Local equity groups are just getting under way, and already we are eager for results

We are now awash in councils or commissions devoted to equity: Thurston County’s Council on Racial Equity and Inclusion, the city of Lacey’s Commission on Equity, and the city of Olympia’s Social Justice and Equity Commission.

Lacey’s was the first out of the starting gate in June 2021, the county’s held its first meeting last month, and Olympia’s has had three monthly meetings so far.

Each struggled through long deliberations about how to select members, and what its mission would be. It took a lot of talking just to get these commissions up and running.

Each has a different flavor, and a different spin on its mission. Olympia’s is to “eliminate racism and fulfill human rights for a just and equitable Olympia for all people.” That’s ambitious.

Lacey’s is more practical. It has plans “to identify and advance opportunities to create a more welcoming community; to continue critical conversations on race and equity; to seek more participation from underrepresented community members; and to identify gaps and barriers that prevent full participation in government and public policy.”

The Thurston County Council on Racial Equity and Inclusion’s mission is to “advise and engage the County Commission and Board of Health and elected and appointed officials on matters of racial equity and inclusion within all county services and the policies, processes, and practices used to accomplish the mission of Thurston County government.”

The three missions, taken together, make quite a pile of words.

Lacey’s has already met with the heads of various city departments, held listening sessions and focus groups, met with the city’s youth advisory committee, and advised the city council on various issues. It is working on a strategic equity plan, due next year.

Olympia’s ambitious ordinance called for its commission to be a quasi-judicial body that could adjudicate complaints of discrimination, similar to the state Human Rights Commission. But the city then learned that only bigger cities, such as Tacoma, are authorized by the state to do that. Now it is working to figure out a Plan B.

Also, in addition to a staff person to support its Commission, Olympia has two other full-time staff positions devoted to equity work. One is in the Human Resources Department, another is in the Parks and Recreation Department.

The County already had an internal Racial Equity Workgroup that convenes well-attended “lunch and learn” sessions and an employee book group. The new council is focused mainly on county policy-making.

It’s hard to know what to hope for, or what to expect from these three new organizations beyond more talking. And that is already frustrating people who are understandably impatient for change.

What Black, indigenous and other racial minorities want is shrinkage in racial disparities in infant mortality, life expectancy, educational success, earnings, treatment by police and the criminal justice system, and home ownership.

They would want Americans to learn the full history of our country and to help create a multiracial democracy.

But there’s just no getting around the fact that more talking – and listening – are necessary to achieve those goals. That’s why local governments all over the country are convening commissions like ours.

Few places are ahead of us in seeing results, but there are rays of hope.

In Evanston, Illinois, a very small but groundbreaking reparations effort is using tax revenue from cannabis sales to provide $25,000 in assistance to Black homebuyers. Eureka, California is returning a 202-acre Wiyot tribal village site to the tribe.

It’s a safe bet that a lot of talking preceded those actions.

But we’re among the impatient. We want all three local commissions to accelerate the progress from talk to results.

For that to happen, we think people of color should do most of the talking, and white people should do most of the listening.