Guaranteed income program paired with truth and reconciliation key to reconciliation with race and gender impacts

[Jhumpa, “Exploring Guaranteed Income Through A Racial And Gender Justice Lens,” Roosevelt Institute, June 2019 https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI_UBI-Racial-Gender-Justice-brief-201906.pdf, accessed June 26, 2023, GDS-LL]

Reckoning with Race and Gender in America to Promote Healing and Transformation

While a tiered guaranteed income program gets us on a pathway to gender and race wealth equity by ensuring more money gets in the pockets of women and people of color, this policy must be paired with a truth and reconciliation process that takes us through a complex discussion and reckoning on the impact of race and gender in this country. Lessons can be learned from the process done in South Africa and Rwanda post Tutsi genocide. This will help build the political and public will needed to implement a tiered disbursement system.

At the core of a truth and reconciliation process is the recognition that injustice took place and a retelling of history that uplifts the voices and experiences of those who survived those injustices. This involves acknowledging how things came to be, naming responsible parties, and admitting the consequences—intentional or not.

Lastly, healing needs to occur for communities that have been shortchanged, stolen from, and discriminated against. As part of our reconciliation process, we must recognize the long-term trauma that exists in communities from having to live in constant flux and scarcity for generations. Once we acknowledge this trauma, impacted people need tools to think differently and adjust to a society where everyone is truly seen and given the opportunity to thrive. We cannot expect people to just know how to live in this new world as America has never been a fully inclusive place. We need to uplift and tap into community- based interventions that provide holistic support systems, including mental and physical health programs, cross-cultural unity building, anti-bias curriculum, and restorative justice programs.