n LOUDOUN
Pg. 4 | n LEESBURG
VOL. 8, NO. 9
Pg. 8 | n EDUCATION
Pg. 10 | n OBITUARIES
Pg. 17 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
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JANUARY 19, 2023
Supervisors Pledge to Govern Through ‘Equity Lens’ BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
One day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorations, county supervisors approved a resolution adopting “Social and Racial Equity as Fundamental Values” of the county government. The resolution defines equity as “a fundamental value defined as the commitment to promote fairness and justice in the formation of priorities, policies, and programs.” It also states the Board of Supervisors commits to evaluating the county’s budget, personnel decisions, policies and programs through an “equity lens,” and to collecting data to identify disparities in county services. And the resolution proposes developing an Equity Plan to address those gaps. It also directs the county administrator to report to the board annually on the county government’s equity initiatives, present a proposal for that Equity Plan, and add to staff’s budget development work an extensive analysis of how expenditures benefit or negatively impact different people and groups, how that was decided, and how to promote equity and inclusion. Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) pointed to statistics indicating Black Americans are much more likely to die in childbirth, to develop and die from some kinds of cancer, to be diagnosed with diabetes, not to own a house, to drop out of school, and to receive harsher sentences in court. “And this maybe is the most heart-
breaking stat of today—African Americans are 19 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted,” she said. “Nineteen times more likely. We’re just being thrown in jail for nothing, literally. … These are systemic race issues in America.” Those inequities are reflected in Loudoun—the U.S. Department of Justice’s most recent Census of Jails showed in 2019 Loudoun’s jail population was
35.4% Black, while the Census Bureau estimated that year the county’s population was only 9.8% Black or Black and multiracial. The Census Bureau estimates that in 2021, the median income for Black households in Loudoun was 77% of that for white households. “I love this country with my whole heart, but loving something does not mean you overlook its foibles and problems. Loving something means you look
at them, figure them out, and decide that you want to try to work on them,” Randall said. “Being colorblind is ridiculous. You cannot celebrate what you cannot see. That’s never the goal, to be color blind.” “I have to wonder, as a nation, how we can be brave enough to put a man on the moon and fight two world wars for democracy, but we can’t be brave enough to EQUITY RESOLUTION continues on page 38
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
The 32nd annual Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration was held Monday with civic groups and individuals gathering at the Loudoun County Courthouse and walking to Frederick Douglass Elementary School for an afternoon program featuring speeches, songs and dances.
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