While it’s become quite common for social-justice-oriented community groups to begin their events with an acknowledgment that the panel/forum/workshop is taking place on land once violently usurped by white colonists from this or that Native American tribe, the practice hasn’t yet become typical of more mainstream civic circles. But on Tuesday morning, as the Metropolitan Planning Council unveiled an extensive new report detailing strategies for achieving racial equity in the Chicago region, MPC vice president Marisa Novara emphasized that the conversation about remedying segregation must begin at the beginning.
Some of the recommendations are rather general, such as that the region should “prioritize and measure economic growth that creates opportunities for everyone,” or that Chicago should “ensure affordable [housing] units are leased to those most in need.” But other ideas are much more specific: MPC recommends more cooperation between suburban municipalities and the Cook County Land Bank Authority, which works to promote redevelopment of unused property; the passage of a state law to create universal child savings accounts; the curtailing of aldermanic prerogative in affordable-housing development; merging geographically proximate schools to integrate students; and eliminating money bail.
Julie Morita, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, described the stigmatization of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor as a by-product of their segregation on the west coast and talked about her family’s experience in Japanese internment camps. She said that a large proportion of the CDPH staff participated in a three-day anti-racism training last year, which left many of them feeling “a bit raw,” but caused the department to review its hiring practices, expand foreign language requirements for staff, and focus on racial equity in its services. “Health equity is really race equity,” she said.
