2002 Misc Documents - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Ci~sPromoti • itiu`~:ti ~` ~~~~' CITY ACTION STEPS TO PR f OMOTE RACIAL EQUALITY _ What Can Your City Do? _g IYa6ona/LeagueolCiGas Here are a few examples of action steps cities have taken to promote racial equality and 1301 P~rnnsytvaniaAvenue, Nw justice to help you shape your action plans for the coming year. Visit the NLC web site at Washington, DC20004 www,nlc orQ to get more examples in NLC's booklet, Ensurin Race ual'tu which can www.n~c.org be downloaded as a PDF file. g.~~ t Raise Awareness Establish a citywide theme that supports the city's commitment to racial equality and use that theme extensively to increase attention to the commitment - e.g. No Room for Racism; Getting Past Denial; Beyond Tolerance; Working to Create A Bias Free City; Honoring Differences. Create a section on your city web site that highlights your commitment, shares information about progress, and creates links to other sources of useful informa- tion to raise awareness. • Create high visibility "cultures and customs" displays in city hall or other public buildings to increase awareness of different cultures, different customs, and strategies for learning from and celebrating those differences. Develop resources /tools that reaffirm the city's commitment to ensuring racial equality and distribute those tools broadly - e.g., a bookmark with the city's pledges for the year distributed to schools and businesses; bumper stickers dis- tributed in schools, businesses, and at city hall; a pledge statement included on all city publications during the year. Highlight the city's commitment to ensuring racial equality in a "state of the city address." Create a racial equality task force to design the city's effort and to involve a diverse group of community residents in sustaining the commitment. Work with your public library to establish a citywide book club to raise awareness about racial equality and serve as a basis for discussion groups. The Seattle Public Library pioneered the city book club concept which has been used in many cities. The city of Chicago launched a citywide book club in 2001 beginning with the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Rochester, New York, used the book A Lesson Before Dying by Emest Gaines to stimulate discussion. Organize ethnic festivals that bring community residents together to recognize and celebrate the city's diversity. Septembf~r 23-29, 2002