How does local government make up for centuries of harm done to its Black residents? The first step is to make sure that the legacy of inequity has actually come to a halt.
A Black chamber of commerce, more law enforcement accountability, and data collection are among the ways to make that happen, according to an audit presented at last night’s Community Reparations Commission meeting.
The “Cease Harm Comprehensive Audit” analyzed mountains of public data, programs, practices and other internal processes from the city and county from 2020 through 2023. The goal of the audit is to pinpoint inequities in the City of Asheville and Buncombe County’s government and identity solutions to those shortcomings.
Carter Development Group led the study, which was commissioned by the Reparations Commission in late 2022 for about $175,000.
The nearly two-hour presentation, led by Adrian Carter and his colleagues, divided its findings into the same focus areas used by the Reparations Commission: economic development, education, housing, health and wellness, and criminal justice. The audit also offered insights on the city and county’s workforce and approach to equity and inclusion.
One big takeaway from the audit is that the city and county lack the data collection necessary to make equitable choices about who is participating and benefiting from public programs.
“You have to begin to collect this type of data to ensure representation. How can you assess representation? How can you ensure access? How can you ensure knowledge if you're not collecting the data to be able to measure that to begin with?” Carter said.
Another takeaway is that both governments lack wide-scale racial equity training. The audit also concluded that the city and county need to rework their hiring and promotion processes to avoid enabling “covert, latent, and explicit biases” in the workplace.
Here are the major findings and recommendations, broken down by focus area.
Economic development
The city and county are both “persistently” using repeat vendors for government contracts, which “limits opportunities for minority-owned businesses,” Carter said. More than 70% of vendors contracted by the county have been repeat customers, according to the audit.
To remedy this, Carter suggested creating a “Utilization & Industry Dashboard” that tracks who the city and county are contracting with and how much money is being spent. In addition to promoting more transparency, the dashboard could also help small business owners position themselves better to obtain government contracts in the future that they may not currently be equipped to handle, Carter said.
Adrienne Hibbert, another member of the Carter Development Group, recommended that Buncombe County begin conducting a disparity study to ensure that it has race-conscious procurement policies for its vendors. The City of Asheville has commissioned disparity studies since 2018.
Finally, Hibbert suggested the establishment of a Buncombe County Black Chamber of Commerce. A successful chamber would be created by Black business leaders and run as a nonprofit organization, she said.
“There are many Black chambers of commerce across the country,” Hibbert said. “As many Black businesses that you guys have within the city, I think they're just looking for a place to commune.” A Black chamber, Hibbert argued, would create a “safe space for access and opportunity” among Black-owned businesses.
Education
In 2023, the county invested $3.8 million through its Early Childhood Education and Development Fund and has allocated more than $3 million annually since 2021. In the last two years, the city has invested $731,209 in community partnerships with the goal of bridging the racial disparities, i.e., the opportunity gap in the Asheville City Schools system.
But are the investments in education working? Not necessarily, said Jen Felton, an educator and member of Carter Development Group.
“We see where you're doing the work, but we can't see the things that are headed,” Felton said.
Felton recommended implementing a universal assessment tool, a subject matter expert, and more streamlined data collection to make sure that investments are being targeted effectively.
She also recommended requiring cultural sensitivity training for school resource officers to reduce the disproportionate level of disciplinary measures applied disproportionately to Black students.
Buncombe County could also pursue legislative changes that would require cultural sensitivity training for faculty, require culturally relevant pedagogy in textbook selection, and require core subject faculty members to reflect the student demographics, Felton said.
Housing
There is a significant Black home ownership gap in Buncombe County. In the city of Asheville, the homeownership rate is 37.8% for Black people versus 69.9% for white people. This puts Asheville as having the 151st highest Black homeownership gap among metro areas nationwide, Beverly Cooper of the Carter Development Group shared.
Moreover, the Black median household income is $22,312, compared to a white median household income of $70,209, meaning homes for purchase in the area are not affordable for many Black households.
A way to improve this disparity is to create more affordable housing and incentive programs that support residents who make below the 50% Area Median Income (which is $29,750 or below for a one-person household), Cooper said. She also recommended that the city and county “establish good housing policy” through collaboration with the Dogwood Health Trust and the newly restructured Continuum of Care, a membership organization that works to reduce homelessness.
Health and wellness
Many of the recommendations for health and wellness centered around addressing food insecurity. That’s because, according to the audit, 29% of Black households are food insecure and more than 31,000 county residents live in food deserts, meaning affordable and quality fresh food is unavailable.
To combat these food access issues, Ashley Carter of the Carter Development Group recommended increasing access to indoor winter markets in Black communities, improving advertisement and tracking of SNAP-approved opportunities, and creating a “Healthy Corner Store Initiative” that would provide healthier options for food insecure communities.
The city and county’s parks departments received praise for its range of programming and accessibility to the Black community. It could further improve by increasing its number of indoor facilities, data collection, and opportunities for community health and fitness challenges, Carter said.
“We see that there's programs available. So now we just need to track and see who is attending these programs. What are the demographics of those people that are coming and also how often are they occurring?” Carter said.
Criminal justice
Sean Walter McDaniels of Carter Development Group said his main concern of current law enforcement practices is training that lacks measurable outcomes, which he said can “potentially lead to biased behaviors in law enforcement practices.”
He recommended that the Asheville Police Department implement annual race-related training that includes a measurable approach. He also urged all law enforcement professionals to pay attention to microaggressions and implicit biases.
McDaniels also suggested using volunteer citizens to help with scenario-based training, and to use those training scenarios to pinpoint microaggressions.
So for example, McDaniels said, “If there’s a civil disturbance between an employee and housekeeper that doesn't want to leave, we'll have a white male, a black female, and a black male and we’ll watch that officer’s microaggressions through the recorded data to see exactly how are they actually engaging these individuals.”
Next steps?
The findings presented to the Community Reparations Commission are preliminary. The information from the audit will be reviewed by city and county staff next. After the Carter Development Group receives feedback from the city, county, and Reparations Commission, it will finalize its recommendations and present those in a follow-up presentation to county and city government officials.
In order to accommodate this process, the city and county have extended the timeline of the Community Reparations Commission through the end of June 2024. The Community Reparations Commission will have its next meeting on February 19.
