University of New Orleans economics professor Gregory Price is one of five people selected by former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to be an E Pluribus Unum Policy Scholar tasked with examining and addressing systemic racism in the U.S., particularly in the South.
As an economist, Price will bring both an economic and a racial equity lens to examining the distribution of environmental quality, entrepreneurship opportunities for the justice involved and the distribution of recovery funding, Landrieu said.
Landrieu, who is president of the organization, announced the inaugural cohort class of scholars on Tuesday.
The scholars’ research will inform the organization’s engagement with elected officials and community leaders across a range of issue areas including: the intersection of health and housing, community resilience, environmental justice and minority entrepreneurship.
“Though the events of the past year and a half have sparked a nationwide conversation around racial equity and systemic racism, policy changes have been few and fleeting. Institutionalized racism pervades nearly every system in the nation, including financial, educational, health, housing, criminal justice and voting,” Landrieu said.
“The urgency to tackle these issues head-on is evident. That’s why we’re partnering with this cohort of knowledgeable and accomplished researchers to develop data- and research-driven policy recommendations for the leaders of today.”
Landrieu founded E Pluribus Unum) in 2018 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission to build a more just, inclusive and equitable South.
Its focus is on cultivating and empowering courageous leaders who are focused on racial equity, changing the divisive narratives that perpetuate systemic and interpersonal racism and championing transformative policy change.
