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The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors could on Tuesday approve forming an Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice to address equity, bias and inclusion in county government and beyond, with an eye toward a county government that uses equity and social justice to inform governing decisions.
The Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice, as proposed by County Supervisors John Gioia and Federal Glover, would be part of the County Administrator’s Office, and would be directly accountable to the Board of Supervisors. Its overarching mission would be to promote equity and eliminate disparities in Contra Costa County – especially within its governmental operations, including budget decisions — with the initial priority to eliminate structural racism.
The office’s main tasks would be to better coordinate, strengthen and expand the county’s existing work on equity and inclusion, and to partner with community organizations and leaders, cities and school districts to implement that work.
Gioia, Glover and the other supervisors had a discussion about this concept in June. Gioia and Glover said then that they had been talking with community groups for a while about it, and that these groups, as well as county departments, have already been laying the groundwork for better advancing these social equity concerns. An Office of Racial Justice and Social Equity, Gioia said, would institutionalize the process.
The first municipal Office of Racial Justice and Social Equity was founded in Seattle in 2015, and other cities and counties have since followed suit. Oakland established its Department of Race and Equity in 2016, and San Francisco its Office of Racial Equity in July 2019.
In a separate but related move, the Contra Costa supervisors on Tuesday could also vote to approve a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis.
The Board of Supervisors’ meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, and the virtual meeting can be accessed here.
By Bay City News Service
By Bay City News Service
By Bay City News Service
The headline says “Racial Equity and Social Justice”, whereas in the article (in the 4th paragraph), Gioia calls it an “Office of Racial Justice and Social Equity”. I suppose it is Gioia who has his adjectives confused.
But anytime you have to put adjectives in front of Equity and Justice, to qualify what KIND of Equity and Justice is being pursued, it begs the question – what about the OTHER kinds of Equity and Justice?
Say, I’ve got an idea, how about we strive for Justice and Equality for all? No adjectives or qualifiers needed. Just plain Justice. Just plain Equality. (As a side comment, I intentionally used Equality, rather than Equity. Equality of opportunity, and treatment under the law, rather than guaranteeing “equity” of outcomes.)
We are a nation of individuals, with God-given rights and freedoms. Not a nation of separated racial groups, separated classes, and political subsets.
Agree with C.R. Mudgeon. We don’t need another layer of bureaucracy to prove how “woke” we are. How much power will this new office have? Because it Is all about power and control. Welcome to the cancel culture, where your life can be destroyed because you have been condemned by the thought police.
The Supervisors should have done due diligence in researching Critical Race Theory, white fragility & all the other divisive dictums. None of these things has brought us closer together.
We won’t have racial equality until we see people as people rather than by the color of their skin or of their origins. Ironically these Social Justice, or whatever you want to call them, agendas do the opposite. We do not need another layer of bureaucracy in our government.