Media release
May 2, 2021
Contact Nick DelleDonne
703-929-6656
The DC Comprehensive Choice, Racial Equity or Not
On Tuesday, May 4, the City Council will take its first step to determine whether Racial Equity is or is not a priority, a core principle, a lens we use for guiding the future development of our city.
If the Council votes on first reading to approve the Comprehensive Plan Bill as currently amended, they will be voting to subordinate Racial Equity, Black, and Brown families of our city in favor of the interests of local, national, and international financial capital. They will act with cowardice by voting to punt the question of Racial Equity as a priority in public policy five plus years into the future. Punting it to a time when another 20,000 to 40,000 Black and Brown residents will be displaced from our city, as they have been over the last 10 years. We just cannot wait five years to have a plan that prioritizes Racial Equity.
On April 20th, the Council's Office on Racial Equity (CORE) reviewed and analyzed both the Comprehensive Plan bill submitted by the Mayor's Director of Planning Andrew Trueblood and the current version marked up by the Council's Committee of the Whole (COW).
In reference to the Comprehensive Plan Bill submitted by Director Trueblood, CORE wrote in its report to Council, “Bill 24-0001 will exacerbate racial inequities in the District of Columbia”.
In reference to the COW markup, CORE wrote, “is not enough to disrupt the status quo of deep racial inequities in the District of Columbia… fails to address racism, an ongoing public health crisis in the District.”
Neither version of the bill meets the standard of planning and development in which we can be proud. Nor should either version be enacted by our nation’s capital, especially after experiencing a year of Racial Reckoning and a global pandemic. Painting “Black Lives Matter” on a street is not enough to lead a nation. We need the Council and Mayor today to get back to work and provide a Comp Plan which CORE can affirmatively conclude a Bill that “fundamentally advances Racial Equity in the District of Columbia.” A Bill in which we can be proud.
In 1877 Congress had a chance to choose Racial Equity but instead chose a compromise which led to the removal of troops in the south and effectively ended Reconstruction. This compromise made room for the birth of Jim Crow. On Tuesday, our Council will face a similar vote on Racial Equity. It will be no less critical for our city and, by example, for our nation.
We urge DC’s Council to show courage; postpone their vote until they have a Comprehensive Plan Bill and related instruments in place, such that CORE can declare their Bill “fundamentally advances Racial Equity in the District of Columbia.”
Finally, we should not be fooled, nor distracted. The Council’s choice on Tuesday is not about bike lanes, tall buildings, redlining in the last century, city finances, vibrant streetscapes, nor about affordable housing. The Council’s choice is about whether we value Racial Equity or not.
William Jordan,
Resident Ward 1’s Columbia Heights Neighborhood,
Member DC Grassroot Planning Coalition.
Chris Williams
Renee Bowser
Chris Otten
Andrea Rosen
Nick DelleDonne