Introduction:

In a world entrenched in a constant debate regarding race, income and equality, it is more important than ever to understand the relationship between these three sectors of society. In this analysis, an examination is done on the HCS EdConnect internet broadband initiative in the local community of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The dataset provided statistics from the outcomes of household surveys, which included household demographics such as the race of the children in families, the household’s status for free/reduced lunch, and, subsequently, the household’s enrollment in the HCS EdConnect program. The household’s enrollment in the EdConnect initative is directly correlated to their status in the free/reduced lunch program because eligibility for the internet broadband service was dependent on a family’s economic status. The data presented in these charts show the relationships between race, or in the naming convention of the dataset/survey, “BIPOC Status,” and their enrollment in a free lunch program as well as in the HCS EdConnect program itself.

Methodology:

There is a brushable scatter-plot on the right where each point represents every family that had a response to questions regarding their demographics in the survey. Since the IDs that were already incorporated into the dataset ranged too significantly in numbers, the X and Y axes were created from generating numbers and assigning them to each row in the dataset. That way, it was plausible to map out every single datapoint on a scatter-plot. In order to maintain integrity of the data, these numbers were generated at random and every point was mapped to look identical, so users are not influenced by color or size when they brush to select families.

The first stacked bar chart shows the relationship between a household’s enrollment status in the EdConnect program and their race demographic. The dataset categorized families into two sectors: “All White” and “At Least One BIPOC child.” The breakdown of the brushed over families into these two categories can be seen in the pie chart below the stacked bar chart. Noticeably, regardless of the number of families brushed over, there is a consistent pattern of a higher percentage of BIPOC families that are enrolled in the EdConnect Program than families categorized as All White.

The second stacked bar chart represents the percentage of free/reduced lunch status compared to all paid lunch status between All White categorized families and families with at least one BIPOC child. It is a little less evident, but nonetheless still true, that there is a higher percentage of free/reduced lunch BIPOC families among all BIPOC families than there are for white families with the same status among all white families.

Takeaways

Although this data is nowhere near enough to make concrete conclusions, it does display a pattern that seems to be recurring throughout all of the United States. We’re seeing a higher percentage of BIPOC low-income families than white families throughout the entire country and must work to deconstruct the social dynamic that perpetuates this cycle. It is more important than ever to actively participate in politics and demonstrate to lawmakers the change that is necessary. For more information, visit The Brookings Institution or CBPP.