{"id":326,"date":"2018-10-02T17:34:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T17:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.duke.edu\/9thstreetjournal\/?p=326"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:14","slug":"durham-city-council-approves-appointed-racial-equity-task-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2018\/10\/02\/durham-city-council-approves-appointed-racial-equity-task-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham City Council approves appointed Racial Equity Task Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

After expanding the group to increase diversity, the Durham City Council Monday unanimously approved the appointment of 17 city residents to its new Racial Equity Task Force. <\/span><\/p>\n

The group will make recommendations to the council on how to make Durham a more \u201cracially equitable\u201d city, according to Mayor Steve Schewel. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSystemic racism and racial inequality continue to permeate our American society and Durham is no exception,\u201d Schewel told the 9th Street Journal. \u201cWe have to make every effort to change that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

North Carolina Superior Court Judge Elaine O\u2019Neal, interim dean of the North Carolina Central University School of Law, will chair the task force. <\/span><\/p>\n

The group will likely investigate issues such as poverty, housing, policing and healthcare over its one-year term, Schewel said. Mayor Pro Tempore Jillian Johnson will serve as a non-voting advisor to the task force. <\/span><\/p>\n

First <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> by Schewel in February, the task force was originally supposed to have 12 members. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, the council agreed to a group of 17 after council member Mark-Anthony Middleton objected to the lack of black men in the original group of 12. \u00a0Schewel said<\/span> the council was planning to add two at-large black men to those elected, but they ultimately pushed that total up to four by expanding the task force to 17 members.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Durham Herald-Sun <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> that the task force consists of five black women, four black men, four white women, two white men and two Latina women. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sixty citizens applied to an open <\/span>call<\/span><\/a> for applicants that closed in August, Schewel said. Members of the committee were requested to have completed racial equity training within the previous five years or become trained by two months after being appointed. The city offered subsidies for the training. <\/span><\/p>\n

Councilmembers respond to NC Central shooting<\/b><\/p>\n

On Monday, N.C. Central students <\/span>protested<\/span><\/a> the shooting of DeAndre Ballard, who was a 23-year old senior when he was shot in the parking lot of his off-campus apartment in September. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ballard was shot by a security guard, whose company\u00a0<\/span>claims<\/span><\/a> the killing was in self-defense. <\/span><\/p>\n

Two members of the public voiced their concerns ahead of the vote on the racial equity task force, saying racial equity should include equity in policing. City Manager Thomas Bonfield emphasized that the shooting is still under investigation and that Durham police are still waiting on a number of lab tests. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlease do not label silence as non-vigilance and non-concern,\u201d Middleton added. \u201cThis investigation is ongoing and active.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman pushes contractors on diversity<\/b><\/p>\n

Councilmember DeDreana Freeman <\/span>continued<\/span><\/a> Monday to question potential city contractors about<\/span> their commitment to diversity. <\/span><\/p>\n

After a five-year study commissioned in 2013 that found only 3 percent of contracts it awarded were to minority and women-owned firms, the city set goals for minority and women business participation. Freeman said she was concerned by the lack of diversity at Transforce Inc., which was approved to sell the city 11 replacement dump trucks for a price tag of nearly $1.7 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my experience was outside the United States, living and working in 49 countries, so I\u2019m very well aware of what diversity can bring to a company,\u201d said Matt Walsh, Transforce vice president of sales. \u201cWe are making strong efforts to gain that diversity.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Walsh said Transforce has made \u201cmarked improvements\u201d in diversity in the two years he has been with the company. <\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman also asked for workforce diversity statistics from Freese and Nichols, Inc. for a $1.2 million engineering project and to accept a fencing donation for Durham Miracle Athletic Park from Miracle League of the Triangle, Inc. Bonfield pushed back on Freeman, saying that they traditionally had not required diversity statistics on those sorts of deals. <\/span><\/p>\n

In spite of Freeman\u2019s objections, The Council unanimously approved both contracts\u2014including Freeman\u2019s votes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman applauded Sharp Business Systems of North Carolina\u2014which was awarded a nearly $500,000<\/span> contract<\/span> for multi-functional devices\u2014for its commitment to diversity. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After expanding the group to increase diversity, the Durham City Council Monday unanimously approved the appointment of 17 city residents to its new Racial Equity…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-government","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nDurham City Council approves appointed Racial Equity Task Force - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2018\/10\/02\/durham-city-council-approves-appointed-racial-equity-task-force\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Durham City Council approves appointed Racial Equity Task Force - 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