GET THE RIGHT

The self-assessments are crafted for use by professionals in economic and community development, including health and human service professionals, community organizers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. The assessments serve as instruments for gathering data on crucial equity indicators. By offering a systematic and structured approach to assess equity these tools aid in the identification of patterns and trends that may not be immediately evident.

The downloadable tools below help to identify the disparities and inequities that exist within our own individual practices, our organizations, and our communities, and they provide a framework for developing strategies to address those deficits.

ABOUT THE TOOLS

They help to:

• Identify disparities and inequity in the community
• Inform policy and program development
• Engage the community
• Monitor progress over time
• Impress the importance of equity in community development

Equity is important in community development because it:

• Promotes social inclusion
• Reduces disparities
• Improves community well-being
• Increases economic growth
• build truth and social cohesion

AM I RACIST?

Most white citizens never give racism a second thought. They like the people around them and those people seem to like them. Everyone gets along. “How can I be a racist if that’s the case?”

If, at any time in your life, you have enjoyed and/or benefitted from the entitlement of your white skin, you are a racist. You are benefitting from the horrendous history of this country, with was built on the lives, blood, and suffering of Black human beings ripped from their rightful communities, their own families, their very culture. Every aspect of U.S. history points to the personal wealth to whites gained by enslaving peoples of color, using and disposing of them like any worn-out/abused tool.

Today’s collective impact of that legacy has cost this country the well-being and contributions of its people of color, due to embedded hate (systemic racism) passed along consciously or unconsciously from individual to individual and embedded in systemic policies, procedures, rules, and laws designed to discriminate against some while benefitting others. There is a cost to all, in the form of our most vexing public problems, such as inequitable access to health care; persistent poverty and violence; unequal employment opportunities; and Eurocentric education.

SO, AM “I” RACIST?

To make Flint a healthy, equitable community, one that offers complete social, physical, and mental well-being at all stages of life and strives for justice and fairness holistically for all residents, whites must solve the racism problem. This is not the responsibility of our “of color” neighbors and fellow citizens. We whites starts; we have to finish it.

Here’s A Way to Start