A Data-Driven Approach to Ending Racial Inequity Through Health Policy Evaluation and Innovation

Ibram Kendi proposes to create two tools: a Racial Data Tracker and a Racial Policy Tracker. Kendi’s team will collect data on policies, evaluate the effects of these policies, and ensure that this information is disseminated to state and federal policymakers with the power to promulgate antiracist policy. The new Racial Data Tracker will expand the team’s existing COVID-19 Racial Data Tracker to include broader data on health inequities. The new database will track, visualize, and analyze racial inequities in real time — updating weekly and, at times, daily. By presenting multidisciplinary, multisector data on every policy and structural process contributing to systemic racism, it will also aid in training a new cadre of racial data scientists. The Racial Policy Tracker will support antiracist policymaking by documenting current health policies, especially key state and federal policies, and evaluating them. Kendi and team will create a centralized, longitudinal policy database for all U.S. states and territories as well as a sample of 100 communities with populations over 75,000. Through direct appeals to public health officials and examination of legislative records, meeting minutes, and spending data, they will gather information on health policy implementation to be able to: 1) measure the racially disparate impact of policy choices across key health metrics; 2) proactively support effective antiracist policymaking; and 3) assess challenges that interested policymakers face in implementing antiracist policies.