Taking Down Walls (Not Building Them)

Disagreement over President Trump’s proposal of a 30-foot high wall along the US-Mexico border has sparked fierce debate and led to a historic government shutdown. With so many of us thinking about the symbolism and impacts of this proposed wall, we can also start to grapple with the walls found within America. This includes consideration of the broader definition of a wall as “something that acts as a barrier.” As such, walls exist in many forms including gated communities, freeways and train tracks that separate groups of people from each other.

The walls that most pervade our country go beyond the physical. Economic, political and social divisions exist across America and are reflected in where we live, work and situate our daily life. The large, growing income gap in America is evident in the starkly different everyday conditions that different income groups experience where they live. Historically, these divisions were based on race and often through forced segregation. Today, the racial, ethnic and economic segregation of Americans by neighborhood persists. And these walls have consequences, especially for those in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods. Among other research, studies conducted at Stanford University’s Equality of Opportunity Project showed that this segregation reduces economic mobility — i.e. “the probability that children of low income families will, as adults, earn higher incomes than their parents.” New research has been able to drill this down to the neighborhood level, showing that where children live matters a great deal…