TED2018
Stephen DeBerry: Why the "wrong side of the tracks" is usually the east side of cities
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What do communities on the social, economic and environmental margins have in common? For one thing, they tend to be on the east sides of cities. In this short talk about a surprising insight, anthropologist and venture capitalist Stephen DeBerry explains how both environmental and man-made factors have led to disparity by design in cities from East Palo Alto, California to East Jerusalem and beyond -- and suggests some elegant solutions to fix it.
Stephen DeBerry - Anthropologist, venture capitalist
Stephen DeBerry uses the economy and culture to build a more just and joyful society. Full bio
Stephen DeBerry uses the economy and culture to build a more just and joyful society. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I came to talk about first principles
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and communities that I love --
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especially East Palo Alto, California,
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which is full of amazing people.
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It's also a community
that's oddly separated
that's oddly separated
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by the 101 freeway
that runs through Silicon Valley.
that runs through Silicon Valley.
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On the west side of the freeway
in Palo Alto are the "haves,"
in Palo Alto are the "haves,"
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on just about any dimension
you can think of:
you can think of:
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education, income, access to water.
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On the east side of the freeway
are the "have-nots."
are the "have-nots."
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And even if you don't know East Palo Alto,
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you might know the story
of eastside disparity,
of eastside disparity,
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whether it's the separation
of the railroad tracks in East Pittsburgh
of the railroad tracks in East Pittsburgh
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or the Grosse Pointe Gate in East Detroit
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or East St. Louis,
East Oakland, East Philly.
East Oakland, East Philly.
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Why is it that communities on the social,
economic and environmental margin
economic and environmental margin
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tend to be on the east sides of places?
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Turns out,
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it's the wind.
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If you look at the Earth
from the North Pole,
from the North Pole,
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you'd see that it rotates
counterclockwise.
counterclockwise.
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The impact of this
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is that the winds in the northern
and the southern hemispheres
and the southern hemispheres
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blow in the same direction
as the rotation of the Earth --
as the rotation of the Earth --
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to the east.
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A way to think about this is:
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imagine you're sitting around a campfire.
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You've got to seat 10 people,
you've got to keep everyone warm.
you've got to keep everyone warm.
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The question is: Who sits with
the smoky wind blowing in their face?
the smoky wind blowing in their face?
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And the answer is:
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people with less power.
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This campfire dynamic
is what's playing out in cities,
is what's playing out in cities,
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not just in the US,
but all around the world:
but all around the world:
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East London; the east side
of Paris is this way;
of Paris is this way;
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East Jerusalem.
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Even down the street from
where we're sitting right now,
where we're sitting right now,
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the marginalized community
is East Vancouver.
is East Vancouver.
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I'm not the only one to notice this.
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I nerded on this hard, for years.
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And I finally found a group
of economic historians in the UK
of economic historians in the UK
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who modeled industrial-era
smokestack dispersion.
smokestack dispersion.
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And they came to the same
conclusion mathematically
conclusion mathematically
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that I'd come to as an anthropologist,
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which is: wind and pollution are driving
marginalized communities to the east.
marginalized communities to the east.
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The dominant logic of the industrial era
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is about disparity.
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It's about haves and have-nots,
and that's become part of our culture.
and that's become part of our culture.
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That's why you know exactly
what I'm talking about
what I'm talking about
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if I tell you someone's
from the "wrong side of the tracks."
from the "wrong side of the tracks."
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That phrase comes from the direction
that wind would blow dirty train smoke --
that wind would blow dirty train smoke --
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to the east, usually.
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I'm not saying every single community
in the east is on the margin,
in the east is on the margin,
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or every community
on the margin is in the east,
on the margin is in the east,
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but I'm trying to make a bigger point
about disparity by design.
about disparity by design.
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So if you find yourself
talking about any cardinal direction
talking about any cardinal direction
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of a freeway, a river, some train tracks,
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you're talking about
an eastside community.
an eastside community.
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Now, the wind is obviously
a natural phenomenon.
a natural phenomenon.
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But the human design decisions
that we make to separate ourselves
that we make to separate ourselves
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is not natural.
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Consider the fact that every
eastside community in the United States
eastside community in the United States
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was built during the era
of legal segregation.
of legal segregation.
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We clearly weren't even trying to design
for the benefit of everyone,
for the benefit of everyone,
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so we ended up dealing
with issues like redlining.
with issues like redlining.
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This is where the government
literally created maps
literally created maps
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to tell bankers where they shouldn't lend.
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These are some of those actual maps.
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And you'll notice how
the red tends to be clustered
the red tends to be clustered
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on the east sides of these cities.
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Those financial design decisions
became a self-fulfilling prophecy:
became a self-fulfilling prophecy:
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no loans turned
into low property tax base
into low property tax base
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and that bled into worse schools
and a less well-prepared workforce,
and a less well-prepared workforce,
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and -- lo and behold -- lower incomes.
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It means that you
can't qualify for a loan.
can't qualify for a loan.
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Just a vicious downward spiral.
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And that's just the case with lending.
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We've made similarly sinister design
decisions on any number of issues,
decisions on any number of issues,
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from water infrastructure
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to where we decide to place
grocery stores versus liquor stores,
grocery stores versus liquor stores,
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or even for whom and how
we design and fund technology products.
we design and fund technology products.
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Collectively, this list of harms
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is the artifact of our more
primitive selves.
primitive selves.
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I don't think this is how
we'd want to be remembered,
we'd want to be remembered,
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but this is basically
what we've been doing
what we've been doing
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to eastside communities
for the last century.
for the last century.
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The good news is,
it doesn't have to be this way.
it doesn't have to be this way.
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We got ourselves into
this eastside dilemma
this eastside dilemma
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through bad design,
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and so we can get out of it
with good design.
with good design.
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And I believe the first principle
of good design is actually really simple:
of good design is actually really simple:
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we have to start with the commitment
to design for the benefit of everyone.
to design for the benefit of everyone.
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So, remember the campfire metaphor.
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If we want to benefit everyone,
maybe we just sit in a horseshoe,
maybe we just sit in a horseshoe,
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so nobody gets the smoke in their face.
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I've got to make a note
to the gentrifiers,
to the gentrifiers,
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because the point
of this image is not to say
of this image is not to say
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you get to roll into eastside communities
and just move people out of the way,
and just move people out of the way,
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because you don't.
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05:01
(Applause)
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But the point is,
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if you start with this first principle
of benefiting everyone,
of benefiting everyone,
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then elegant solutions may become
more obvious than you assume.
more obvious than you assume.
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05:12
What are the elegant solutions
to close this gap
to close this gap
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between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto
in Silicon Valley?
in Silicon Valley?
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I've got to like the odds
of starting with EPA [East Palo Alto].
of starting with EPA [East Palo Alto].
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It's in the middle of Silicon Valley,
the epicenter of innovation
the epicenter of innovation
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and wealth creation.
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If we can solve this problem anywhere,
it ought to be here.
it ought to be here.
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And if we can solve the problems for EPA,
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we could apply those solutions
to other eastside communities.
to other eastside communities.
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If you think about it, it's actually
a massive investment opportunity
a massive investment opportunity
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and an opportunity to drive
policy change and philanthropy.
policy change and philanthropy.
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But at the core, it's this
fundamental design principle,
fundamental design principle,
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this choice of whether we're going
to decide to take care of everyone.
to decide to take care of everyone.
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And it's a choice we can make, loved ones.
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We've got the capital.
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We've got technology on our side,
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and it keeps getting better.
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We've got some of the best entrepreneurs
in the world in this building
in the world in this building
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and in these communities right now.
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But the fundamental question is:
What are we designing for?
What are we designing for?
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More haves and have-nots? More disparity?
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Or parity,
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the choice to come together.
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Because the reality is,
this is not the industrial era.
this is not the industrial era.
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We don't live in the era
of legal segregation.
of legal segregation.
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So the punchline is,
there is no wrong side of the tracks.
there is no wrong side of the tracks.
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And all I'm saying is,
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we should design our economy
and our communities with that in mind.
and our communities with that in mind.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Stephen DeBerry - Anthropologist, venture capitalistStephen DeBerry uses the economy and culture to build a more just and joyful society.
Why you should listen
Stephen DeBerry runs Bronze Investments, an investment firm built to benefit Eastside communities -- places on the social, economic and environmental margin by design. He is a 20+ year Silicon Valley veteran, having worked as an entrepreneur and investor for the founders of Microsoft, eBay and Lotus Software. He's on a mission to use tech and for-profit business for good.
DeBerry has also been active on boards such as The California Endowment, where he helped oversee its $4 billion endowment and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where he currently chairs the Investment Committee. He curates The Record House, an art project in East Palo Alto that connects the Silicon Valley community with visitors from across the country to connect while building one of the world’s most interesting record collections.
DeBerry earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology with highest honors from UCLA as well as Master's in social anthropology and MBA degrees from The University of Oxford. He is a Marshall Scholar and Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow who Ebony Magazine and The Root/Washington Post named one of the 100 most powerful African-Americans in the United States. DeBerry has been a national champion hurdler and adventure athlete who was a member of the first African-American mountaineering team to ascend Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The film An American Ascent documents that expedition. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two daughters.
Stephen DeBerry | Speaker | TED.com