logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Kellogg Foundation Leader Says Race Remains an Issue

Saras Chung
February 9, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

 

 

February 8, 2012; Chicago Sun-Times | According to one of the nation’s most powerful women in the nonprofit sector, race is still an issue.

 

Dr. Gail Christopher, a decision maker on grants and national vice president at W.K Kellogg Foundation—one of the world’s 10 most influential foundations, with over $7 billion in assets—sits as one of the few African Americans in a powerful role in America’s largest foundations.

 

Christopher says, “It is not the blatant racism that hurts our children—though it’s there. Rather, it’s the stereotypes… Our economic divides are expanding every day, and the subtext of the political debates are all racial.”

 

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

In a keynote address at the annual fundraiser of the North Lawndale Employment Network in Chicago, Christopher declared that, “This country has embodied a fallacy, a belief in racial hierarchy for longer than it has been a country. The majority of children being born today are children of color, most of those children growing up in impoverished conditions. If we’re going to actualize the promise of democracy, we have to stand up for our children.”

 

Christopher’s statement is bolstered by 2010 U.S. Census data confirming what earlier surveys have hinted at: 49.8 percent of infants under age one are members of a racial-ethnic minority—an increasing trend from 42.4 percent in 2000. These ethnic minorities include individuals of African American, Latino and Asian descent as well as a widening number of people who report to be two or more races.

 

William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, believes that this demographic shift is significant and points to the requisite for progressive political and civic leaders to link racial and generational divides. Frey writes that these divisions embolden discussions of issues such as immigration and enduring budget mêlées over revenue and government spending agendas.

 

Christopher’s point is intensified by the relationship between poverty and race in the U.S. With 16.7 percent of African Americans unemployed in 2011 compared to eight percent for whites, the undertones of racial discrimination loom. –Saras Chung

 

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Saras Chung

Saras Chung is a PhD Candidate in Social Work at WashU. She promotes strategies in education for healthy and engaged youth.

More about: Economic DevelopmentInequalityNonprofit NewsPolicy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
Equity 2.0? What is Targeted Universalism and How Does It Address Inequality?
john a. powell
Corporate Subsidies—The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Kasia Tarczynska
California’s Plan for Lineage-Based Reparations for Slavery: Will It Be Enough?
Kitana Ananda
Response to “The Leechers”
Cyndi Suarez
Wealth Building for Business Owners of Color: A Whole-Person Approach
Cynthia Terry and Ines Polonius
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of Mutual Aid
Steve Dubb

NPQ_Summer_2022

Upcoming Webinars

July 14th, 2 pm ET

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
July 28th, 2 pm ET

Changing the Subject

Boards As Social Movement Spaces

Register Now
You might also like
Equity 2.0? What is Targeted Universalism and How Does It...
john a. powell
Corporate Subsidies—The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Kasia Tarczynska
California’s Plan for Lineage-Based Reparations for...
Kitana Ananda

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.