Carrboro sticks with diversity and equity while others shrink away

GOVERNMENT

CARRBORO–Despite American businesses and governmental bodies backing away from DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Carrboro will stay the course and “slap it on the table” for the world to see, stated Mayor Barbara Foushee.

At the council’s Jan. 7 meeting Anita Jones-McNair, Carrboro’s Chief Race and Equity Officer, presented a report on the past year’s race and equity accomplishments. That led into a discussion of how Carrboro can maintain its momentum when the national current seems to be flowing against such policies.

“I look at UNC and other leading institutions dismantling the work,” said Council member Randee Haven O’Donnell. “How do you think Carrboro should move forward? What kinds of visioning can we do in a post-DEI world?”

“At this point, we don’t know what it will look like,” said Jones-McNair. If Carrboro’s left to its own devices, things can proceed as they are but policy changes at the state and federal level may make a difference. “We don’t know how it’s going to trickle down.”

Jones-McNair said Carrboro’s goals are simple and worthwhile: “being inclusive, a sense of belonging and welcoming, just making sure we’re equitably providing service. Those things are foundational to the work we do on a daily basis.” The work will still be necessary but “we may have to do it slightly differently.”

Race and equity accomplishments

Jones-McNair’s presentation listed some of the town’s race and equity achievements for 2024. For instance, the town has used $300,000 in ARPA funding to help 135 families with back rent, housing, utilities, transportation, child care, and Internet access. The presentation included multiple other successes:

Going door to door to make lower-income and black residents aware of Carrboro’s free home-weatherization program.
Co-hosting Camp Ignite for high school-aged females interested in the fire service. Approximately 65% of camp attendees were minorities.
Launching the Boost Carrboro training and support program for local businesses.
Participating with Chapel Hill and the Orange County Bail Bond Justice Project in the Criminal Justice Debt Program. Low-income residents who qualify can get court fees and costs paid off as well as paying the DMV fees required to restore a license.
Bringing the Bim Street bathroom into compliance with the ADA.
Completing sidewalk and curb ramp improvements on W. Poplar Street, including ADA improvements.
Diversifying internment options at Westwood Cemetery.
Using software to track the location of projects and services to ensure the town meets all neighborhoods’ needs.
Installing a historical marker to honor Manly McCauley, a 19th-century lynching victim.
Renaming Carr Street as Braxton Foushee Street.
Naming the town’s new library complex after Robert Drakeford, Carrboro’s first black mayor.
Launching Carrboro’s language access plan helps residents who don’t speak English well access government information, services and meetings.

Winning respect

Councilor Eliazar Posada said four weeks ago he had been in Salt Lake City meeting with conservatives and church leaders, “folks we don’t quite see eye-to-eye with on other things.” At dinner he’d been seated next to the chief of staff for one of Utah’s senators and discovered the chief of staff’s mother-in-law was a Carrboro resident.

“In our conversation,” Posada said, “one of the things that they kept talking about is how Carrboro is really focusing on racial equity and justice and living to our values. It was one of my proudest moments. When the chief of staff of a conservative senator from the state of Utah is praising Carrboro because of the work that you and your team and everyone in Carrboro does — phenomenal.”

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press