Title
Resolution adopting the Ten Commitments of Racial Equity.
(Cablecast Public Hearing held 7/1/20)
Body
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council believes every person has the freedom to feel valued and respected and anyone who threatens the freedom of one individual threatens the freedom for all of us; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council recognizes the history of racism in our country and how it has led to many current -day disparities in education, health and safety, job attainment, income and wealth; housing and healthcare; disproportionate incarceration rates for people of color; and other pernicious systems of injustice. The City Council further recognizes the existence of white privilege, meaning the systemic advantages that white people have relative to non-white people; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council recognizes that racial inequities have become institutionalized in the policies and practices of many agencies, governmental and otherwise; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council recognizes that the issues of racial equity must be addressed proactively and deliberately in the course of decision making to increase the success for all groups and the need to meet people who are actively trying to understand oppression and bias, where they are in their learning journeys while approaching them with compassion and kindness to support their growth; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council recognizes the need to examine seemingly neutral policies and practices to determine whether they are contributing to racial inequity and, where needed, change or eliminate the policy or practice as the city has a long history of decision and policy making that has resulted in classist and racist outcomes; and,
Whereas, the City of Pittsburgh strives to partner with other community partners to learn about and address issues of racial equity including, but not limited to, the University of Pittsburgh, B-PEP, GARE and community organizations representing people of color; and,
Whereas, the City of Pittsburgh collaborates with other municipalities as members of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, Cities United and All-In Cities to advance racial equity through mindful governance practices, recognizing racial inequities are embedded into government and that racial inequities across all indicators for success are deep and pervasive. Additionally, other groups of people are still marginalized based on gender, sexual orientation, class, religion, and age, among other factors. Focusing on racial equity provides the opportunity for local government to create frameworks, tools and resources that can also be applied to other marginalized people; and,
Whereas, the City of Pittsburgh is exploring and instituting methods that have worked in cities around the country to update, eliminate or create government policies, practices and programs specifically to dismantle existing racial disparities; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council acknowledges potential difficulties in assessing the impact of decisions on racial equity, but is committed to applying a racial equity lens in a systematic way in its decision-making processes with the goal of continuing to build an inclusive, equitable community and ensure a vibrant and healthy community for all Pittsburgh residents and visitors; and,
Whereas, the City’s Gender Equity Commission’s report, titled, “Pittsburgh’s Inequality Across Gender and Race”, found that Pittsburgh’s African-American residents could move to almost any other U.S. city of comparable size and enjoy a better quality of life; and,
Whereas, this is due to how deeply systemic racism is embedded in the culture, the fabric and the infrastructure and residential patterns of the City of Pittsburgh; and,
Whereas, in Pittsburgh, a century of intentional decisions has locked most of Pittsburgh’s African-American residents in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty lacking any real opportunity, where the overwhelming majority of Pittsburgh’s African-American residents live; and,
Whereas, these neighborhoods, explicitly the result of racial discrimination, create conditions for their African-American residents that lead to disproportionate and intergenerational poverty and their suffering from chronic diseases, lowered lifespans and premature death; and,
Whereas, African-American women suffer higher rates of maternal mortality, poverty, lower rates of college readiness and lower rates of employment; and,
Whereas, African-American men face higher rates of occupational segregation, homicide, cancer and cardiovascular diseases; and,
Whereas, these inequitable conditions, concentrated so heavily and so squarely upon a single group of the City’s residents and in specific neighborhoods, has created both an economic and a public health crisis; and,
Whereas, nothing short of the collective mobilization of all of the City’s resources and strategies holds any hope of resolving these crises; and,
Whereas, the time for half-measures must come to an end; and,
Whereas, Pittsburgh City Council has declared “Racism to be a public health crisis in Pittsburgh”.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH HEREBY ADOPTS THE FOLLOWING TEN COMMITMENTS TO RACIAL EQUITY.
1. The City of Pittsburgh commits to eliminate race-based disparities across all of its departments and governmental units;
2. The City of Pittsburgh commits itself to the promotion, inclusion and engagement of all community members, especially African-Americans and those who live in African-American neighborhoods;
3. The City of Pittsburgh commits itself to deliberately and systematically applying a racial equity lens in all of its decision-making henceforth, with the goal of continuing to build an equitable community and ensure a healthy community for all Pittsburgh residents and visitors;
4. The City of Pittsburgh commits to explore coaching and training opportunities focused on eliminating systemic racism and white privilege;
5. The City of Pittsburgh commits to furthering racial equity in all of the City’s municipal authorities and special-purpose government agencies and promoting racial equity to the larger Pittsburgh community including its civic, corporate, non-profit, faith-based and community-based organizations;
6, The City of Pittsburgh commits to utilizing racial equity tools and implementing best practices as advocated by the City’s national partners such as GARE, Cities United, National League of Cities and PolicyLink;
7. The City of Pittsburgh commits to convene and participate in ongoing community conversations to facilitate racial reconciliation, especially as it pertains to public safety services;
8. The City of Pittsburgh commits to investing City resources based upon community need and racial equity in such as areas as contracting, employment, entrepreneurship and housing.
9. The City of Pittsburgh commits to transforming African-American communities from communities of concentrated poverty to stable, mixed-income communities;
10. The City of Pittsburgh commits itself to the elimination of race-based disparities as indicated by the Social Determinants of Health and creating an inclusive and sustainable City consistent with the p4 Pittsburgh Initiative and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.