Advancing Racial Equity The Role of Government

San Jose Executive Leadership Session

November 6, 2019

Government Alliance on Race and EquityDwayne S. Marsh

Leslie W. Zeitler

Advancing Racial Equity

The Role of Government

Welcome

Your Facilitators

Introductions

• Name, department, and role

• What progress have you witnessed in the City’s growing

commitment to advancing racial equity?

• What would enable your department to take a more

active role in doing this work?

Objectives:

• Continue to build understanding of the role of institutions in

relation to racial equity

• Explore how San Jose can more effectively operationalize

and organize for racial equity, with an emphasis on what

department heads need to build progress

• Explore the possibilities for San Jose in building on its work to

date advancing racial equity

• This is just the beginning….

• Take space, make space

• Build and maintain brave space.

• What is said here, stays here

• What is learned here, leaves here

• Offer what you can, ask for

what you need

• One mic, one conversation

Our learning environment

Our Five Functions

Policy Development

Narrative Shift Institutional and Sector

Change

Movement and Capacity

Building

Research

A national network of government working to achieve racial

equity and advance opportunities for all.

✓ Core network – 67 104 178 members and growing!

✓ Two dozen state agencies

✓ Expanded network - 30 states / 150+ cities

✓ Provide tools to put theory into action

Government Alliance on Race & Equity

WA

OR

CA

MT

ID

NV

AZ

UT

WY

CO

NM

TX

OK

KS

NE

SD

ND

MN

IA

MO

AR

LA

MSAL

GA

FL

SCTN

NC

IL

WIMI

OH

IN

KY

WV VA

PA

NY

ME

VT

NH

NJ

DE

MD

D.C.

MA

CT

RI

Government Alliance on Race & Equity

WashingtonSeattleTacoma

CaliforniaAlameda CountyBAAQMDMarin CountyMerced County

OaklandRichmondSan Francisco PUC

OregonMetro

Multnomah County

Portland

MinnesotaMetropolitan CouncilMinneapolis

Minneapolis Parks & Rec BoardSt. Paul

WisconsinDane CountyMadison

Michigan\Ottawa CountyWashtenaw CountyMDCR

TexasAustin

IowaDubuqueIowa City

VirginiaFairfax County

KentuckyLouisville

MassachusettsBoston

PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia

New Mexico Albuquerque

WA

OR

CA

MT

ID

NV

AZ

UT

WY

CO

NM

TX

OK

KS

NE

SD

ND

MN

IA

MO

AR

LA

MSAL

GA

FL

SCTN

NC

IL

WIMI

OH

IN

KY

WV VA

PA

NY

ME

VT

NH

NJ

DE

MD

D.C.

MA

CT

RI

Government Alliance on Race & Equity

WashingtonHWMPLakewoodLynnwoodKing CountyKing County Housing AuthorityOlympiaPort of SeattlePuget Sound Regional CouncilSeattleSeattle Housing AuthoritySpokane Regional Health DistrictTacomaTukwilaVancouverWA DCYF

CaliforniaAlameda CountyBAAQMDBARCBARTBerkeleyCA Air Resources BoardCA Dept of Public HealthCA DSSCA EPACosumnes CSDCulver CityElk GroveHaywardLAHSALA MetroLong BeachMarin CountyMerced CountyMetropolitan Transportation Commission

Monterey County Napa CountyNevada CountyOaklandRichmondSacramentoSalinasSan Diego Sustainability DepartmentSan Francisco CountySan Francisco BCDCSan JoseSan Mateo CountySanta Clara County (3 depts)Santa MonicaShasta CountySolano CountySonoma CountyState Coastal CommissionState Coastal Conservancy

OregonEugene

Lane County Equity

Metro

Multnomah County

Multnomah County Drainage

District

OR Governor’s Office of DE&I

OR Housing & Community

Services

OR Youth Authority

Portland

Port of Portland

MinnesotaHennepin CountyHC Judicial CourtsLeague of MN CitiesMankatoMetropolitan CouncilMinneapolisMinneapolis Parks & Rec BoardNorthfield

Minnetonka

Ramsey CountyRichfieldRochesterSaint AnthonySt. PaulVisit St. PaulWashington County

WisconsinAppletonDane CountyMadisonMiddletonMilwaukee CountyCity of Milwaukee Health Dept.

MichiganGrand RapidsMacomb CountyMDCROttawa CountyWashtenaw CountyIllinois

Chicago Public HealthCook CountyPeoria

TexasAustinDallasDallas ISDSan AntonioWaco

IowaCedar RapidsDes MoinesDubuqueIowa CityWest Des Moines

VirginiaAlexandriaArlingtonFairfax CountyRichmondVirginia Dept of Health North Carolina

AshevilleCarrboroChapel HillCharlotteCity of DurhamDurham CountyGreensboroMecklenburg CountyOrange County Health DepartmentOrange CountyRaleigh

District of ColumbiaCouncil of the District of Columbia

South CarolinaSpartanburg

KentuckyLouisville

TennesseeChattanoogaKnoxville

FloridaGainesvillePalm Beach CSD

MassachusettsBostonBrooklineCambridge Dept of Equity & Inclusion

PennsylvaniaAllegheny CountyLancasterPhiladelphiaPittsburghURA Pittsburgh

MarylandBaltimore Bureau of Budget & Research MgmtMontgomery CountyTakoma Park

New YorkNew York CityNY State Dept of Health

ConnecticutCommission on Equity and Opportunity

New MexicoAlbuquerque

ColoradoBoulder County

Boulder

Denver

Fort Collins

MissouriKansas City

KansasLawrence

California Leads the Way

2015

Alameda County (2016-18)

Bay Area Regional Collaborative (2017-18)

City of Berkeley (2016-17)

Contra Costa County (2016-18)

Marin County (2016-18)

Monterey County (2017-18)

City of Oakland (2016-18)

Napa City/County (2016-18)

City of Richmond (2016-18)

City of Salinas (2017-18)

City and County of San Francisco (2017-18)

San Francisco PUC (2016-18)

San Francisco Planning (2016-17)

San Joaquin Valley PHC (2017-18)

City of San Jose (2018)

San Mateo County (2017-18)

Santa Clara County (2016-118)

Solano County (2016-18)

Sonoma County (2018)

CA Department of Housing and Community Development (2016-18)

CA Department of Public Health (2016-18)

City and County of Sacramento (2016)

Merced County (2016-18)

San Joaquin Valley Public Health Consortium (2017-18)

Los Angeles County (2016-18)

City of Long Beach (2016-18)

City of Pasadena (2016)

Culver City (2017-18)

Santa Monica (2017-18)

Humboldt Cohort

California Leads the Way

Santa Barbara County (2017)

Ventura County (2017)

City of Arcata, College of Redwoods, HSU, Community Leaders (2016-17)

2018

Capitol CohortAir Resources Board, Arts, Coastal Commission, Community Services and Development, Corrections,

EPA, Housing and Community Development, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Research, Public

Health, Social Services, Strategic Growth, Transportation (2018)

24.5 million residents in California jurisdictions participating in GARE

National best practice Normalize

• A shared analysis and definitions

• Urgency / prioritize

Organize

• Internal infrastructure

• Partnerships

Operationalize• Racial equity tools

• Data to develop strategies and drive results

Visualize

Why we lead with race

• Racial inequities deep and pervasive

• Racial anxiety on the rise – race is often an elephant

in the room

• Learning an institutional and structural approach can

be used with other areas of marginalization

• Specificity matters

Impacts of Racism

various sources

In the city of Seattle,

reducing the African

American unemployment rate

to that of whites would

generate an additional $25

million in tax revenue.

Impacts of Racism

various sources

By 2040, the Twin Cities will have a 30

percent skill gap if they do not eliminate

their racial inequities.

Impacts of Racism

various sources

If contracting were proportional to

racial breakdowns in New York City,

enterprises led by people of color

would procure an additional $8

billion annually.

Current context

Pastor & Benner , 2015

The greater the income gaps between rich and

poor, the more likely the region is to lose jobs

during economic shocks and the longer it will

take to recover.

Current context

PolicyLink, 2015

Normalizing Racial Equity

• All men are created equal

• With liberty and justice for all

• Government of the people, by the people, for

the people, shall not perish from the earth

Values and realities

History of government and race

Government explicitly creates

and maintains racial inequity.

Initially explicit

Discrimination illegal, but “race-neutral” policies and practices perpetuate

inequity.

Became implicit

Proactive policies, practices and

procedures that advance racial

equity.

Government for racial equity

Current context of race:

Equity? Equality?

What’s the difference?

Racial inequity in the U.S.

From infant mortality to

life expectancy, race

predicts how well you

will do…

Racial equity means:

Closing the gaps so that race does not predict one’s

success, while also improving outcomes for all

• To do so, have to:

✓ Target strategies to focus improvements for those

worse off

✓ Move beyond services and focus on changing

policies, institutions and structures

DE&I are NOT a single concept

Courtesy City of Portland

Humans need meaning.

• Individual meaning

• Collective meaning

Only 2% of emotional cognition is

available consciously

Racial bias tends to reside in our

unconscious brain

We unconsciously

think about race

even when we do

not explicitly

discuss it.

How We Think

The Unconscious Mind

Schemas: the “frames”

through which our brains

help us understand and

navigate the world:

1. Sort into categories

2. Create associations

3. Fill in the gaps

Schemas

Help us organize information into broader categories. They largely reside in the subconscious.

✓Objects

✓Human beings

Schemas are social. They exist

in and are shaped by our

environment.

What color are the following lines of text?

• Vqeb peow ytro

• Cvur zxyq brrm

• Vqeb peow ytro

• Xoc jbni oew mne

• Green

• Black

• Blue

• Red

What color are the following lines of text?

• Green

• Black

• Blue

• Yellow

What color are the following lines of text?

The evaluation of one group and its members

relative to another.

Source: Unconscious (Implicit) Bias and Health Disparities: Where Do We Go from Here?

We all carry bias. Acting on

bias can be discriminatory and

create negative outcomes for

particular groups.

Bias

Explicit bias

Expressed directly

Aware of bias / operates consciously

Example – Sign in the window of an apartment building – “whites only”

Implicit bias

Expressed indirectly

Unaware of bias / operates sub-consciously

Example – a property manager doing more criminal

background checks on African Americans than

whites.

Screened auditions account for up to 46% of the increase in the percentage of females in symphony orchestras since 1970.

Examples of implicit bias

Claudia Goldin, Cecilia Rouse:

The Impact of "Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians (1997)

Job search – Identical resumes, apart from names.

White-sounding names – 50%

more callbacks than African-

American sounding names.

Susan Smith

LaKeshaWashington

Examples of implicit bias

What to do with bias?

• Suppressing or denying biased thoughts can actually

increase prejudice rather than eradicate it.

• Openly acknowledging

and challenging biases

allows us to develop

strategic interventions.

What creates

different outcomes?

Institutional Explicit

Institutional Implicit

Individual Explicit

Individual Implicit

Institutional / Explicit

Policies which explicitly discriminate against a group.

Example:

Police department refusing to hire people of color.

Institutional / Implicit

Policies that negatively impact one group unintentionally.

Example:

Police department focusing on street-level drug arrests.

Individual / Explicit

Prejudice in action –discrimination.

Example:

Police officer calling someone an ethnic slur while arresting them.

Individual / Implicit

Unconscious attitudes and beliefs.

Example:

Police officer calling for back-up more often when stopping a person of color.

Institutional/Explicit

Policies which explicitly discriminate against a group.

Institutional/Implicit

Policies that negatively impact one group unintentionally.

Individual/Explicit

Prejudice in action –discrimination.

Individual/Implicit

Unconscious attitudes and beliefs.

Examples from your organization –

Individual racism:

• Bigotry or discrimination by an individual based on race.

structural

institutional

individual

Institutional racism:

• Policies, practices and procedures that

work better for white people than for

people of color, often unintentionally or

inadvertently.

Structural racism:

• A history and current reality of institutional

racism across all institutions, combining to

create a system that negatively impacts

communities of color.

Structures are a part of our lives:

What We Mean by Structural Racial Inequity:

“Structural Racism” points to multiple

institutions

The ways our public and private

institutions interact to produce barriers

to opportunity and racial disparities.

Intent to discriminate is largely

irrelevant

Structures just do what they do, often

invisibly, and reinforce disinvestment

and disparities.

What Works

Tools to Change

Organizational Culture

Racial Equity Concepts

▪ Advancing Racial Equity: The Role of Institutions – introduction to the

role, responsibilities and opportunities for government to advance racial

equity. Focus on normalizing racial equity as a core value with clear

definitions of key terminology, operationalizing racial equity via new

policies and institutional practice,

▪ Using a Racial Equity Tool – instruction and practice on how to use a racial

equity toolkit within policy, program and budget decision-making processes.

Participants gain skills by using the tool with their own lines of business that

they would like to assess from a racial equity perspective.

Racial Equity Concepts

▪ Communicating for Racial Equity –This training provides tools for both

interpersonal communication and communicating with the media and

broader outside audiences.

▪ Developing a Racial Equity Action Plan – Developing a Racial Equity

Action Plan entails putting ideas and understanding into action, including

building organizational infrastructure across the breadth (all functions) and

depth (up and down hierarchy), using a Racial Equity Tool, and developing

and implementing strategies.

▪ Tools for Organizational Change – Hands-on exercises to discuss moving

organizational change within government. Content is tailored to meet

participants’ needs, and includes stakeholder analysis, power and politics,

and tipping point theory.

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

In Santa Clara County the

Public Health Department has

led an institutional

transformation process that

started with budgeting and

now engages the entire

County.

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

In San Antonio, two Racial Equity CEO

have normalized the conversation across

the breadth of their 13,000 employees

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

In Minneapolis the City’s newly

revised comprehensive plan,

Minneapolis 2040, eliminates

exclusionary zoning for single-family

housing.

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

In Saint Paul City the staff followed

the lead of Mayor Melvin Carter

and eliminated late fines in its

library system.

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

The City of Asheville was recently

awarded the North Carolina G.

Herbert Stout Award for Visionary

Use of GIS in support of the City’s

Mapping Racial Equity program.

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

Fairfax County departmental

leaders took a giant step towards

addressing racial inequity in the

county juvenile justice system with

their One Fairfax plan.

What Works: National Landscape

various sources

In Tacoma and Oakland,

equity indexes have been

created that set a baseline for

tracking their respective

progress in shaping equity

outcomes in their communities.

Racial Equity Analyses

Race in institutional policiesFederal Housing

Administration

Interstate System

Streetlights

Process Product

What is a Racial Equity Tool?

Actively inserts

racial equity into

decision making

processes

When to use a Racial Equity Tool?

Often

Early

1• Desired results

2• Analysis of data

3• Community engagement

4• Strategies for racial equity

5• Implementation plan

6• Communications and accountability

What is a Racial Equity Tool process?

Who should use a Racial Equity Tool?

Elected officials Government staff Community

• Key decision-making opportunities that influence

outcomes.

• Cumulative impacts of many small choices can be

as significant as the impacts of big decisions.

• Less likely to replicate the status quo.

Choice Points

Reflections from the

San Jose Core Team

Reflections on Organizing

▪ How has the Learning Year process influenced how you view the work of

the City of San Jose?

▪ What benefit was there of learning about racial equity in a collective

setting with other jurisdictions?

▪ What opportunities do you see to infuse racial equity more deeply in

the operations and mission of San Jose?

▪ What counsel would you have for colleagues who are just learning

about the emphasis on racial equity about what to expect next?

Small Groups

▪ How do you imagine the work of San Jose will be stronger with a more

intentional focus on racial equity? Consider both internal efforts with staff

and leadership, and external efforts with partners and the community. What

reinforcements might be needed to overcome challenges?

▪ Drawing from your perspective and experience, how does the Core Team

ensure that interested departments can effectively explore their potential

contribution to this work through additional attention to racial equity?

▪ What will you need as a leader in the jurisdiction to be effectively

equipped to promote and support efforts to advance racial equity?

Large Group

▪ Top 3 takeaways from your small group discussion

▪ How can leadership support the implementation of

institutional transformation around racial equity?

▪ What resources will be most helpful to leverage this work,

from GARE and elsewhere?

The Road Forward

Advancing racial equity

Effective, inclusive

democracy

Contact information

Dwayne S. Marsh

dmarsh@raceforward.org

Leslie W. Zeitler

lzeitler@raceforward.org

www.racialequityalliance.org