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1 <br /> HUMAN RIGHTS & RELATIONS <br /> Cultivating Community Through Social Justice <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> TO: Board of County Commissioners <br /> FROM: Annette Moore, Director <br /> RE: Racial Equity Progress Report <br /> DATE: September 15, 2020 <br /> In the 2019-20 budget, the Orange Board of Commissioners approved funds to support <br /> a team of Orange County staff to be a part of a GARE North Carolina Learning <br /> Community of government jurisdiction working to advance racial equity by addressing <br /> institution and structural racism. Each jurisdiction made a one-year commitment to the <br /> learning process. <br /> in May, with the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protest, awareness of the <br /> need for racial equity has grown exponentially around the Country. In June, the Health <br /> Director, Quintana Stewart, declared structural racism a health crisis in Orange County. <br /> The Board of County Commissioners also passed a resolution condemning the murder <br /> of George Floyd and committing to dismantling structural and institutional racism in <br /> Orange County government and throughout Orange County. The Board directed the <br /> Department of Human Rights and Relations to lead the One Orange Racial Equity <br /> Team in developing a Racial Equity Plan using the Government Alliance on Race and <br /> Equity Model to bring a first draft of the plan back to the Board in September 2020. <br /> Although the pandemic has impacted the work of the GARE core team, it has also <br /> created an opportunity for us to reimagine how we move forward advancing racial equity <br /> as a region. Instead of looking at racial equity from a jurisdictional position, we believe <br /> we should be looking at racially equity collaboratively both within the county and <br /> regionally. In Orange County, working collaboratively we could be working to break <br /> down not only institutional racism but also systems racisms. Other regional partners are <br /> Durham City, Durham County, Caswell County, Greensboro, and Raleigh. <br /> This week we met with Chapel Hill and Carrboro to discuss having one Countywide <br /> Racial Equity Plan that would also include different local community strategies. Now <br /> that Hillsborough is a member of GARE, we are hoping to invite them to be a part of this <br /> a collaboration. We could leverage our shared resources with one another. This <br /> thinking would also carry over regionally as well. We believe the attached Report <br /> outlines the steps that we will take to put a comprehensive countywide racial equity plan <br /> together that is not only data-driven but keeps us accountable for the work we are <br /> Mailing Address: Office Address: <br /> P.O.Box 8181 1000 Corporate Dr.,Suite 400 <br /> Hillsborough,NC 27278 Hillsborough,NC 27278 <br /> Telephone(919)24S-2487 • Fax(919)890-0398 <br />