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Making Blood Donation More Inclusive

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Ayako Miyashita Ochoa of the UCLA Luskin Social Welfare faculty spoke to ABC News about the lifting of restrictions that had prevented gay and bisexual men from donating blood. The strictest U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules, dating to the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, were based not on an individual’s risk but on belonging to a specific group. These policies were “incredibly blunt” and furthered stigma and discrimination, Miyashita Ochoa said. Now, a single risk-assessment tool that includes questions about sexual health is used for all would-be donors. While some may feel uncomfortable answering questions about sexual activity, “these questionnaires are intended to keep our blood supply safe,” Miyashita Ochoa said, adding that the rule changes promise to reduce stigma and encourage more people to donate. “I think that we are moving to a place where our policies are reflecting better the science and certainly our expectations as a society to not discriminate,” she said.

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Stoll on Housing Vouchers, Race and Discrimination

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Michael Stoll, professor of public policy and urban planning, spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on his research posing the question, “Do Black voucher recipients’ moves to the suburbs increase crime rates?” The answer to this question, according to his study, is no. Using federal data for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, Stoll analyzed the impact that Housing Choice Voucher recipients had on majority-white suburbs. The research determined that non-white voucher holders moving into white suburbs did not cause crime rates to increase. However, the mere perception that lower-income residents will have a negative impact on an affluent neighborhood can have real consequences. “It can influence neighbors’ resistance to landlords’ willingness to rent,” Stoll said. He called for more enforcement of housing fairness laws to ensure that voucher holders are not forced into lower-income and racially segregated neighborhoods due to discrimination from landlords.

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Ong on Lack of Socioeconomic Mobility in South L.A.

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Director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge Paul Ong was featured in a Los Angeles Times article about long-standing barriers to socioeconomic mobility in South Los Angeles. For decades, residents of South Los Angeles have faced lack of employment opportunities, housing and labor discrimination, and subpar education access. “If you look overall and compare it over a half-century, it’s rather depressing that we have not made the progress that people have hoped for,” Ong said, noting a particular lack of significant improvements in public education. Now, an influx of new commercial and residential development is threatening to displace current residents of the area. Ong’s research found that the racial disparities in income among South L.A. households are even more stark than in the rest of L.A. County. White households in South L.A. had a median income of $84,000, compared with $48,000 for Latino households and $36,000 for Black households.

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Keum Wins Award for Multicultural Psychology Research

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Assistant Professor of Social Welfare Brian Keum has received the 2022 National Multicultural Conference and Summit Rising Star Award for his significant contributions to the field of multicultural psychology. Awarded biennially, the prestigious Rising Star Award honors the achievements of early-career psychologists in multicultural research, teaching, advocacy, policy and clinical care. As a social-justice-oriented scientist-practitioner, Keum draws from his clinical experience to conduct research that improves mental health practice and informs advocacy for diverse communities. He serves as director of the Health, Identities, Inequality and Technology Lab at UCLA Luskin, which studies health and mental health disparities among marginalized individuals and communities using intersectional, contemporary and digitally relevant approaches. His research aims to address discrimination and oppression as social determinants of these disparities. Keum has also explored the intersection of online racism and sexism on the mental health and behavioral outcomes of youth and adults of color, as well as how body image and gendered racism affect the mental health of Asian American males. Additionally, he provides therapy to a diverse community and college-based clientele. Keum will be recognized at this week’s National Multicultural Conference and Summit. The organization was founded in 1999 to address a pressing concern in the United States — the growing mental health needs of historically marginalized groups and disenfranchised individuals. — Zoe Day

Report Highlights ‘Atmosphere of Fear’ for Asian American Employees

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A KQED article featured new research from the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge on the rising incidence of anti-Asian hate crimes. The center collaborated with the California-based coalition Stop AAPI Hate to produce a report based on the findings of a national survey of Asian American and Pacific Islander employees. Those surveyed reported alarmingly high rates of hate incidents at their jobs, in addition to an overwhelming fear of being targeted at work. More than a quarter of the respondents said they experienced a hate incident at work in 2021, and more than 20% said they are reluctant to return to in-person work because they’re afraid they will be racially targeted. “It creates an atmosphere of fear when you go to work and you’re uncertain about what’s going to happen that day because you happen to be Asian American,” said Paul Ong, director of the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge and a co-author of the report.

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Ong on COVID-19’s Impact on Asian Businesses

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UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge Director Paul Ong spoke to KPCC and LAist about findings from a survey of members of the Asian Business Association of Los Angeles. More than 400 association members described how their businesses were faring, confirming Ong’s fears that Asian-owned businesses have disproportionately suffered during the pandemic, a trend that has been exacerbated by a surge in anti-Asian incidents. More than half of the survey respondents said they had to close at some point during the pandemic, and nearly a third said their operating capacity had dropped by more than 50%. “I actually believe this is a conservative estimate,” said Ong, pointing out that the negative impact might be even worse than the English-only survey was able to capture. “So many of the hardest-hit businesses are run by immigrants who don’t speak English as their first language,” he said. Ong recommended that policymakers prioritize targeted outreach offered in many languages to support Asian-owned businesses.

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Terriquez on Understanding White Privilege

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Associate Professor of Urban Planning Veronica Terriquez co-authored an article in the Conversation explaining what white privilege is and why understanding the concept is important. White privilege is both the obvious and hidden advantages afforded to white people by systemic forms of racial injustice, the authors wrote. The police killing of George Floyd in 2021 ignited a wave of protests across the globe and intense discussions of anti-Black racism, including the concept of white privilege. The authors noted that “unpacking how whiteness operates to bestow privilege may allow us to understand how ‘others’ are systematically denied those same rights.” Critics have argued that “white privilege” is a term that “reinforces stereotypes, reifies conceptualisations of race, antagonises potential allies and creates even greater resistance to change.” However, Terriquez and her co-authors described the term as an important tool for advocacy to critique systemic racism and global anti-Blackness.

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Loya on Racial Disparities in Mortgage Approval Rates

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Assistant Professor of Urban Planning José Loya spoke to Markup about new data regarding ethnic and racial disparities in mortgage approval rates. For years, the mortgage industry has said financial factors, such as credit score and debt as a percentage of income, explain any racial disparities in loan approval rates. However, Markup investigated more than 2 million mortgage applications and found that lenders in 2019 were more likely to deny home loans to people of color than to white people with similar financial characteristics, even after controlling for 17 financial factors. “Lenders used to tell us, ‘It’s because you don’t have the lending profiles; the ethno-racial differences would go away if you had them,’” Loya said. Now that these financial factors have been made public through the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Loya concluded, “Your work shows that’s not true.” The report found that, nationwide, lenders were 80% more likely to reject Black applicants than white applicants with similar qualifications.

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Hill Finds Lack of Diversity in L.A. Tech Industry

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Assistant Professor of Public Policy Jasmine Hill spoke to Dot LA about the findings of PledgeLA’s survey of Los Angeles technology companies and venture firms. While the tech industry in Los Angeles has made efforts to increase the diversity of its workforce, the survey highlighted the disparities that still exist in pay and representation. “Tech oftentimes likes to think of itself as a very equal, egalitarian space,” said Hill, who helped analyze the data for PledgeLA. “But the data shows something different.” The report found that Black and Latino workers make less money than their peers, and women earned an average of $20,000 less than men regardless of role or experience. PledgeLA was able to break down earnings data by race as a result of an increased participation rate from PledgeLA companies in the survey, but Hill noted that the report is not representative of the entire L.A. tech scene because it only includes data from the participating PledgeLA companies.

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Miyashita Ochoa on History of Discriminatory Blood Donation Ban

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Adjunct Assistant Professor of Social Welfare Ayako Miyashita Ochoa wrote an article in the Regulatory Review about the inconsistencies between current blood donation deferral policies and modern scientific knowledge. At the height of the HIV epidemic, the FDA implemented a blood donation deferral for all men who have had sex with men in the last year. Miyashita Ochoa explained that, “at the time, exercising extreme caution was the wisest course of action” since scientists didn’t know how the virus was transmitted. However, the policy continued for decades, even as scientists learned more about HIV transmission and improved blood screening techniques. In April 2020, the FDA decreased the deferral period from 12 months to three months. While this was a step in the right direction, “it does not reflect the latest science,” Miyashita Ochoa said. She called on the United States to address HIV and gay-related stigma. “The FDA’s policies must harness truths based on science rather than fear.”

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