Race-neutral vs race-conscious

Using algorithmic methods to evaluate the reparative potential of housing programs

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5261012
AutoresWonyoung So (0000-0002-4867-3429, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, autor de correspondencia), Catherine D''Ignazio (0000-0002-8673-1941)
Año2023
Volumen10
Número2
Fecha de publicación2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBig Data & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2053-9517 • E-ISSN: 2053-9517
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/20539517231210272
OpenAlexW4388703147
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas46

The racial wealth gap in the United States remains a persistent issue; white individuals possess six times more wealth than Black individuals. Leading scholars and public figures have pointed to slavery and post-slavery discrimination as root cause factors and called for reparations. Yet the institutionalization of race-neutral ideologies in policies and practices hinders a reparative approach to closing the racial wealth gap. This study models the use of algorithmic methods in the service of reparations to Black Americans in the domain of housing, where most American wealth is built. We examine a hypothetical scenario for measuring the effectiveness of race-conscious Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs) in reducing the housing racial wealth gap compared to race-neutral SPCPs. We use a predictive model to show that race-conscious, people-based lending programs, if they were nationally available, would be two to three times more effective in closing the racial housing wealth gap than other, existing forms of SPCPs. In doing so, we also demonstrate the potential for using algorithms and computational methods to support outcomes aligned with movements for reparations, another possible meaning for the emerging discourse on "algorithmic reparations

Ideology · Institutionalisation · Political science · Politics · Racism · Sociology · Gender Studies · Housing Market and Economics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies