Resistance and Revival: The Urgent Need for a St. Louis New Deal
#StillCompromising Episode 6
We are over five months into what will surely be remembered as one of the most challenging periods in the history of the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed over 185,000 people in the United States and continued racialized police violence is capturing national attention. The federal political stage continues to devolve and misregulate toward special interests and authoritarian impulses, and the economy underwent an unprecedented drop last quarter of 32.9% at an annual rate.
As the pandemic began, it was immediately clear to Forward Through Ferguson that it would make worse already unconscionable differences in the opportunity to thrive for Black and people of color St. Louisans compared to their White neighbors. We set out in the #StillCompromising series to shine a light on those disparities and build transparency with data that reflected the experiences of people of color in the region.
Still Compromising on the Opportunity to Thrive
The #StillCompromising series references the Missouri Compromise of March, 1820 which admitted Missouri into the Union as a “slave state,” permitting the continued subjugation of Black people. 200 years later — in 2020 — COVID-19 is revealing that we are still very much grappling with that original sin and compromising on the wellbeing of Black Missourians.
In Episode 1, we shared the inequities in testing, the foundation upon which the pandemic prevention and control efforts were built, and how those inequities contributed to the disproportionate burden of the disease in our Black communities. From there, in Episode 2 we followed the impact of the disease, starting with how, due to the disparities in underlying health conditions, Black St. Louisans were 40% more likely to die from COVID-19.
The ripple effects of this pandemic are broad and responsible for follow-on workforce, economic, and educational crises, which we explored in Episode 3. There we found that Black and Hispanic St. Louisans were nearly 70% more likely to be “essential” workers asked to risk their health and lives, as well as that of their families, in order to keep their jobs. Episode 4 dove deeper, showing that Black residents were also less likely to be able to work from home, more likely to be furloughed or laid off, and far less likely to be able to withstand those economic shocks because of generations of systematically stymied wealth building.
In our penultimate entry, Episode 5, we faced the grim reality that, thanks to structural inequities in internet access, the pandemic will have immense implications for the educational progress of our Black students that may very well set them off course for years to come. For example, Black residents are 3.5 times more likely to have no internet connection than White residents and are more likely to be using antiquated internet speeds that are inadequate for virtual learning.
In short, we tracked the COVID-19 pandemic as it burned through our region and documented the compounding structural inequities it fed off of and ignited. With each entry, we offered calls to action for how St. Louis could not only address the disparities of this moment, but also correct the root causes that have trapped St. Louis in a perpetual state of crisis. Themes emerged and—with the success of Medicaid expansion—it became clear that a window of opportunity exists to expand access to economic prosperity in St. Louis and strengthen the region’s wellbeing in the process.
Toward a St. Louis Revival, a St. Louis New Deal
It will not be enough for St. Louis’ political and business leaders to just center Racial Equity. They will also need to fundamentally shift how they approach civic and economic initiatives. Behind the scenes, from influence and control over our two largest police departments to regional economic development plans, the dominant culture of St. Louis power brokers is unacceptably exclusive and opaque. This misuse and concentration of power — separated from the voices of those most negatively impacted — reinforces our economic struggles as a region.
The community wisdom generated and captured in the last six years leads to a clear conclusion: St. Louis’ business, political, and cultural leaders must be held to account for St. Louis to experience a revival. Christy Maxfield, former FTF board member, captured this needed transformation well in her St. Louis Business Journal Op-Ed:
What if, instead of shifting blame, corporate leaders doubled down on where they are instead of adopting a strategy of corporate flight? What would be possible if the many years and hundreds of millions of corporate dollars spent, charitable gifts made, and tax dollars deferred were invested in new policy decisions that remedy the root causes of inequity and end systemic racism rather than glossing over, minimizing, or ignoring them? If we made moonshot-scale investments in education, housing, transportation, and health care through the lens of racial equity? And if rather than transactional, zero-sum relationships with our region, corporations stepped up to invest in targeted solutions that produce long-term, mutually beneficial outcomes?
We need not look further than existing community-based policy documents like the Ferguson Commission report to find the path forward. With the tragedy and upheaval of the moment comes the opportunity to create a St. Louis New Deal — designed with equity at the center. We can build off the momentum of the recent expansion of Medicaid, which was a signature priority of the Commission. While the implementation of the original New Deal excluded many Black Americans from its impact, it is one of the clearest examples of concerted public and private efforts to reshape the economy and more widely share its prosperity in the wake of a national emergency. St. Louis could be an innovator in creating a modern social contract with its residents. One centered on equity, justice, and opportunity for all.
The Roadmap Exists, Let’s Follow It
The roadmap for this equitable New Deal exists in key Commission calls to action, which were created with the input of over 3,000 residents. This moment in history has opened a window of opportunity to forge equity-focused policy change in the crucible of multiple crises:
- Prioritize Early Childhood Education. Supporting kids from birth to five years old is not only crucial for the development of the child, it’s also foundational for the economic prosperity of low-income families, particularly those of color.
- Expand Medicaid Eligibility. Achieved! But it will need continued vigilance and accountability to make sure the policy win is properly implemented.
- Raise the Minimum Wage. While state-level action towards a $15/hour minimum wage has proven difficult, more major institutions and corporations should follow the lead of BJC, Washington University in St. Louis, and St. Louis City and County government by establishing a living wage for their employees.
- Develop and Implement an Economic Inclusion Infrastructure. The design and decision-making tables for these initiatives must include community leaders and organizations focused on systemic racism. This includes the recent St. Louis Inclusive Economic Growth Plan taskforce.
- Implement Earned Income and Child Tax Credits. Missouri still hasn’t implemented a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit program. We also don’t have a state-level child tax credit.
- Create Universal Child Development Accounts. Universal, at-birth savings accounts for kids can be instrumental for lessening the racial wealth gap.
- Require Community Benefits Agreements. Instituting county-level policies requiring CBAs for large projects and private development that receives public subsidy can build equity into our regional landscape and economy to share prosperity more widely.
Forward Through Ferguson is contributing to this vision for an equitable St. Louis by building the Racial Equity capacity of anchor institutions and local leaders, growing the skill and will to deal with systemic issues, amplifying the stories of those directly impacted by and addressing inequity, working on policy campaigns, and growing investments in community-led racial healing. Our scrappy, determined team has yet to be fully-funded, though the community of people and institutions funding Racial Equity work is growing. We know this is reflective of the experience of other equity- and systems-focused community initiatives.
Where There Is Inequity, There Is Resistance
As is always the case during periods of trauma — events which starkly reveal and reinforce systemic oppression — these five months have also galvanized resistance. Unprecedented protests have reinvigorated the hard-fought demands of the Black Lives Matter movement. I have no doubt that this wider attention and participation is made possible by the hard work of organizers and catalysts for Racial Equity and justice, who, across the last six years since the killing of Michael Brown Jr., have worked fiercely to build awareness, understanding, and people power.
In St. Louis, more community members — in all neighborhoods, across power hierarchies — are awakening and lending their voices, feet, and resources to the truth that we cannot thrive as a region while our leaders continue to allow and assist the dehumanizing effects of systemic racism in order to protect the status quo.
It will take a concerted effort and strategy to shift the generations-long legacy of systemic racism and inequity. Young Black and people of color are defining a new normal, a new foundation, a new standard that we will not compromise on. The mission, character, and deep passion of this cadre of leaders is the only way forward if St. Louis wants to thrive. That deep St. Louis spirit and tenacity must continue to be a North Star for our region’s wellbeing.
St. Louis will thrive once it radically listens to and follows the lead of the movement of young Black and people of color leaders who are defining a path forward towards Racial Equity and justice. Those leaders who are specifically rejecting and reshaping a toxic political and relational culture that has centered ego, a scarcity mentality, secrecy, and individualism. This new class is collectively—through successes and failures—generating the culture of accountability we will need to become a thriving region.
Are the guardians of the status quo ready to follow their lead?
David Dwight IV is the Executive Director and Lead Strategy Catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson.
Read the first five episodes in the #StillCompromising series and sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear about future releases.
