NC First in Equity

North Carolina is one of the most racially diverse states in America.

North Carolina, in addition to  having a diverse population comprised of white, black and Hispanic, also has a significant indigenous populations – being home to both Cherokee populations and Lumbee populations of Indigenous people.

North Carolina is one of the largest states in America with over 10 million people, one of the fastest growing as well, and one of the most diverse.  The state provides a laboratory and community of learning for all who want to understand the dynamics of racial inequity in society.  This size and demographics make it one of the best states for an ambitious racial equity initiative like the Durham Global Equity Project.

North Carolina also holds the distinction of being the state with the most institutions of publicly and privately funded higher education for black populations (i.e. colleges and universities), including the nation’s largest and leading technically-focused historically black college – North Carolina A&T State University – and the historically Indigenous university – the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

The many highly-ranked universities in North Carolina, most of them in and around Durham, as well as the world renown Research Triangle Park, brings a new and diverse global population to the Triangle Region (where NCCU is) and the state – include those who come to NCCU.

These make for exceptionally unique and rare conditions to draw on, such more HBCUs than any other state and a richly diverse population from around the world to help in the equity education and learnings of DGEP.

NC Current Equity Initiatives

Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC)

Governor Cooper established the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC) through Executive Order 145 in June 2020.  Led by Attorney General Josh Stein and North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls, the task force convened a wide range of stakeholders including: advocates, elected officials, state and local law enforcement agencies, justice-involved individuals, representatives of the judicial branch and more.

The North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice ("Task Force") was hereby established as an advisory task force. The mission of the Task Force was to develop and help implement solutions that will eliminate disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system for communities of color.

This Task Force's mandate was to develop evidence-informed strategies and equitable policy solutions that address the structural impact of intentional and implicit racial bias while maintaining public safety.  The Task Force’s work focused on addressing existing policies and procedures that disproportionately affect communities of color and developing solutions to ensure racial equity in North Carolina’s criminal justice system.

Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force

Established under Executive Order No. 143, the Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force addresses the social, environmental, economic, and health disparities in communities of color disproportionally impacted by COVID-19. The Task Force is named in honor of the late civil rights activist, Andrea Harris, who dedicated her life to eliminating disparities in North Carolina, co-founding the non-profit Institute of Minority Economic Development in Durham and serving on the state’s Advisory Council for Historically Underutilized Businesses. The five focus areas of the Task Force are:

  • Access to Healthcare
  • Economic Opportunity and Business Development
  • Educational Opportunity
  • Environmental Justice and Inclusion
  • Patient Engagement

SCALING POTENTIAL

North Carolina as a state government has the opportunity to mirror and model what good equity policy might be at the state level.  Research has shown that the racial inequity gap is growing across demographics, not despite what local and state governments are doing in policy and practice, but because of what they are doing with policy.  In partnership with DGEP, North Carolina can model innovative and ambitious state policy, action, and investment to lead to racial equity by design policy.