Arlington Takes Next Steps in Race and Equity Work
Published on July 14, 2021
Update: The interactive community discussion has been postponed until September. More details will be released shortly. Stay up to date on the County's work on race and equity.
Arlington County continued its commitment to racial equity in County government and the greater community this week, releasing a new online resource and hosting a virtual community discussion.
The County has compiled a comprehensive online timeline of Arlington County's racial history, releasing the first two 15-year spans. The timeline allows Arlington's residents, employees, and other constituents to understand the history of local policies, marking key historical events on topics such as housing, education, community facilities, public safety, transportation, urban planning, public infrastructure, and more. The first two published spans encompass the years 1930—1945 and 1946—1960.
"This timeline will allow us to take inventory of who we are, where we have been, and how we are growing and evolving as we normalize, organize and operationalize racial equity," said Arlington's Chief Race and Equity Officer Samia Byrd. "It will help ground us in facts, communicate the importance of why we lead with race in addressing systemic inequities as a government, and remind our community that racism is real and why it matters.
RELATED: Arlington County Board adopts Equity Resolution
For those interested in learning more about the timeline and its impact on the County's racial equity work, County leaders will host an interactive discussion, Race Matters: Anticipating our Future, Examining our Past, on Facebook Live at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 21.
As the County continues to expand and refine the timeline, there will be future opportunities for community members to share their stories and information with the County.
The timeline is the latest in a series of race and equity resources Arlington County has developed and complements these available resources:
- DRE in Your Neighborhood: Self-guided toolkits for conversations on race and equity between community members
- Race & Ethnicity Dashboard: The dashboard helps track, analyze and display key demographic and socioeconomic variables by race and ethnicity. It offers an easily accessible way to view wage, employment, education, and other household differences.
Learn more about Arlington's commitment to racial equity