City of Sacramento
Racial Equity Committee Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-01837 10/29/2024 Discussion Item 4.
Consideration of Racial Equity Resolution Developed by the SCORE Initiative File ID: 2024-01837
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: 1) Review a resolution related to how the City can operationalize racial equity in Sacramento government to produce material outcomes for all residents to thrive and foster a culture of shared partnership and accountability between community and government. and 2) pass a motion forwarding the resolution to City Council for consideration.
Contact: Allison Joe, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, (916) 808-7187, [email protected], Office of Mayor Darrell Steinberg
Presenter: Aimée Zenzele Barnes, Diversity & Equity Manager, (916) 808-1174, [email protected], Department of Human Resources; Jesse Villalobos, Race Forward, [email protected]
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Draft Resolution
3-Summary of Racial Equity Alliance (REA) and Racial Equity Council (REC) - hosted Listening Sessions - TBD
4-Scope of Work for SCORE initiative
5-Outreach related to the development of the draft resolution from the August 13, 2024, Racial Equity Committee meeting
6-Workplan for the SCORE initiative from the April 30 City Racial Equity Committee - TBD Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: The draft resolution included as Attachment 2 is one of the deliverables related to the City’s work with Race Forward, the Racial Equity Alliance (REA), and the Racial Equity Council (REC) as part of the multi-year Sacramento Centered on Racial Equity (SCORE) initiative and workplan.
The goal of the SCORE process is to define racial equity, develop a racial equity resolution for Council consideration and guide the development of racial equity capacity building and racial equity
File ID: 2024-01837 10/29/2024 Discussion Item 4.
tools for the City to apply a racial equity lens to decision making. Staff from Race Forward and members of the Racial Equity Alliance will present key elements of the draft resolution, how it was developed with community, and next steps for implementation.
Policy Considerations: On February 15, 2022, the City Council passed a midyear budget adjustment including a recommendation from Mayor Steinberg to continue the City’s commitment of establishing racial equity in culture and policy, by investing $500,000 to be allocated to support the City’s ongoing initiatives. Of that amount, $100,000 was directed to support the work of the REA as a durable collaboration of Sacramento’s racial justice leaders- to lead the City’s SCORE Initiative and lift up the expertise, vision and goals of those communities of color who have experienced the outcomes of institutional and systemic racism.
This item directly advances Phase 2 of the SCORE Initiative (Attachment 4) to finalize a City Racial Equity Resolution. In presenting the proposed resolution to the Racial Equity Committee, the Racial Equity Alliance (REA) and Council will work to help define what racial equity and community engagement looks like to ensure the resolution speaks to and for everyone in the City.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: This action does not constitute a “project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines.
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: The Racial Equity Committee has heard several presentations from Race Forward, the REA and REC and staff on the development of the proposed resolution.
Rationale for Recommendation: Phase 2 of the SCORE Initiative as outlined in the workplan is to Finalize the City’s Racial Equity Resolution. Staff recommendation requests review and direction from the Racial Equity Committee on the proposed resolution and recommends forwarding to Council for consideration.
Financial Considerations: None.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): None.
1 Resolution to operationalize racial equity in the City of Sacramento government by beginning an institutional transformation process that will aim to produce material outcomes for all residents to thrive and will foster a culture of shared partnership and accountability between community and government.
BACKGROUND
A. WHEREAS, the City of Sacramento is enriched by numerous cultures and racial/ethnic identities, each offering richness to the City with their unique understandings, life experiences and histories which have shaped the City’s culture and have cultivated and invigorated Sacramento to the benefit of all residents; and
B. WHEREAS, persistent inequities that exist in Sacramento are disproportionately experienced by communities of color and marginalized groups, who are not a part of the process of offering solutions to the racial inequities they experience; and
C. WHEREAS, the City of Sacramento defines racism as a social construction that has been used (historically and presently) to unjustly determine power and to distribute resources based upon a person’s skin color, heritage, ethnicity, and/or national origin. The City also acknowledges that racism operates in various forms and levels that include internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and structural; and
D. WHEREAS, Sacramento acknowledges that the foundation of the United States is inextricably linked with racist ideologies, policies, practices and culture, often compounded by government that has resulted in social violence, informed by racist narratives and tropes to oppress and dehumanize communities of color making communities more vulnerable to cycles of racial inequity still today; and
E. WHEREAS, Sacramento’s own history includes racially harmful policies and practices that affected communities, including but not limited to, the over-criminalization of Black and Brown people resulting in hyper-incarceration, the institutionalization of discriminatory housing policies and practices leading to underinvestment in neighborhoods where residents of color are more likely to reside, and controls on housing credit which concentrated non-white residents in the redlined northwest area of Downtown Sacramento formerly known as the West End neighborhood, until Federally-funded urban renewal policies pushed communities and people of color out; and
F. WHEREAS, today the City of Sacramento experiences profound racial inequities in our community, including but not limited to:
1. Disproportionate homeownership rates – According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, home ownership for white households in Sacramento County is around 59%, 30% for Black households and around 37% for Hispanic households. Home ownership for Asian households ranges from 35% (Cambodian) to 74.8% (Japanese). Additionally, only 19.8% Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander households were likely to own their home.
2. Homelessness rates – In Sacramento, Black people are three times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population, and Indigenous, American Indian/Alaskan Native people are four times more likely. Native
2 Hawaiian Pacific Islanders were approximately twice as likely to experience homelessness compared to Whites.
3. Incarceration rates – Black residents in Sacramento County make up only 11% of Sacramento County's population but represent over 37% of the county jail population and around 30% of the state prison population from Sacramento County. Additionally, Black residents of the City of Sacramento are arrested at a rate more than twice that of white residents, despite similar rates of reported crime.
4. School discipline rates – According to the California Department of Education, Black students in Sacramento City Unified School District are suspended at a rate (15.3%) nearly four times higher than white students (3.7%). Similarly, Native American (9%) and Hispanic/Latino (5.9%) students are suspended at a rate higher than white students, with suspension rates among Asian students on the rise in 2023. This exacerbates the racial inequities experienced by youth of color and their families in employment, housing, transportation, criminalization, and other key determinants.
G. WHEREAS, understanding Sacramento’s own racial history and the current extent of racial inequities is critical to the City’s responsibility to advance racial equity by: requiring transformative policies and practices utilizing data disaggregated by race and ethnicity; addressing the root causes that drive inequitable outcomes, and creating solutions to improve outcomes with communities who have been most adversely impacted; and
H. WHEREAS, the City of Sacramento has implemented strategies and programs to promote racial equity such as the establishment of the Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) in July 2018 as an effort to build a more representative, equitable, and inclusive City of Sacramento organization through strategic planning, capacity building, and policy and procedure change; and
I. WHEREAS, ODE has internally advanced workforce equity through the City’s Race and Gender Equity Action Plan 2020-2025 (RGEAP); established Department Equity Teams to support the implementation of the RGEAP, facilitated capacity building efforts through equity convenings, trainings, roundtables, and workshops including the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge, initiated a Sacramento Area GARE Practitioners Network, and supported mandatory Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging/Racial Equity Training for City Elected Officials, Council Staff, and Appointed Officers; and
J. WHEREAS, ODE has worked to externally advanced racial equity through the development of:
1. The Sacramento Equity Explore Design (SEED) GIS Tool. An internal and external tool to help decision makers apply a racial equity lens and other equity considerations that informs allocation of resources, services, programs, and funding to promote opportunity and growth and identifying methods that address undesired and unintended impacts, harm, or burdens.
2. A Citywide Racial Equity Study scope of work for a future Request for Proposals to develop and include indicators and benchmark metrics that will be used for annual assessment of citywide impact.
3 3. The Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) CityStart Initiative aimed to address and find solution to address the African American wealth gap for Sacramento residents.
4. A Citywide Racial Equity Repository a centralized online list of all equity centered programs, projects, and initiatives across the city.
5. Racial equity impact tools to apply a racial equity lens on outcomes of ARPA program and project design and funding processes; and to review parts of the budget to understand and minimize harm resulting from budget decisions.
K. WHEREAS, the City of Sacramento is a member of Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), a national initiative of Race Forward, which aims to eliminate racial inequities in government and to identify and eliminate barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society to create transformative change; and
L. WHEREAS, on September 15, 2020, Race Forward and ODE presented the Strategic Actions and Workforce Equity plan to the Law and Legislation Committee where members requested a working group to develop a workplan to address racial inequities in the City of Sacramento with a community-owned approach that will achieve measurable outcomes, actions, and benchmarks; and
M. WHEREAS, on December 8, 2020, a working group comprised of Mayor, City Council and City staff presented the Citywide Racial Equity Initiative at Council, now known as the Sacramento Centered on Race and Equity (SCORE) Initiative; and
N. WHEREAS, in institutionalizing racial equity into the City’s practices the Sacramento City Council affirms a sustained commitment to:
1. Progress as an equity and justice-oriented organization, with the Mayor, Councilmembers, City leadership and staff continuing to encourage and implement specific initiatives and activities to further promote diversity and to ensure anti-racism principles across the City of Sacramento including its organizational structure and leadership, staffing, programs, laws, and contracts.
2. Promoting and considering equity across policies and decisions approved by the City Council, and enhance educational efforts aimed at understanding, addressing and dismantling racism and how it impacts the delivery of human and social services, economic development, and public safety, among other areas.
3. Continuing community engagement rooted in partnership to develop credibility, trust, and accountability with communities of color that result in proactive and purposeful community partnerships to address and uplift racial equity.
4. Continuing the implementation of mandatory racial equity training and implicit bias trainings with the goal of reaching all the City of Sacramento’s leadership and staff in a timely manner.
5. Encouraging racial equity policies, practices and training among all community partners, grantees, vendors, and contractors.
6. Identifying the resources needed to support this initiative.
7. Identifying clear goals and objectives including periodic reports and continued refinement of tools, including a racial equity impact assessment, a systematic
4 examination of how different racial and ethnic groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or decision, to allow the City Council to assess progress and capitalize on opportunities to further advance racial equity.
8. Supporting local, state, regional, and federal initiatives that advance efforts to dismantle systemic racism and continue to advocate for relevant policies that improve health and safety in communities of color.
O. WHEREAS, to implement the SCORE initiative the City of Sacramento worked with Race Forward to create a City-community partnership through the leadership of Racial Equity Alliance (REA), a multiracial network of area organizations working to achieve racial equity in Sacramento, and a Racial Equity Council (REC), residents selected to collaborate with the City to develop a set of key deliverables designed to begin to institutionalize racial equity in City government in collaboration with community; and
P. WHEREAS, the REA has established a vision for a racially equitable Sacramento where all communities are valued and have collective power to lead in the solutions to the racial inequities they face; where all thrive, not just survive; and where a culture of racial solidarity contributes to building a truly just, multiracial democracy to benefit all of Sacramento; and
Q. WHEREAS, early impacts of this City-community partnership include deepened mutual understanding and trust between the City and local leaders and a growing interest from communities of color in the City’s racial equity work; and
R. WHEREAS, the REA and REC worked in partnership with the City over the summer of 2024 to execute multiple community listening sessions during which residents shared stories about instances of racism they and fellow community members have experienced in Sacramento including: surveillance and over-policing; lack of follow through, communication and accountability from the City; lack of voice and power in City’s key decisions and decision-making processes; poor treatment experienced by residents of color in attempts to access City spaces and services; and economic injustices in how resources and services are allocated by the City; and
S. WHEREAS, the continued conflation of “equality” with “equity” or a “one-size fits all’ approach tends to silo and pit ethnic and racial groups against one another, often producing more racial inequities and leaving some groups out altogether; and
T. WHEREAS, the City of Sacramento acknowledges that residents identified community safety as a top priority and shared a desire for communities of color to feel safe. To create a safe community residents see many opportunities for improvements such as, implementing de-escalation tactics, building cultural competence and understanding of systemic racism, sharing public safety information without stigmatizing communities of color, and strengthening City-community partnerships to improve conditions and invest in alternatives to policing.
BASED ON THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE BACKGROUND, THE CITY COUNCIL RESOLVED AS FOLLOWS:
5 1. Commits to becoming an equity and justice-oriented organization with the Council and the organization continuing to implement current efforts and identifying additional strategies to further enhance racial equity and social justice and to ensure the application of anti-racist principles across Council leadership, staffing, and public resources through continued work on the SCORE initiative and future racial equity efforts.
2. Affirms the City’s commitment to racial equity must be comprehensive, enduring and institutionalized. In doing so, the Council commits to prioritize comprehensive and sustained transformation of all the institutions, systems, policies, practices, and contracts obstructed by structural or systemic racism in the City of Sacramento.
3. Adopts the following definition of racial equity: Closing the gaps in outcomes so that race does not predict one’s success. This requires strategies focused on making improvements for those who are worst off so that everyone thrives. It is the intentional and continual practice of changing policies, procedures, systems, and structures by prioritizing measurable change in the lives of people of color and marginalized populations; understanding that racial equity is both the outcome we seek, and the process that we use to get there.
4. Directs the City Manager to:
a. Continue the development and application of racial equity assessment tools to evaluate budgets, policies, planning documents, procedures and practices as practical using a racial equity analysis, and prioritizing budget proposals. Analysis generated from the use of racial equity assessment tools shall be presented to the City Council.
b. Refine or create additional data tools as needed in consultation with the community.
Apply a racial equity lens and other equity considerations to inform the allocation of resources, services, programs, and funding to promote opportunity and growth and identifying methods that address undesired and unintended impacts, harm, or burdens. The tool shall be publicly accessible on the City website, and updated as new information becomes available.
c. Continue to advance the development of a Racial Equity Action Plan with a goal to have a draft Racial Equity Action Plan presented to the Council by the end of 2026; providing quarterly status reports and updates to the City’s Racial Equity Committee on the progress of the development of the plan, including performance metrics and reporting tools to promote accountability. This will guide the City in the effort to implement, resource and measure progress toward meeting racial equity goals. i. This multi-year effort will include clearly defined goals, strategies that address key racial inequities, responsible parties (City leads, responsible offices and departments), clear timelines, and resources to allow for the planning and implementation of the plan. This should include holding periodic community listening sessions and public forums to report progress to residents, utilizing the best practices and learnings highlighted in the REA’s and REC’s forthcoming, “Community Partnership & Accountability” report.
6 ii. Upon completion of the plan, Council will explore the creation of an ordinance that can further institutionalize and preserve key strategies and processes to ensure sustainability of institutional practices to advancing racial equity.
d. Continue to work in collaboration with the REA, community-based groups, and/or relevant community advisory bodies to develop, refine, implement and measure impacts of the City’s racial equity strategies. This should include continued participation in progress reporting and work meetings with key community stakeholders.
e. On an annual basis, review the Office of Diversity & Equity and make recommendations on the structure, positionality, and capacities needed for the greatest impact in advancing the City’s stated goals and commitment toward racial equity.
SCOPE OF WORK - SCORE INITIATIVE
ATTACHMENT 1 TO EXHIBIT A
Assist City staff in establishing and implementing a plan for creating the City Racial Equity Resolution and the Sacramento Centered On Racial Equity (SCORE) initiative and workplan. This work includes coordinating and facilitating a
series of meetings with City staff and community
stakeholders to determine the pathway to achieving these City Council goals.
Sacramento Centered On Racial Equity (SCORE) workplan Proposed Scope of Work: Winter 2022 – Spring 2024
Today as communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic of COVID-19, the ongoing legacy of white supremacy culture, and the national reckoning with structural and institutional racism, the transformation of the City of Sacramento’s policies and practices to advance racial equity is imperative.
We are encouraged by the Sacramento City Council discussion and unanimous affirmation to move forward on a Racial Equity Initiative at the December 8, 2020, Council meeting. We are further encouraged by the Mayor’s announcement of the creation of a Racial Equity Committee on August 24, 2021 to develop a racial equity workshop for the full city council and for this committee to be the public reporting body for the citywide Sacramento Centered On Racial Equity (SCORE) workplan outlined in this scope of work.
The
explicit decision to address racial equity is absolutely critical, especially at this time when the vision for a multiracial, just democracy is greatly jeopardized. It is equally critical to ensure that the
City interrogate and reconstruct its processes to design, advance and implement this Initiative. A Racial Equity Initiative adopted and implemented through standard processes will not advance racial equity. We must interrupt patterns and processes, rooted in dominant cultural patterns that serve to perpetuate institutional racism and racial hierarchy. Failure to take a new course will likely diminish what little trust that might exist between the City and communities of color. Racial Equity must drive both processes and outcomes. The new course must include immediate measures to reduce harm and move toward working for true partnership with communities of color. This is an
absolute prerequisite to success in improving
life outcomes for people of color in Sacramento.
For these reasons, we applaud Sacramento City leadership for acknowledging the need and urgency to address historic and systemic racism and to respond to the impacts of such long standing inequities on our local community. We appreciate this opportunity to support October 29, 2024
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Attachment 4 - Scope of Work - SCORE Initiative
Item 4: Consideration of Racial Equity
Resolution
1 Sacramento City Council and the City Manager’s Office to address long-standing racial inequities and move toward becoming a racially just city.
Proposal:
The following proposal provides our recommendation to best accomplish equitable outcomes.
We propose to support you and community racial equity leaders, together, to transform the City’s internal and external structure, policies, procedures, to achieve racial equity. During this process we will offer strategy development, tools and facilitated workshops for the City of Sacramento and its communities of color to shape governmental processes to truly serve all its people. The City must be prepared to pass an ordinance to fully sustain this work. This must include the resource and staffing to implement the first key projects; develop the knowledge and skills of all staff to do this work; and create the culture that expects racial equity as the norm.
Bring forward a resolution to Council, grounded and centered in a vision for racial justice offered by communities of color in Sacramento, that outlines the following (draft resolution as basis): o Acknowledgement of historic and systemic harms and racism at local, regional and national levels;
● Affirmation of a sustained commitment to a citywide racial equity initiative; ● Commitment to shift resolutions, ordinances, and budget to dismantle structural and institutional racism; and
● Commitment to build staff capacity to address systemic racism in all city functions including services, policy, programs, procedures, and budgeting; and structures to advance racial equity.
Transforming Sacramento to achieve racial equity:setting the stage in 2021 and 2022. ● Organize:A community-driven and community-owned approach to develop credibility, trust, and accountability with communities of color that result in purposeful and sustained community partnerships between the City and community for achieving racial equity in Sacramento.
○ Engage in open and honest dialogue with communities of color on the subject of racial equity utilizing transformative justice and reconciliation practices ○ Create community partnerships with shared power and authority throughout from setting vision, goals, strategies; through planning, implementation and evaluation
○ Government forms internal structures to drive racial equity and hold accountability to community partners
● Normalize:Create shared understanding of institutional racism and government’s role in creating disparate outcomes for people of color; shared language, tools, and structures to transform government to drive equitable outcomes; vision, goals strategies and sense of purpose; and learning environment in which breaking down October 29, 2024
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Item 4: Consideration of Racial Equity Resolution
2 barriers to try new strategies and partnerships is encouraged and willingness to adapt and retool when things do not perform as planned.
● Operationalize:Explore and implement methods to "share power, seed community partnerships..." create shared power community partnerships to improve government policies, practices, and programs and close racial disparities ○ Using a racial equity assessment tool, apply a racial equity lens in a systematic way in decision-making processes with the goal of continuing to build an inclusive, equitable, thriving community for all Sacramento residents. ○ Identify and prioritize pilot project(s) with the leadership of communities of color to support learning and to be the foundation for early implementation. ○ Examine seemingly neutral policies and practices to determine whether they are contributing to racial inequity
○ Create an initial citywide SCORE workplan to coordinate City and community work to apply a racial equity tool to city processes with benchmarks, deliverables, and specific calls for accountability, transparency, and true collaboration with communities of color.
Please note that this proposal assumes all meetings are held remotely and that the dates and timelines are estimates that may shift depending on community leaders.
TASK 1: Truth-telling and Trust-building
Winter 2022
Given the history and pervasiveness of institutional racism in this country, government has caused deep harm to its communities of color; it has broken trust repeatedly and caused harm.
In order to set the stage for achieving racial equity, government must follow the lead of those communities who have been most impacted by institutional racism and are working collectively toward a bold vision for racial justice. This requires government to be responsive to this proposal from communities of color for building and sustaining trust at the outset of this project and includes developing and adopting new actions, engagement and collaboration that reflect a commitment to creating a culture of racial equity and sharing power.
TASK 2: Finalize City Racial Equity Resolution
Spring-Summer 2023
Work with the City to develop a plan, advance discussions and help facilitate long-term engagement of stakeholders to finalize the City Racial Equity Resolution, codifying a commitment to racial equity. This work will include processes to inform, consult, collaborate, and entrust community in the development of the final resolution.
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Item 4: Consideration of Racial Equity Resolution
3 1. Create Engagement Plan - With racial equity community leaders, create a plan to engage Communities of Color (“Community”) about the resolution. This will be coordinated with the City as it implements its traditional engagement processes. a. Identify and meet with community racial justice organizers and leaders to establish roles and involvement, including getting direction from their constituencies; to identify who else needs to be included and how to bring them into the room; and to establish leadership with accountability to their communities. Which racial justice leaders and the number of leaders that are designated, should both be determined by a broad set of local racial justice groups, organizations and leaders. We estimate this group would consist of 5- 11 local racial justice leaders, spanning Black, Asian, indigenous, Latinx, Pacific Islander and other local communities of color. Race Forward will offer to provide initial support and coordination for this process. Community leaders shall be compensated for their time with a to be determined stipend amount that is in alignment with promising best practices1from other jurisdictions and shall be included in the total contract amount.
b. Meet with City project leads to create shared understanding of work and roles c. Create draft engagement plan
2. Community Meetings
a. With the City, coordinate the Community engagement plan, shared expectations, values and group agreements; and co-create engagement materials including survey and evaluation tools
b. Coordinate with Community racial equity leaders
c. Three 90-minute Community meetings
i. Plan and coordinate with Council staff
ii. Facilitate meetings and take notes
iii. Prepare mtg notes
iv. Debrief with City - 60 min mtg for each Community mtg X 3
3. Create Resolution - Final Draft
a. Create review draft
b. Collate feedback from Community via Google doc, or similar c. Create Council draft
d. Present to Council, and/or staff prior to Council presentation (1 hour mtg) e.
Assist in notifying Community leaders of the Council’s public meeting about the resolution
NOTE:These hours are estimates only. They may shift based on articulated need and consensus of participants.
TASK 3: Develop Partnership & Accountability Strategy to Center Communities of Color 1City ofChicago:http://elevatedchicago.org/Elevated%20Community%20Engagement%20Principles Digital.pdf.City ofSeattle: https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/RSJI/18- 21_RSJI_Strategic_Plan_4.6.19_FINAL.pdf.City ofAustin Texas:
http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=274706 October 29, 2024
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Item 4: Consideration of Racial Equity Resolution
4 for Racial Justice
Summer-Fall 2023
We will work with Communities of color leadership and the City to create a strategy of engagement, partnership and accountability with communities of color to work with the City to use the racial equity assessment tool, and to develop and implement the citywide SCORE workplan.
The strategy will address the following questions:
● What forms of engagement should we use?
● Who should be engaged in this conversation?
● How can this conversation be equitable in its accessibility? ● How will we measure successful outreach and engagement? ● How will we build on this outreach and engagement for long-term relationships? ● How do we build confidence in attendees that their time is well spent and put towards something productive/tangible?
● How do we ensure we are not contributing to community meeting fatigue? This work will consider the City of Sacramento’s ‘Community Engagement Framework’ and will address the following City of Sacramento Engagement Priorities:
● Ensuring racially equitable engagement over digital platforms, knowing there are barriers to accessing digital spaces
● Ensuring racially equitable engagement through language accessibility ● Ensuring racially equitable engagement and representation across the city’s ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, and other demographic diversity measures ● Ensuring feedback from engagement opportunities is consistently tracked and presented ● A specific timeline for engaging community and providing a consolidated report of engagement efforts, feedback, and recommendations
1. Create community partnership draft strategy with community leaders
2. Get Community feedback
3. Create partnership strategy final draft
TASK 4: Co-create Citywide Racial Equity Workplan with City and CommunityFall 2023 – Spring 2024
This task will cultivate shared language and tools among a City Core Team and Community Leadership to co-create a citywide SCORE workplan. The SCORE workplan will develop the beginning elements of how the city can apply a racial equity tool to city decision making processes with benchmarks, deliverables, and specific calls for accountability, transparency, and true collaboration with communities of color.
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Item 4: Consideration of Racial Equity Resolution
5 1. Council Retreat - Full Council workshop to identify training and support needed to successfully transition from resolution to implementation. (4 hrs)
2. Establish Community Leadership Council – establish membership and purpose of City Council Racial Equity Committee/Workgroup and Community Leadership Council. (Assumes expertise of 5-11 community leaders compensated by stipend)
3. Build the foundation for racial equity (assumes 70 attendees: 40 community members, 30 City staff. Community members shall be compensated for their time with a to be determined stipend amount that is in alignment with promising best practices2from other jurisdictions and shall be included in the total contract amount. a. Normalizing conversations about race includes developing shared definitions and framework; and an understanding that the disparate outcomes we see are created. (8 hr workshop)
b. Racial Equity Assessment Tool: using a rigorous tool, informed by data and focused on a shared racial equity vision to inform policy, program and budget decisions is essential. (a 6 hr workshop plus homework, followed by a 4 hr workshop)
c. Racial Equity Leadershipis essential at both the institutional and community levels. (4 hr workshop: 2 hrs both City and community; 2 hrs with City and Community in separate rooms. perhaps this runs between the two RET workshops?)
d. Racial Equity Action Planto coordinate work within the City and the community for greatest impact. (4 hr workshop plus homework, followed by a 4 hr workshop)
e. Institutional Structure and Accountabilityto Communities of Color (6 hr workshop)
4. Co-developed Citywide workplan report with priority work areas identified by community and recommendations for Council
GLOSSARY
Best Practice– Has undergone a rigorous process of peer review and evaluation that indicates effectiveness Source: “Emerging, Promising, and Best Practices Definitions” from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Dominant Culture- Dominant culture in a society refers to the established language, religion, values, rituals, and social customs on which the society was built. It has the most power, is widespread, and influential within a social entity, such as an organization, in which multiple cultures are present. An organization’s dominant culture is heavily influenced by the leadership and management standards and preferences of those at the top of the hierarchy. In this paper, dominant culture refers specifically to the American context in which organizational culture is predominantly defined by white men and white women in positional power. Source:
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6 Equity in the Center
Ethnicity- A social construct that divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics such as shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, and ancestral geographical base. Examples of different ethnic groups are Cape Verdean, Haitian, African American (black), Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese (Asian), Cherokee, Mohawk, Navaho (Native American), Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican (Latino), Polish, Irish, and Swedish (white).
Source: Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin, eds., Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook (New York: Routledge, 2007).
Emerging Practices– Incorporates qualities of other positive/effective interventions. Is based on patterns that have been proven to lead to effective outcomes. Incorporates a process of continual quality improvement. Has evaluation plan in place.
Source: “Emerging, Promising, and Best Practices Definitions” from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Institutional Racism- Institutional racism refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups. The institutional policies may never mention any racial group, but their effect is to create advantages for whites and oppression and disadvantage for people from groups classified as people of color.
Examples:
Government policies that explicitly restricted the ability of people to get loans to buy or improve their homes in neighborhoods with high concentrations of African Americans (also known as “red-lining”). City sanitation department policies that concentrate trash transfer stations and other environmental hazards disproportionately in communities of color.
Source:Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Buildingby Maggie Potapchuk, Sally Leiderman, Donna Bivens, and Barbara Major (2005).
Related Resources:Racism(scroll down alphabetically to the box for “Institutional Racism”) People of Color (Communities of Color)-Often the preferred collective term for referring to non-White racial groups. Racial justice advocates have been using the term “people of color” (not to be confused with the pejorative “colored people”) since the late 1970s as an inclusive and unifying frame across different racial groups that are not White, to address racial inequities. While “people of color” can be a politically useful term and describes people with their own attributes (as opposed to what they are not, e.g., “non-White”), it is also important whenever possible to identify people through their own racial/ethnic group, as each has its own distinct experience and meaning and may be more appropriate.
Source: Race Forward, “Race Reporting Guide” (2015).
Promising Practices– In addition to the qualities of an emerging practice, has strong qualitative data showing positive outcomes.
Source: “Emerging, Promising, and Best Practices Definitions” from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Race and Ethnic Identity- An individual’s awareness and experience of being a member of a racial and ethnic group; the racial and ethnic categories that an individual chooses to describe him or herself based on such factors as biological heritage, physical appearance, cultural affiliation, early socialization, and personal experience. Source:Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook, edited by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin, Routledge, 1997.
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Item 4: Consideration of Racial Equity Resolution
7 Related Resources:Race, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity
Racism –
= race prejudice + social and institutional power
= a system of advantage based on race
= a system of oppression based on race
= a white supremacy system
Racism is different from racial prejudice, hatred, or discrimination. Racism involves one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination through the institutional policies and practices of the society and by shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices.
Source: “What Is Racism?”− Dismantling Racism Works (dRworks)web workbook.
Related Resources:Racism
Racial Equity- Racial equity is the condition that would be achieved if one's racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. When we use the term, we are thinking about racial equity as one part of racial justice, and thus we also include work to address root causes of inequities, not just their manifestation.
This includes elimination of policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or that fail to eliminate them.
“A mindset and method for solving problems that have endured for generations, seem intractable, harm people and communities of color most acutely, and ultimately affect people of all races. This will require seeing differently, thinking differently, and doing the work differently. Racial equity is about results that make a difference and last.”
Source: 1)Center for Assessment and Policy Development.2) OpenSource Leadership Strategies.
Racial Equity Assessment Tool/Assessment- A Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA) is a systematic examination of how different racial and ethnic groups will likely be affected by a proposed action or decision.
REIAs are used to minimize unanticipated adverse consequences in a variety of contexts, including the analysis of proposed policies,
institutional practices, programs, plans and budgetary decisions. The REIA can be a vital tool for preventing institutional racism and for identifying new options to remedy long-standing inequities. Source: Race Forward “What is A Racial Equity Assessment?”
Racial Equity Lens- The process of paying disciplined attention to race and ethnicity while analyzing problems, looking for solutions, and defining success. A race equity lens critiques a “color blind” approach, arguing that color blindness perpetuates systems of disadvantage in that it prevents structural racism from being acknowledged. Application of a race equity lens helps to illuminate disparate outcomes, patterns of disadvantage, and root cause. Source:Equity in the Center Racial Inequity- is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing, such as the percentages of each ethnic group in terms of dropout rates, single family home ownership, access to healthcare, etc.
Source: Ibram X. Kendi,How To Be An Antiracist, Random House, 2019.
Racial Justice- The systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. Racial justice or racial equity – goes beyond “anti-racism.” It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventative measures.
Source: National Education Association. (2017). Racial Justice in Education. Retrieved August 05, 2020, from October 29, 2024
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Racially Just City- The systematic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. Racial justice—or racial equity—goes beyond “anti-racism.” It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventative measures.
Operationalizing racial justice means reimagining and co-creating a just and liberated world and includes:
understanding the history of racism and the system of white supremacy and addressing past harms, working in right relationship and accountability in an ecosystem (an issue, sector, or community ecosystem) for collective change, implementing interventions that use an intersectional analysis and that impact multiple systems, centering Blackness and building community, cultural, economic, and political power of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), and applying the practice of love along with disruption and resistance to the status quo.
Source: Race Forward, “Race Reporting Guide” (2015). Maggie Potapchuk, “Operationalizing Racial Justice in Non Profit Organizations” (MP Associates, 2020). This definition is based on and expanded from the one described in Rinku Sen and Lori Villarosa, “Grantmaking with a Racial Justice Lens: A Practical Guide” (Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, 2019).
Reconciliation Justice Practices- Restorative Justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crimeand conflict. It places decisions in the hands of those who have been most affected by a wrongdoing, and gives equal concern to the victim, the offender, and the surrounding community. Restorative responses are meant to repair harm, heal broken relationships, and address the underlying reasons for the offense. Restorative Justice emphasizes individual and collective accountability. Crime and conflict generate opportunities to build community and increase grassroots power when restorative practices are employed.
Source: The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), “Glossary.” Structural Racism- The normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics – historical, cultural, institutional, and interpersonal – that routinely advantage Whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color. Structural racism encompasses the entire system of White domination, diffused and infused in all aspects of society including its history, culture, politics, economics, and entire social fabric. Structural racism is more difficult to locate in a particular institution because it involves the reinforcing effects of multiple institutions and cultural norms, past and present, continually reproducing old and producing new forms of racism. Structural racism is the most profound and pervasive form of racism – all other forms of racism emerge from structural racism.
For example, we can see structural racism in the many institutional, cultural, and structural factors that contribute to lower life expectancy for African American and Native American men, compared to white men.
These include higher exposure to environmental toxins, dangerous jobs and unhealthy housing stock, higher exposure to and more lethal consequences for reacting to violence, stress, and racism, lower rates of health care coverage, access, and quality of care, and systematic refusal by the nation to fix these things.
Source: Chronic Disparity: Strong and Pervasive Evidence of Racial Inequalities by Keith Lawrence, Aspen Institute on Community Change, and Terry Keleher, Applied Research Center, for the Race and Public Policy Conference (2004). Flipping the Script: White Privilege and Community Building by Maggie Potapchuk, Sally Leiderman, Donna Bivens, and Barbara Major (2005).
Underserved Communities-refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life.
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9 Source:Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through GovernmentOffice of Management and Budget May 4, 2021 White Supremacy- 1) The idea (ideology) that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions. While most people associate white supremacy with extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis, white supremacy is ever present in our institutional and cultural assumptions that assign value, morality, goodness, and humanity to the white group
while casting people and communities of color as worthless (worth less), immoral, bad, and inhuman and “undeserving.” Drawing from critical race theory, the term “white supremacy” also refers to a political or socio economic system where white people enjoy structural advantage and rights that other racial and ethnic groups do not, both at a collective and an individual level.
2) Is a historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of continents, nations and peoples of color by White peoples and nations of the European continent; for the purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power and privilege.
Source: “What Is Racism?”− Dismantling Racism Works (dRworks)web workbook.
Related Resources:System of White Supremacy and White Privilegeand Addressing Hate and White Supremacy.Department of Epidemiology. (2017). Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. University of Washington School of Public Health. Retrieved August 5, 2020, from https://epi.washington.edu/sites/default/files/DEI%20Glossary%20Word.pdf.
White Supremacy Culture-refers to the dominant, unquestioned standards of behavior and ways of functioning embodied by the vast majority of institutions in the United States. These standards may be seen as mainstream, dominant cultural practices; they have evolved from the United States’ history of white supremacy. Because it is so normalized it can be hard to see, which only adds to its powerful hold. In many ways, it is indistinguishable from what we might call U.S. culture or norms – a focus on individuals over groups, for example, or an emphasis on the written word as a form of professional communication. But it operates in even more subtle ways, by defining what “normal” is – and likewise, what “professional,” “effective,” or even “good” is. In turn, white culture also defines what is not good, “at risk,” or “unsustainable.” White culture values some ways of thinking, behaving, deciding, and knowing – ways that are more familiar and come more naturally to those from a white, western tradition – while devaluing or rendering invisible other ways. And it does this without ever having to explicitly say so. An artificial, historically constructed culture which expresses, justifies, and binds together the United States white supremacy system. It is the glue that binds together white-controlled institutions into systems and white controlled systems into the global white supremacy system.
Source: 1. Gita Gulati-Partee and Maggie Potapchuk, “Paying Attention to White Culture and Privilege: A Missing Link to Advancing Racial Equity” (The Foundation Review vol. 6: issue 1, 2014). 2. Sharon Martinas and the Challenging White Supremacy Workshop, 4th revision (1995).
ADDENDUM
The following tasks are not included in this workplan, but will be considered for future efforts and will be evaluated based on completion of tasks 1-4.
TASK 5: Identify infrastructure needed for City and community to understand impacts and analysis for successful and meaningful implementation
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10 Identification of data and resources, and infrastructure needed for City staff to understand impacts and analysis for successful and meaningful implementation that includes:
➢ Data & Resources
○ Identify priority areas for evaluation/assessment (community engagement, budget, contracting, climate, etc.) and data available or required. ➢ Evaluation & Metrics
○ Create an evaluation plan to measure the efficacy of an initiative in each of the priority areas for evaluation.
○ A results-based accountability framework is encouraged to identify and create performance measures that assess progress and implements initiative. ➢ Sustainable Engagement
○ Sustain meaningful engagement of City and community stakeholders through this initiative and leverage existing community engagement efforts and practices.
○ Provide metrics and evaluations demonstrating improvement of participating staff, Council, and community stakeholder engagement in surveys or other evaluation methods, including evidence of completed projects.
Budget for one 4-hr session to address the most pressing need identified by the joint community and City team.
TASK 6: Develop capacity building infrastructure for implementation The previous tasks identified timeframes and milestones for the racial equity initiative. In order to support implementation, there will need to be additional training for Council, staff, and community to participate fully in developing and implementing the racial equity resolution, racial equity policies, and racial equity impact assessment tool.
Such capacity building could include outlining possible training:
● Training and decision-making education should contain content that creates a shared understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)/racial equity; ● Application of racial equity principles in the decision-making process of the Council and systems of the City;
● Increasing the ability to recognize, respond and remove barriers to DEI/racial inequity that exist within systems, policies, and decision making; ● Increasing the ability to serve, work, and engage with people of different races and backgrounds.
Additional recommended trainings could include:
➢ Cross-cultural training, courageous conversations, and truth and reconciliation process; October 29, 2024
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11 ➢ Uncovering unconscious bias;
➢ Communicating about race and racism;
➢ Bringing an individual and systemic lens to race, racial equity, and structural racism; ➢ Exploring the intersection of race and other identities; ➢ Local racial history learning;
➢ Anti-Black racism; and
➢ Racial solidarity and racial capitalism
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