Racial equity will not be achieved without investing in data disaggregation

Social and racial injustice and inequity plagued America long before the deep roots of systemic racism were underscored during the COVID-19 pandemic and the deployment of a vaccine to prevent it. Systemic racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Rather, it has been a component of the social, economic, and political systems in which we all exist, and it is a part of the data that inform decisions, policies, and funding within those systems. Choices about the collection and categorization of data affirm identities of some groups more than others, and this perpetuates unfair advantages and oppression. Yet, there continues to be pervasive lack of investment in producing adequately disaggregated data. This isn’t just missed opportunity. It is systemic racism. (author abstract)