When distinguished scholar john a. powell recently spoke at UW-Milwaukee, his message was hopeful: Major transformational change is possible by focusing on “creating a society in which everyone belongs.” The 2019 Charles Causier Memorial Lecture, presented by UWM’s Department of Urban Planning and Office of Global Inclusion and Engagement, attracted several hundred people from UWM and beyond.
Speaking about “Racial Equity and Economic Justice in Urban Planning Practice and Community Building,” powell unflinchingly analyzed Milwaukee’s persistent status as one of America’s most segregated cities. “Structures are never neutral and tend to perpetuate themselves,” powell said. “Structures do the work of racism,” so that individual behaviors are not the issue. Efforts to change those structures must be intentional, explicit and sustained, he said. It requires “expanding the circle of human concern” to counteract what he calls “othering,” or viewing some people as though they do not belong. powell said othering takes many forms, whether based on ethnicity, skin color, gender, ability, beliefs or “any filter that separates people. Othering is the basis of all situations of ‘us versus them.’”
powell directs the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a professor of law and a professor of African American Studies and Ethnic Studies at UC-Berkeley, and he is an internationally recognized expert on civil rights, civil liberties, structural racialization, racial identity, fair housing, poverty and democracy. During his presentations, powell made wide-ranging connections, including about history, economics, law, culture and spirituality. When his now-grown children asked what he did all day, he told them, “I play with conceptual Legos.”
Looking to History to Understand Contemporary Challenges
People everywhere now face accelerated shifts in technology, demographics, climate and other aspects of contemporary life. “Rapid change can cause anxiety about who we are and our place on this Earth,” powell said. He said efforts at “bridging” can ameliorate uneasiness about change. Through bridging, “we turn outwardly to connect and explicitly work with other groups and seek ways to build common ground. This path ultimately takes us towards belonging and empathy.”
He said the other major response to anxiety triggered by changing is through “breaking,” in which people turn inward, only to what and who they know. “This path leads ultimately to a politics of isolation,” said powell.
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“Start with small bridges,” powell said. He suggested trying to communicate with a cousin or neighbor about differing views, rather than starting with someone with whom you have little in common. Truly seeing one another and sensing “our shared humanity” are outcomes of bridging, he said.
The son of African American sharecroppers who moved to Detroit, powell interwove his personal history with America’s narratives. “Who is the ‘we’ in ‘We the People’? When the U.S. Constitution was signed, only one-sixth of voting-age residents were given the right to vote: white males who owned property.”
During a session with students, powell said, “A reasonable place to start [analyzing equality and rights] is the Gettysburg Address, one of most important speeches ever made.” President Abraham Lincoln gave the historic 271-word speech in 1863 after a momentous turn in the Civil War. “Lincoln criticized the Constitution for creating a ‘we’ that was too small,” powell said. Lincoln expressed the aspiration “that this nation… shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
“Legal equality would be key to a new birth of freedom,” powell said. It took what he calls the “second Constitution,” encompassing the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments ratified after the Civil War, to begin legally expanding the “we” referenced in the original Constitution. That continued with the 19th Amendment in 1920 granting women the right to vote. Nonetheless, achieving equality has required continuous struggle and legal action, and it remains an unfinished goal. As a former national director of the American Civil Liberties Union, powell engaged in many such battles. When conservatives tout “going back to the original constitution,” powell said he asks, “Which one?”
Strategies for Fostering Equity and Universal Access
“Othering” supports exclusion and racialized structures of opportunity, powell said. “The established processes of hoarding and distributing resources” leaves many people without opportunities that those with greater privilege often take for granted. He cited widespread discriminatory redlining, funding public schools with property taxes and gerrymandered districts that ensure one-party control. He asked, “How do we organize space to distribute opportunity?”
powell said, “Milwaukee is ground zero for addressing racial and spatial arrangements. The city has long been marred by structural racialization that has impeded substantive equity.” He added that hyper-segregation invariably reduces economic productivity.
During his lecture and colloquium, powell suggested numerous ways to promote greater equity and belonging.
Go beyond mere “inclusion.”
powell sees efforts to be inclusive as simply a necessary intermediate step on the way to “full belonging.” Often, those being “included” are expected to adhere to the values and practices already established by those with power and resources. He described how acclaimed African American James Baldwin ultimately decided that “the price of the ticket” was too high to be included within America’s elite literary establishment. “He was told not to be open about being gay, and not to bring along the riff-raff,” powell said. Baldwin instead chose to move to France.
In contrast to conditional inclusiveness, “co-creating” means that people within a group democratically collaborate and are more likely to engender belonging, said powell.
Create equity by design.
Consider how to design so that no one is “othered” by that design, powell said. That means striving for universal access and accommodating people “within the situation they are in.”
Co-create designs with meaningful input from those who will use a facility or space.
Then, it will more likely meet those people’s needs. powell said that places are usually designed by those with the greatest resources and power. One option is to hire professionals to represent the public or a specific community. Often potential users of a space know what they want but not how to achieve that outcome, said powell. One example: “Avoid building public housing that is ugly or drab and thus stands out and stigmatizes its residents.”
Use public spaces to promote opportunities for bridging.
Programming needs to be curated in some way to create spaces where intersections can easily happen, said powell. “Are public spaces truly public or are they serving private interests?” he asked. He suggested that planning for the Democratic National Convention could inspire designing and programming spaces that promote equity and democracy.
Create ownership interests for the public when funding projects with public money.
Powell said governmental entities often give subsidies to economic development that exacerbates inequality. “Make policies that say that governmental subsidies for developers must have a public purpose. Give the public equity interest in projects such as sports arenas, so that the community shares ownership in projects such as sports venues.” Powell, who has previously visited Milwaukee numerous times, thinks more can be done to codify and expand Community Benefits Agreements. He advised expanding “tax incremental financing” districts so they also include affordable housing and other more sophisticated community benefits.
Think regionally.
“Break the binary, including Milwaukee vs. the suburbs,” powell said.
Strive for targeted universalism in public schools.
powell advised funding schools outside of the property-tax model.
Develop leverage to make things happen that should happen.
powell said that the City of Milwaukee can indeed adopt doable remedies to avert displacement from gentrification and other forms of inequity. However, since local government does not always expand inclusion and equity, powell said citizens and groups can help build alliances and coalitions that serve community interests. “If there are three entities pushing for competing goals, try to get two of the three on board.”
