The following organizations have a major “thing” in common. Guess what it is-- Social Security Administration Wal-Mart, A MC Movie Theaters, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Walgreens, Toyota, Waffle House, Boy Scouts of America, Morgan Stanley, Best Buy, Lockheed Martin, American Airlines, Viacom, Abercrombie and Fitch, as well as HUD, the US Department of Agriculture, Federal Aviation Administration, US Air Force, US Army, US Justice Department.

OK, so you want a clue. Here it is: they share this with Governor Ehrlich and President Bush. Got it?

All of these organizations, and many more, have been charged in the last two years with discriminating against people because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. Discrimination takes many forms but two elements are common. One, it is a commonplace throughout the country. Two, it refers to actions which deny equal treatment to a group or category of people.

So how did the President make the list? He refuses to meet and talk with the NAACP–and even worse to my way of thinking–he has refused to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus. In this differential treatment, Bush denies equal access to African Americans. Sure it’s not the same as being denied service at Denny’s. It’s worse. Discrimination takes many forms. Take the case of the Governor. In June he held a fund-raiser at the Elkridge Club. Entry fee to that event was $1,000-a-plate and the Governor raised $100,000 there. It turns out that the Elkridge Club has not had a single Black member in its 127-year history. As a private club it has a right to choose its membership. But in choosing Elkridge, the Governor has extended his approval, however subtly. Clearly he knew where the money was. As to the membership policy of the club, he said it was none of our business. The Black Lieutenant Governor, Michael Steele, wasn’t concerned either. Why? “Because I don’t play golf,” he said.

That’s another thing about discrimination, not everybody can recognize it. Just the same, discrimination based on skin color occurs in every aspect of daily living. For example, several recent studies have shown that blacks were less likely to get necessary medical procedures than whites even when they have similar access to health care and are of the same class background. One study demonstrated that blacks were less likely to get nine types of vital treatment than whites even when their health care needs were the same.

Another area of covert discrimination in health care is infant mortality. The difference in the rate between black and white infants who died before their first birthday is tragic. For every six white babies dying before the end of their first year, 14 black babies die. Perhaps it’s the neighborhood. Take this comparison which appeared in a recent issue of the American Sociological Association’s magazine, Contexts. In Bethesda, MD which is a wealthy and mainly white suburb of Washington, D.C. there is one pediatrician for every 400 residents. This compares to one for every 3,700 people in southeast Washington, which is mainly black and poor.

Housing is an area in which there is nothing covert. Real estate agents, banks, and insurance companies are central actors in maintaining neighborhood segregation. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has estimated that more than two million incidents of discrimination in housing take place every year. Possibly the least known outcome of housing discrimination is the net worth of the houses people live in. In 2000, the median worth of white housing was $79,400. Black housing was worth $7,500.

Of course, the value of housing is also a consequence of poverty and employment. I always hesitate to talk of black rates of unemployment and poverty because these official rates are invariably gross underestimates of the actual rates. Nevertheless, the federal government estimate describes more than twice as many blacks as whites below the so-called poverty line and more than twice as many as unemployed. In fact, there has basically been no difference in the gap between black and white unemployment since the very beginning of unemployment statistics.

Governor Ehrlich’s fund-raising gaffe was well-covered by the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post, well covered, that is, by the standards of current journalistic practice. Ehrlich’s use of the Elkridge Club was dealt with as an event worth reporting. And it was. But the underlying issue--discrimination–was not seriously covered. That is what the establishment media do, of course; they cover events not issues.

Discrimination is important because it is destructive of democracy. It undermines the autonomy of its victims, and it motivates people to act out their prejudices. Ultimately, discrimination leads to violence. Look around the world and you can see that most all of the ongoing national conflicts are based on race, ethnic, and religious prejudice.

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