Racial Disparities, Suppression of Speech, Denial of Science – but nonetheless Hope on Independence Day

Some quotes from the Times for our times, which I noticed as I paged through The New York Times on the recent Fourth of July and the day after

From an essay by Matthew Thompson, questioning the impacts which urban economic development has had upon Black communities:

“Are we doing better than our ancestors? Are we building on their best ideas and learning from their worst mistakes? What sort of future are we preparing the next generation for?”

With that entreaty Thompson concluded a discussion that emphasized taking a comprehensive look at how changes made in the name of “progress” can often produce positive results from some, but negative results for others. He suggests learning from experience – good and bad – as we address economics, education, health care, criminal justice, and housing in order to create an optimal and equitable quality of life for all people.

From an essay by Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, urging us to overcome the divisions in our nation:

“I believe fiercely in the promise of America. My love for this nation is unyielding and unwavering…In this new era of deconstruction, we must summon renewed fortitude, resilience and vigilance, with reverence for those who came before us and resolve for those who follow. This will require patriotic defiance, with respect for the rule of law but with fidelity to the ideals that precede it.”

Walker encourages us to change cultural values and institutional systems that don’t work optimally for all. The fundamental principles which underlie this nation’s democratic vision persist in their relevance, despite flaws and shortcomings in their application since the nation’s founding. We can fix that.

From an article by Vimal Patel, on free speech in the cyber age, in reaction to the actions of Daniel Schmidt, an activist protesting “anti-White hatred”:

“the Chicago statement (a declaration of free speech principles) has become a guide for colleges across the country that have struggled to manage campus controversies, particularly when liberal students shout down conservative speakers….The Chicago statement assumes that what takes place on campuses is ‘in good faith and that people have an interest in engaging the ideas’…but ‘the ecosystem that Daniel Schmidt is part of has no interest in a conversation’”.

Much has changed since the 1970s, when I began my research career. Certainly, extremists of all persuasions have always existed. Some of them have claimed their own sets of “facts” and have denied objective, credible evidence. However, the majority of members of audiences for research used to include diverse constituencies who would accept a study’s findings and then proceed with their interpretation.

As an analogy, if we determined that a 16 ounce glass contained 8 ounces of liquid, groups who differed in their outlooks and priorities would accept the data and move forward. Some might proclaim that the glass was half full; others might proclaim that the glass was half empty. But no significant denial arose regarding the fact that the glass held six ounces.

Today, unfortunately, some people would attempt to conceal the number of ounces. Others would look straight at the number 8 and say that it is not really 8. Those people render conversation and mutual agreement very difficult, at least in the short term.

From an essay by Anthony Fauci, regarding the complex relationship which evolved during 32 years between him and an activist who at the outset loudly and publicly proclaimed Fauci a “murderer”:

“…we reminisced like two aging warriors who recalled the battles that we fought together, how despite our initial adversarial relationship, we ultimately became partners in an important struggle and how differences of opinion and even a history of antagonism are entirely compatible with friendship and even love….I am so pleased and grateful that the last words we had the opportunity to say to each other were, ‘I love you.’”

So, on this Independence Day, I hope that as many people as possible can declare independence from rigid ways of thinking, that they can expand their perspectives, and as Thompson and Walker exhort, build a future based on respect and understanding of the past, along with energetic dedication to improve the future.

Walker also stated: “However we give voice to our patriotism, let’s step away from the extremes and from the edge, away from the sanctimony and certitude. Let’s build longer bridges, not higher walls.”

I hope that the portions of those on the left and on the right who now obdurately cling to narrow visions can refrain from demonizing their adversaries. Then, with expansion of their scope of sight, perhaps as Fauci suggests, all of us can act as partners in our very important human struggle to make this country, in fact this entire world, a just and healthy place to live.

Immigrant, Sociologist, Visionary: Aronovici

 

Science attempts to inform politics, with mixed results.

Public health expert offers recommendations and is ridiculed by a racist public official.

Research identifying inequities suffers backlash.

Do these sound like familiar recent events? They actually occurred in Saint Paul a little more than 100 years ago. Carol Aronovici, who served as the first director of Wilder Research, found himself immersed in controversies that arose because he did good social scientific work that did not align with the thinking of some people in power at the time.

In 1917, the Wilder Foundation board of directors hired Carol Aronovici, Ph.D., as the first research leader of the organization. Romanian-born Dr. Aronovici had earned his Ph.D. in Sociology at Brown University, under the supervision of Professor Lester Frank Ward, the first president of the American Sociological Association. Professor Ward stressed that science should work for the benefit of humanity – an axiom continuously underlying the quest of Wilder Research to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities.

Immediately upon taking his position, Aronovici initiated a survey of housing and health conditions, which Wilder Research considers its first study. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press reported that Aronovici told the funders of the study and other community leaders that he wanted their assurance that the findings of the research would lead to action. “It is my conviction that a housing survey which is merely intended to give the community a bad reputation and does not result in immediate, practical, and far-reaching action, is detrimental rather than beneficial to the community.”1

Based on Aronovici’s survey, which included visiting the homes of more than 22,000 people, Wilder Research issued its first research publication: “Housing Conditions in the City of Saint Paul”.2  With statistical tables, graphs, maps, and pictures, the report provided a framework for significant recommendations intended to improve the lives of Saint Paul’s residents, including: development of housing ordinances; formation of a Housing Bureau; and initiation of comprehensive inspections of hotels and lodging houses to ensure that the conditions in which people lived met basic standards of sanitation. 

The report by Aronovici exhibited wisdom more characteristic of the twenty-first century than of the twentieth. He understood the importance of managing the social and physical environments of an urban area in order to create equitable, healthy living spaces for all people, especially people of low income. He had observed city life across the United States and in other countries and had witnessed how housing design could enhance human life. 

Some of his observations seem very prescient, given what we now know about the importance of green space, the mixed impacts of the advent of automobile travel, and the advantages and disadvantages of urban growth. He urged, for example, “comprehensive community planning of constructive character” that would produce “the maximum amount of light and air” and “the economical use of land without hindrance to requirements of safety, sanitation, convenience, or permanency of investment”.

Observing inequities that produced challenges for poor people and immigrants, as well as power dynamics that favored unscrupulous landlords over tenants, Aronovici proposed bold conclusions and recommendations. He acknowledged the importance of promoting health for all of Saint Paul’s residents, but noted the special importance of attending to the needs of lower income people:

“The entire city needs a constructive plan, but the elimination of the slums and the redistricting of the city to meet the housing and industrial needs of the wage earners and poorer elements of the population, should take precedence over the construction of costly public buildings, the development of improving thoroughfares, the building of boulevards designed for the automobile tourist, the opening up of park areas in districts undeveloped and inaccessible sections of the City. These things, while desirable, should not take precedence over the immediate needs for the improvement of the living conditions of the people.” 

Based on the study, Aronovici felt that the city had failed to do as much as it could and should have done for its residents. He specifically faulted Saint Paul’s public officials for failure to enforce existing building codes, enact new health and housing codes, provide adequate water and sewer lines, and maintain an effective system of garbage collection. He identified tropes which stigmatized poor people and immigrants, and which public officials referenced in order to justify inaction by government with respect to addressing public health issues. 

For the legislative branch, the report suggested that stereotypes of the “foreigner” served as excuses which legislators used to delay passing laws that would protect the health of immigrant and poor populations. Regarding the executive branch, the report strongly criticized the Health Department for inadequate attention to public health issues, citing a lack of personnel and lack of efficiency, but also citing the unwillingness of the Health Department to bring issues forward for attention, due to dominant prejudices against the poor. The report advised that anyone in the Health Department or in any other department of the City government responsible for the neglect of public health should receive “public condemnation” and be removed from office. 

The judicial branch received disapprobation through statements in the report that reflected Aronovici’s values of equity and fairness, such as: “…the courts are frequently unwilling or unable to realize the importance of using their judicial power in the protection of the health of the people with the same sense of justice that guides them in the protection of mere property…Property can be reproduced, health cannot…” 

Many people praised the report, and it did lead to changes in health and housing policies. Within four months of the report’s publication, the Saint Paul City Council enacted a housing ordinance which Aronovici had authored. 

Not surprisingly, however, the report received a negative reaction from Saint Paul’s health officer, Dr. B.F. Simon: “I wish to go on record from the first that I have not given a great deal of time or attention to said Dr. Aronovici since taking public office because I absolutely refuse to give much of the public’s time to recommendations made by any man who is not a full-fledged American citizen.” 

Aronovici died in 1957. His obituary in The New York Times indicated that, at the University of Pennsylvania, he had taught “the first course in city planning offered in this country”. After leaving Saint Paul, he became the State Commissioner of Housing and Immigration for California. The obituary also noted: “At the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40 he was one of a group of naturalized citizens honored for contributions to ‘the welfare and progress of the United States’.”3  A profile of Aronovici in the StarTribune in 2017 characterized him as “years ahead of his time”.4 

[1] Saint Paul Pioneer Press, March 5, 1917.

[2] Aronovici, Carol, “Housing Conditions in the City of Saint Paul,” Amherst H. Wilder Charity, 1917.

[3] The New York Times, August 1, 1957.

[4] Brown, Curt, “Lifting the Lid on St. Paul’s Poverty,” StarTribune, November 19, 2017