(WITHDRAWN) Using an Intersectional and Intersectoral Lens to Explore Racial and Economic Inequalities

Examining racial and economic inequalities requires an understanding of the historical, socio-political and cultural factors at play in perpetuating racism, white supremacy and other intersecting forms of oppressions. The convergence of systemic, institutional, interpersonal and internalized racism within each sector of society results in inequalities and structural violence. As many scholars have noted, racism in all its forms, creates the basis for marginalization and exclusion. Ensuring that these causal and contributing factors are acknowledged, recognized and addressed within each sector of the economy is vital to establishing equity.

While all forms of racism are as disruptive as others, systemic and institutional racism more widely reinforce systematic oppression and inequality through discriminatory laws, policies and practices at the macro-level. The resulting impact of these racial and economic policies has resulted in the intergenerational lack of access to goods, services and opportunities, which prevent people from meeting their most basic needs. Effective strategies require an intersectional shift where institutions not only support individuals at the micro level but they also aim to address disparities at the mezzo and macro levels. Adopting an intersectional and intersectoral lens will allow researchers and practitioners to explore ways to address the misallocation and distribution of resources within a context of compounding and historical trauma.

A roundtable discussion is proposed to examine and discuss the intersection of the structural violence and its harmful impact on racial and economic equality through social determinants. Social determinants to be covered will be: wealth gap, physical health disparities, education and mental health and substance use. The crosscutting, interdisciplinary panel will examine the role of structural, institutional and interpersonal racism as a mediating for disparities and will explore sector-based ideologies within each of the determinants to illuminate the consequences of structural violence on communities of color. Panelists will discuss a social determinant and will provide a sociopolitical and cultural context for how disparities in wealth, health and education influence the individuals' mobility and wellbeing over their life course.

Panelists will discuss relevant issues that shed light on racial and economic inequalities drawing from functionalist theory, critical race theory, liberation-based healing, intersectionality and conflict theory. The goal of the panel is to have an open discussion on the compounding institutional, structural and cultural factors that propagate racial and economic inequality. We hope an outgrowth of this roundtable for scholars and practitioners will be further research focused on examining inequalities through a cross-sectoral lens, and a greater understanding of consequences of racialized structural violence.

Questions to be addressed in this panel include: What role does structural violence and racism play in perpetuating inequities? How does economic inequality at the societal level affect health and wellbeing? How do cultural norms and values at the institutional level affect economic inequality? What is the role of social work in addressing system-level inequalities? What are some intersectional and intersectoral interventions and strategies that could be implemented at the macro- mezzo- and micro- levels to address racial and economic inequities?