Grand Rapids doing poorly on Racial Equity according to new study

The National Coalition for Health Equity recently released some data on health equity in the US based on racial indicators.

They researched the top 100 metro areas in the US and based on the 2010 Census data, Grand Rapids/Wyoming, rated 87^th out of 100 in terms of racial equity for African Americans.

What that rating means is that racial equity for African Americans in this area is one of the worst in the country. This led the Metro Trends group to give Grand Rapids/Wyoming an F grade because of the indicators.

The indicators are as follows:

• 61.4% of African Americans experience residential segregation
• The neighborhood income gap for African Americans is 19.7% less than White neighbors/neighborhoods
• School Test scores for African American children are 53% lower than White children in this area
• African Americans are 29.4% more likely to be unemployed in Grand Rapids/Wyoming
• Home Ownership gap means that 57.2% of African Americans do not own their own homes in the Grand Rapids/Wyoming area.

For Latinos/as in the Grand Rapids/Wyoming area, the data is not much better. The Metro Trends group gave out a D grade and rate Grand Rapids/Wyoming as 79^th in the country for health equity for Latinos/as.

The inequities for Latino/as are:

• 50.4% of Latinos/as experience residential segregation
• The neighborhood income gap for Latinos/as is 21.1% less than White neighbors/neighborhoods
• School Test scores for Latino/a children are 47% lower than White children in this area
• Latinos/as are 4.2% more likely to be unemployed in Grand Rapids/Wyoming
• Home Ownership gap means that 36.4% of Latinos/as do not own their own homes in the Grand Rapids/Wyoming area.

These indicators clearly demonstrate that the level of institutional racism is very high and it would suggest that despite the claims of greater racial diversity programs in the area, there is serious disparity of wealth and health between White communities and communities of Color.