Letter to the Editors - Marin IJ
Editor,
Thank you for Lorenzo Morotti’s coverage of Marin’s struggles for racial justice and your 3-3-21 editorial urging Mill Valley leaders to prioritize racial equity.
Decades of discriminatory practices—whites-only deed restrictions, redlining, discriminatory lending practices…—have made Marin the State’s most segregated and racially inequitable County. Modern day racial discrimination (by police, in schools, in government hiring and contracting…) might escape the notice of white majorities in our segregated cities. But Black and Brown community members provide heartbreaking accounts of daily racial profiling, othering and exclusion that are borne out by statistical evidence of deep disparities in law enforcement, education, economic opportunity, and other aspects of civic life.
Some argue that, with an 87% white population, Mill Valley cannot have a significant problem with racial disparities. But pointing to the City’s lack of diversity to disprove the existence of racism is like pointing to a charred forest to disprove the existence of fire.
Mill Valley’s former DEI Task Force has been dismayed to see the City’s stated commitment to racial equity devolve into a PR campaign. The City’s so-called racial equity “work plan” contains virtually no goals, objectives, timelines, performance or accountability measures. Meanwhile, the City is busily publicizing a list of events and actions by third parties—for which the City can claim no responsibility—as evidence of its own progress toward racial equity. This performative and piecemeal approach is the opposite of what experts advise to address institutional bias.
Does Mill Valley need a DEI Commission? The City has no Department or staff dedicated to DEI. A Commission would provide permanent government DEI leadership and oversight at no cost to the City. The Force will continue to advocate for racial equity in Mill Valley, but this is no substitute for the necessary government infrastructure.
Tammy Edmonson
MV Force for Racial Justice