide (Leon W. Bradley, Jr., et al. v. Board
of Public Instruction of Pinellas County). This lawsuit spanned 50 years, citing broken
promises to balance the scales for Black students.
The data shows that not only is there a wage gap between non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic
Blacks or African Americans, but more education does not close the gap.
Unequal funding and segregation carried over into health care facilities as city leaders
invested more readily in facilities and services for white versus Black citizens.
Fast forward to the present, the data illustrates that health outcomes for ailments
such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer are tied to race. Life expectancy by zip
code shows double-digit disparities in historic Black zip codes. That shows decades
of ongoing patterns of racial disparities plague the black community
Co-principal investigators from USF include Johannes Reichgelt, professor of information
systems and decision sciences and director of the Institute for Data Analytics and
Visualization; James McHale, professor of psychology and director of the Family Study
Center on the St. Peterburg campus; Fenda Akiwumi, geosciences professor and director
of the Institute on Black Life; and Dana Thompson-Dorsey, endowed chair of Education
Innovation and director of the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
The student collaborators on the project were Jalessa Blackshear and Casey Lepak.
Michelle Bradham-Cousar served as the project manager. The community researchers who
served as co-principal investigators of the study were Gypsy Gallardo, Power Broker
Media Group and Urban Market Analytics; Gwendolyn Reese, African American Heritage
Association of St. Petersburg and Black Health Equity Alliance; and Tim Dutton, Foundation
for a Healthy St. Petersburg. The community advocate on the team was Jabaar Edmond,
Child Parks Neighborhood Association.