URBAN AGENDA: Those Who Created the System “Created It to Persist,” But Our City the Power to Push Back
“Those who created the System created it to persist.” Without question, these words which are a paraphrase of a spoken advisory given to me in the spring of 2021 as I began serving as Chair of New York City’s Racial Justice Commission, are sage counsel and stern warning for anyone committed to justice work. Said to me as the work of our commission was getting underway by former counsel for South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the dismantling of Apartheid in South Africa, these words served as an ever-present reminder throughout our deliberations that the work of overcoming systemic racism and inequity must be enduring and relentless if the fruits of our labor are to prevail.
Sadly, it didn’t take long for counsel’s caution to be realized. In the days, weeks and months following the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, promises to advance and uphold racial equity in every pillar of our society were made by just about every sector and every segment of the population. It is estimated that nearly $50 billion in programming, grantmaking and loans was collectively committed by America’s 50 largest public companies and their foundations alone. Yet here we are just four years later with the visual of the horrific and brutal killing of George Floyd still fresh in our minds and the “System” persists. It has been reported that since 2020 only $4.5 billion has been contributed by these big businesses to nonprofit, community-based efforts aimed at advancing equity .
They aren’t the only institutions that have come up short. In fact, other institutions—the judicial and legislative branches of government chief among them— have moved further from the goalpost of fair and equal access and opportunity, taking a sledgehammer to the levers of equity that were stood up across the United States better than a half century ago.
The Supreme Court’s decisions ending affirmative action in higher education and providing pathways leading to the further erosion of voter protections for African Americans; lawsuits seeking to block grantmaking investments earmarked for Black, female-led businesses that often struggle to access capital, and to enjoin reparations for Black Americans harmed by institutional racism in housing segregation making their way through the courts; laws passed in 27 states since the 2020 election restricting voting rights; legislation in several states making it illegal to teach Black history; and mounting attacks on DEI in corporate America and higher education with both schools and companies ending decades’ long commitments to ensuring people harmed by racism have seats in both the classroom and at the table all provide evidence beyond any standard of guilt or liability that those who created the System created it to persist.
Fortunately, here in New York City in 2022 the electorate demonstrated foresight and wisdom in taking actions that have the greatest chance of withstanding direct and veil threats that would undermine the pursuit of equity at the municipal level of government. By voting in 2022 for racial justice measures put forth by the NYC Racial Justice Commission to change the City Charter to mandate the dismantling of structural racism in government functioning, New Yorkers called for a reset and made equity foundational law.
A substantial majority voted to include in the Charter a preamble that acknowledges the “grave injustices and atrocities” first experienced by indigenous people and enslaved persons and subsequently by marginalized people and communities, and that commits the City to remedying these harms and reconstructing government to promote justice and equity for all. In so doing New Yorkers made the pursuit of fairness and opportunity for all the law.
By declaring New York City a multi-racial democracy where all residents should have the opportunity to live fully and with dignity and requiring that the City be held accountable in perpetuity for governing to that end, with their votes New Yorkers evidenced their sincere commitment to this vision.
Lastly, by voting overwhelmingly to mandate that the City calculate what it truly costs for individuals and families to live here and adequately meet their daily needs, plan for their futures and save for rainy days, they signaled that no New Yorker, particularly those who disproportionately have lower incomes and less assets due to structural racism, should have to struggle all their lives because of structural economic deprivation that inhibits their ability to build wealth and achieve economic security.
By changing the Charter, New Yorkers changed the structure that has long upheld the systems that enable racism to persist. Now, our city government is perennially tasked with implementing the people’s mandate, and we, the people, must ensure they do. New York City can be a beacon in the darkness of these times, but only if we live up to and fulfill the promises contained in the Charter revisions.
Jennifer Jones Austin, Esq., is Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director at FPWA. Her guest column is sponsored by the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.
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