In November, New Yorkers will decide on three ballot proposals that promises a new racial equity agenda for the city.
The Racial Justice Commission, formed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio last year, crafted the ballot questions after consulting with representatives of other cities, local agencies, and community groups and receiving public testimony from hundreds of New Yorkers.
A Columbia University panel will dive into the details – in a discussion Tuesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Room 1512 of Columbia University’s International Affairs Building, located at 420 West 118th St. in Harlem. You can register to attend on the event page online.
The proposals on the Nov. 8 ballot would work together to define the aspirations, tools, and accountability for racial justice in the city, according to Harold Miller, the commission's executive director. The ballot proposals ask voters – in “yes” or “no” fashion – whether to do three things:
Question 1: “Aspirations”
Add a preamble to the City Charter outlining the city’s values to work toward a “just and equitable city for all” New Yorkers. The preamble would say the city must try to remedy “past and continuing harms and to reconstruct, revise, and reimagine our foundations, structures, institutions, and laws to promote justice and equity for all New Yorkers.”
What it means: The preamble is intended to guide city agencies and officials in their work. It would begin: “We, the people of New York City, declare that our city is a multiracial democracy, and that our diversity is our strength." The new language would outline city goals – such as ensuring all residents have affordable housing, quality education, and resources to “prosper economically and build wealth.” It would also include an acknowledgement of the original Lenape tribe inhabiting the city, and ongoing structural racism. The full text of the preamble is on the Racial Justice Commission website.
Question 2: “Tools”
Create a new city agency and commission to lead a citywide planning process aimed at improving racial equity in the city.
What it means: The city and its agencies would have to craft “Racial Equity Plans” every two years, along with their strategies and goals to improve racial equity and “reduce or eliminate” the city’s racial disparities. A new Commission on Racial Equity appointed by city elected officials would propose priorities for the planning process, and a new Office of Racial Equity would coordinate it.
Question 3: “Accountability”
Require the city to create and annually measure a new “true cost of living” metric to inform policy decisions.
What it means: The measure would have to take into account needs like housing, food, childcare, transportation – not including extra public or private aid.
“What we do as a city on racial justice is such an important question,” Miller said. “I’m not advocating that we necessarily have the right answer. We have to have the conversation and we need as many New Yorkers to vote on what direction we need to go in.”
Tuesday’s panel includes general counsel Melanie Ash and chair Jennifer Jones Austin, who is also the CEO and executive director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.
They will be joined by Khary Lazarre-White, executive director of the Brotherhood Sister Sol, and Ansa Khan, a Columbia master’s student and representative from the School of International and Public Affairs’ Civic and Voter Engagement Coalition. Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, now a Columbia urban and public affairs professor, will moderate.
