Agenda 01-18-22; 6-a - One Orange Countywide Racial Equity Framework

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4 WHY RACE? Race is a social const uct and not biological, as people often think. Defining acial catego ies has changed ove the yea s. Issues involving ace a e often "the elephant in the oom" but a ely discussed with a sha ed uncle standing.To advance acial equity, it is necessa y we talk about ace. In the United States,while ace, income, and wealth a e closely connected, acial inequity is not just about income. Even when income is the cont olling facto , the e still exist many inequities ac oss multiple indicato s of success, including education, jobs, housing, health and inca ce ation. It is impo tant to talk about ace to advance acial equity. To advance acial equity, we must no malize the conve cation about ace and ope ationalize st ategizes fo advancing acial equity. In advancing acial equity, we will also be building systems that allow us to add ess income and wealth inequity and ecognize the bias that exists based on gende , sexual o ientation, ability, age, and eligion. Focusing on ace allows us to develop a f amewo k, tools, and esou ces that apply to othe a eas of ma ginalization, ecognizing that diffe ent st ategies will be necessa y to achieve equity in othe a eas. RESULTS-ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY IMPROVES OUR COLLECTIVE SUCCESS Focusing on acial equity is c itical in helping us achieve diffe ent outcomes fo ou communities.The goal is notjust to eliminate the inequities between whites and people of colo , but to inc ease and enhance the success of all g oups.To eliminate dispa ities,we must st ategize based on the expe iences of communities being uncle se ved by existing institutions,systems,and st uctu es.To uncle stand the expe ience of those communities,they must be included and engaged. In this p ocess,we move past looking at dispa ities and find acialized systems that a e costly,Supp ess outcomes,and life chances fo all g oups.Systems that a e failing communities of colo a e failing us all by supp essing life chances and outcomes. The One O ange Countywide Racial Equity F amewo k: Catalyst fo Moving Fo wa d is designed with the commitment of uncove ing and add essing implicit biases in ou ju isdictions to ensu a that ace no longe can be used to p edict life outcomes in the O ange County community. Since August 2020, a multi- ju isdictional wo kg oup collabo ated on this f amewo k using GARE methodology and listening to the community.The wo kg oup p esented a ecommendation to develop a countywide f amewo k to elected officials of the Towns of Ca bo o,Chapel Hill,and Hillsbo ough and O ange County between Octobe 2020 and Janua y 2021. Upon eceiving suppo t f om the elected officials, the multi-ju isdictional wo kg oup fo med sub- committees and began wo king on this f amewo k fo change. Sub-committees began esea ching, collabo ating,compiling findings and d afting sections of the f amewo k in Ap it 2021.The fi st d aft of the f amewo k was sha ed with elected officials and othe stakeholde s in June 2021. This wo king document embodies acial equity as the st ategy fo change. The change mate ializes using five pilla s — 1) T aining, 2) Community Engagement, 3) Racial Equity Index, 4) Racial Equity Assessment Lens and 5) Evaluation/Accountability. Each ju isdiction will use this f amewo k as guidance to take action on a county and ju isdictional level.