Paths vary as Olympia and Lacey journey to address social justice, equity and inclusion
Following George Floyd’s murder on May 25, 2020, an historic outpouring of anti-racist activism gripped the nation. Books about Black/American history and how to combat racism soared to the top of bestseller lists. Banks, businesses, local governments and nonprofits established work groups, commissions and trainings on “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Most have found this work harder, and progress slower, than they expected.
In Olympia, the city council decided in June 2020 to create an equity advisory commission. This coming Tuesday, nearly 16 months later, it will consider a proposed ordinance to actually do so. In the time between these two actions, the city created a four-member citizens’ work group that has labored mightily to listen to the broadest possible range of community members, and to define the duties of the commission.
If passed, the work group’s proposed ordinance will create an 11-member Social Justice and Equity Commission that will make recommendations to the city council on “policy, planning operations and complaint findings.” It will “give voice to the perspectives and needs of marginalized community members and the impacts of city decision-making on those groups,” and “provide guidance to the city’s Equity and Inclusion staff.”
It also will act in a quasi-judicial role by investigating complaints of “unlawful discrimination,” and issues related to racial, social justice, human rights or other forms of discrimination. Mediation, referral to legal remedies, and connections to social services will be provided, and “findings of fact” will be issued on unresolved complaints. We think this aspect of its work may need closer examination to ensure its legality and effectiveness.
Because of the acknowledged “extensive scope” of all this work, the proposal includes a recommendation to establish a separate board or commission to review complaints against police. That, too, will require careful thought and inspire debate.
Lacey’s eight-member citizens’ Commission on Equity, which includes a 16-year-old youth representative, was created after a similar but briefer process, and has been up and running since June. It plans to hold “listening sessions” with Lacey residents on Nov. 15 and 20, and has made invitations available in Spanish and Korean as well as English. Commissioners are already digging into city policies and practices; a recent meeting included a discussion with the city’s Human Resources department about the city’s hiring processes. Future meetings will engage with other departments, including the police.
Following this information-gathering phase, the Commission will write its strategic plan.
These two approaches to creating Equity Commissions reflect two distinctly different civic cultures. Lacey is more racially diverse and more immigrant-rich. It also is less liberal. Olympia is an older, whiter city, but its downtown has been the epicenter of racial justice protests and police clashes. Olympia opens its arms wider to its large, visible LGBTQ community and to other complex constituencies.
It’s no surprise that these two civic cultures are taking different routes in their equity work. Olympia’s is a winding road; Lacey is on a straighter path. But both are headed in the right direction, and we are grateful to the citizen volunteers and city staff who are persisting in this long overdue effort.
We hope both cities will stay grounded in what the murder of George Floyd showed so many Americans about the depth and depravity of anti-Black racism. All forms of discrimination are painful and should be actively combated. But our nation’s history of slavery, followed by violently enforced Jim Crow disenfranchisement and segregation, redlining, and the mass incarceration of Black men, have embedded anti-Blackness as a foundational feature of American society. The struggle to end it should remain a primary mission of both commissions.