It was a year that saw the nation both historically united—with support for the Black Lives Matter movement hitting an all-time high—and historically divided—as white resentment of Black and Brown voting power peaked with a deadly insurrection and a nearly unprecedented effort to ballot access to white voters.

The pandemic didn’t simply unmask the stark racial inequities in our economic, health care, and criminal justice status quo; it gave rise to a determined resistance to that status quo and fueled a demand for racial justice that grows more intense with each passing month. That growing demand, in turn, has triggered a backlash that resists any suggestion that structural and institutional racism even exist, much less need to be dismantled.

The tension between these competing forces has stalled America at a crossroads of racial reckoning. One path leads backward, toward the “old normal”—a return to the marginalization, discrimination, and segregation that left Black and Brown Americans exceptionally vulnerable to a deadly virus and economic desperation. The other path leads forward, toward The New Normal: Diverse, Equitable & Inclusive.

It is a glimpse of an America where police approach the communities they serve as allies and collaborators and not as hostile combatants; where every citizen has equal access to the ballot box; where fatal complications in pregnancy are just as rare for Black mothers as they are for white mothers; where the value of a home is not determined by the race of its owner.

The New Normal: Diverse, Equitable & Inclusive makes the case that dismantling structural racism—identifying and repairing the cracks in our national foundation—will result in more resilient and dynamic institutions that expand opportunity for everyone. To quote a flippant sentiment frequently shared on social media,

“ Equal rights for others does not mean less rights for you. It’s not pie.”

Perhaps the most vivid illustration of the tension between the forces competing for the soul of America was the January 6 insurrection, when a violent mob dissatisfied with the results of the 2020 Presidential Election stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn it.

Led by white supremacists and right-wing extremists, the insurrection represented both a counterresponse to the ongoing protests against racial injustice and an almost perfect example of the injustice that inspired them.

In the months leading up to the insurrection, peaceful racial justice protesters around the nation were met with the aggressive tactics of militarized police who were clad in fatigues and armor. They were assaulted with tear gas and rubber bullets and were buffeted by the violent winds of swooping helicopters.

The extremists who stormed the Capitol on January 6 had openly plotted the insurrection on social media, declaring their intentions to “storm the government buildings, kill cops, kill security guards, kill federal employees and agents.” Yet they were met with no troops in riot gear. No military helicopters. No tear gas was deployed as the mob shoved its way past barricades. Vastly outnumbered police stepped aside and allowed the mob to storm the Capitol.

The mob was motivated by furious resentment over historic Black and Brown voter turnout that contributed to the loss of their preferred candidate, Donald Trump. Baseless claims of fraud sought to tarnish the integrity of elections in Black and Brown communities, and lawsuit after lawsuit sought to invalidate votes in those jurisdictions. The “Big Lie”—the myth that the election was “stolen”—succeeded largely because it blamed voters of color for stealing it. It frames the promise of a multicultural, pluralistic democracy as an act of theft from the dominant white majority.

Whether we are to achieve a “New Normal” that is truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive will depend in large measure upon our response to the “Big Lie.” A capitulation on voting rights is not only a fast track back to the “old normal,” it would further entrench the white supremacist ideology that has warped our society over centuries.

Witness the recent hysteria over “critical race theory,” an academic discipline that was developed more than four decades ago to examine how our nation’s laws and legal institutions reinforce and maintain racial inequality. It holds that oppression of racial minorities is a feature, not a bug, in our policies and traditions. It represents an existential threat to the myth that white Americans hold disproportionate wealth, social status, and political power because they are more talented and work harder than non-whites.

The New Normal: Diverse, Equitable & Inclusive further erodes that myth with compelling analysis from our 2021 research partners—the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, the Center for Policing Equity, and the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution—that turns some conventional wisdom on its head. Did stop-and-frisk programs not only fail to curb juvenile crime but contribute to its increase? How does easing financial hardships affect health conditions like hypertension? Can a smartphone app lift unbanked households out of poverty and help repair their credit?

In 2021, the National Urban League developed and promoted two major policy proposals to address racial inequities in public safety and the economy. 21 Pillars for Redefining Public Safety and Restoring Community Trust is a comprehensive framework for criminal justice advocacy that takes a holistic approach to public safety, the restoration of trust between communities and law enforcement, and a path forward for meaningful change. The Lewis Latimer Plan for Digital Equity and Inclusion is a strategy for leveraging the tools of the information economy to create a more equitable and inclusive society. They are vital components of the National Urban League’s vision of The New Normal.

The National Urban League has produced The State of Black America® for four and a half decades. This is the first time we have done it without the inspiration and mentorship of our former President, Vernon Jordan, who produced the first State of Black America® report in 1976. His passing in March has left a void in the Civil Rights Movement that can never be filled, and we dedicate this edition to his memory. This transitional moment in history would have been familiar to Jordan, who assumed leadership of the National Urban League in 1971, at a time when the United States was adapting to the sweeping changes of the Civil Rights Era. We were, as he put it, dealing with the rubble of the walls we tore down in the 1960s. Now we are dealing with the rubble of the walls torn down by COVID-19.

As Jordan wrote in the very first State of Black America^®, “It is our hope that this document will pierce the dark veil of neglect that has thus far smothered efforts to right the wrongs of the past and the present. It is presented as an alternative to failed public policies … I hope that it will be read closely in the White House and in the Congress and that it may influence decision-makers to open their eyes to the plight of Black Americans.”