Reports

Immediately hailed by local media as a “landmark report,” For the Sake of All: A Report on the Health and Well-Being of African Americans in St. Louis—And Why It Matters for Everyone, is the product of a collaboration between scholars at Washington University and Saint Louis University. The report revealed startling disparities in the St. Louis region, highlighting social, economic and environmental factors that drive differences in health and life outcomes for African Americans. The initiative has since evolved into a mission to eliminate racial inequities and improve the health of all people in the region.

After the death of Michael Brown, Jr. on Aug. 9, 2014, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon established an independent commission to conduct a “thorough, wide-ranging and unflinching study of the social and economic conditions that impede progress, equality and safety in the St. Louis region.” The commission was charged with examining the underlying causes of these conditions, engaging citizens, and issuing a report with specific, practical policy recommendations. This citizen-driven report is a living document that outlines a path forward, toward change for the St. Louis region.

Published in 2016 by the Institute for Policy Studies and the Corporation for Enterprise Development, this report examines the growing racial wealth divide for Black and Latinos households and the ways that accelerating concentrations of wealth at the top compound and exacerbate this divide. It also considers the impact public policy has had in contributing to the racial wealth divide and how new policies can close the gap.

This 2015 report from McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research shines a light on the acute relationship between race and poverty and the cumulative negative impact racism has on the lives of people of color. It builds upon the institute’s earlier work addressing structures of power and privilege that hinder social equity, and accumulated disadvantage at the community level that contributes to racial disparities in areas including health, educational achievement, exposure to violence, and economic prosperity.