August 19, 2015

UW political scientist Megan Francis looks at philanthropy and racial inequality

Protecting African-Americans from state-sanctioned violence remains “an unmet challenge for civil rights groups committed to racial equality,” writes Megan Ming Francis, UW assistant professor of political science, in a much-read post at HistPhil, a blog launched in June to cover the history of philanthropy.

Why is preventing racial violence not a higher priority? In part because of money, Francis writes. Journalists and scholars cite discriminatory policies and racist policing among contributing factors, Francis notes in her Aug. 17 post, “Do Foundations Co-opt Civil Rights Organizations?”

She writes, “However, missing in these analyses is an examination of the role of wealthy funders in co-opting the agenda of civil rights organizations that were already focused on the subject of racial violence in the early 20^th century.”

Francis, author of the award-winning 2014 book “Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State,” states that in 1916 the NAACP mounted a massive campaign against lynching and racist mob violence. But the association’s focus later was steered toward education largely by its grant support from the American Fund for Public Service, also known as the Garland Fund.

“The Garland Fund had so much sway over the NAACP’s agenda because the Garland Fund had so much to offer the cash-strapped NAACP,” Francis writes in her post.

Francis concludes by saying that foundations these days have begun to respond to racial inequality with new grant-making programs and funding opportunities that may play a large role in addressing racial divisions in the future.

“But what kind of relationship foundations will have with nonprofit organizations working on issues of racial justice remains to be seen,” she writes. “One can hope that organizational leaders and not foundation program officers will author the agenda of the new civil rights movement.”

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For more information, contact Francis at 206-685-2338 or meganmf@uw.edu.