2002 Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations by JCCI

Summary Biologists insist that there's only one raceâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;the human race. Yet since the beginning of the American experience, differences in appearance have impacted how people relate to each other. In particular, being classified as "black" in America has resulted in stark disparities in legal protection status and opportunity. The overt legal structures of a segregated society were dismantled in the 1960s in response to the Civil Rights Movement, but the underlying racist attitudes and institutional practices of a still divided people remained. Today racial identity remains a significant social and cultural identification: "We live in the same community," as one resource person put it, "but in different worlds."

The study focuses primarily on the relations between blacks and whites in Jacksonville because the history of Jacksonville, as well as the number of whites and blacks living in Duval County, places this relationship at the center of local race relations. At the same time, Jacksonville is becoming increasingly diverse, with growing Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations, as well as increased Eastern European immigration. This expanding diversity poses new challenges and opportunities for the Jacksonville community as it addresses race relations. The study committee evaluated how steps to improve black/white relations may apply to all members of the community, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Over the last 40 years, people in Jacksonville have come together numerous times to address race relations, often in response to a flareup of tensions in the community. Each time, the resulting dialogue led to an easing of tensions until the next crisis. This study ambitiously builds on those efforts, seeking to move "beyond the talk" by examining the cycles of tension, blame, denial, and mistrust and by evaluating the practices and processes of public and private institutions that may, perhaps unintentionally, create or perpetuate these cycles in the community.

The study committee found that Jacksonville residents, depending on their race, perceive race relations differently. Beyond those perceptions, the study committee discovered and documented race-based disparities in education, employment and income, neighborhoods and housing, criminal justice, health, and the political process. The persistence of these disparities in Jacksonville has inhibited efforts to improve race relations.

The study began by considering the history of race relations in Jacksonville and moved quickly to the present, evaluating current concerns and existing efforts to address them. The study committee understood from the outset that this issue is emotional, and committee members brought their pain, anger, guilt, and frustration to the table. While several organizations and programs in Jacksonville are working to address hurts and foster reconciliation among individuals, this study concentrates on the larger picture involving the actions and impacts of institutions.

To move beyond the talk and improve race relations for all its citizens, Jacksonville needs: z leadership, including leaders from government, business, education, and the faith community, to work together to make Jacksonville a place in which all residents, regardless of race, participate fully in public life; z a vision, shared by the community, of a Jacksonville without race-based disparities or discrimination; z action by community institutions, by government, and by individual citizens, to realize that vision; and z accountability, through independent monitoring, community celebrations, and annual report cards, to ensure results.

Highlights Major Concerns

Recommended Solutions

Significant race-based social and economic inequalities still exist in Jacksonville, and much improvement is still needed.

The Mayor of Jacksonville should galvanize community leadership to create a vision for Jacksonville of racial justice and inclusion.

Past and current efforts to address racial disparities, discrimination, and tensions have not addressed the fundamental issues that created the problems.

Community institutions (government, education, business, housing, criminal justice, health-care, religious, and political) should take action beyond current efforts to decrease racial disparities (see specific recommendations beginning on pp. 25 for details.)

Addressing racial discrimination in Jacksonville requires intentional change by individuals, families, businesses, government, and other community institutions.

Jacksonville's leadership, particularly its black leadership, should more actively mobilize the community to address self-destructive behaviors that contribute to racial disparities.

Successful efforts to improve race relations must address deep-seated race-based beliefs, individual behaviors by racial minorities that contribute to racial disparities, and the multigenerational economic impacts of past racial discrimination.

City government and other institutions should be held accountable for their efforts to improve race relations, through annual community reporting and citizen oversight.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Table Of Contents FINDINGS

Introduction

Demographics of Race

Differences in Perceptions History Measuring perceptions through surveys Perceived discrimination

6 6 8 9

Disparities in Quality of Life Education Income and employment Neighborhoods and housing Health Criminal justice Political process Explaining the Disparities Racism and prejudice Institutional practices Individual choices and behaviors Education and income

11 11 13 14 14 15 16 17 17 17 20 20

Efforts to Address Racial Tension Efforts to increase interpersonal interaction across racial lines Efforts to increase understanding and reconciliation Efforts to identify and eliminate discrimination Efforts to understand and reform institutional practices Efforts to address disparities directly Impacts on race relations

21 21 21 21 21 21 22

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

RESOURCE PEOPLE

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

ABOUT JCCI

Mission Statement JCCI is a nonpartisan civic organization that engages diverse citizens in open dialogue, research, consensus building and leadership development to improve the quality of life and build a better community in Northeast Florida and beyond.

Cover design, concept study layout and supporting graphics by graphic designer, Kristin Jackson.

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Findings Findings represent the information received by the committee. They are derived from published materials, from facts reported by resource people, and from a consensus of the committee's understanding of the opinions of resource people.

Introduction We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Declaration of Independence, 1776 No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 1868 Across the country, people are in pursuit of the "American Dream"â&#x20AC;&#x201D;happiness, economic prosperity, good health, personal growth and fulfillment, peace, and a host of other values shared regardless of one's racial or ethnic background. Yet in Jacksonville today, as in America, the color of one's skin still affects the pursuit of one's dreams. On average, according to the 2000 U.S. Census and other measures, blacks continue to fare worse than whites and most other racial and ethnic groups in education, employment, income, access to health care, and health outcomes. Blacks also are more likely to be incarcerated and to be discriminated against in housing. Despite legal equality fought for and achieved in the Civil Rights Movement, these differences persist. Discovering the reasons for the disparities is difficult because the disparities are tightly intertwined. Disparities in employment status, for example, are tied closely to differences in access to health care (through private health insurance coverage) and housing (the availability and location of an affordable home). Housing location, with some exceptions, relates directly to public school district boundaries. Disparities in educational outcomes, such as graduation rates or test scores, often correlate with family income and school placement. Disparities in educational outcomes in turn affect future employment and family income. Race-based disparities in the quality of life in Jacksonville negatively affect race relations. They serve as constant reminders of a divided, unequal community. Among many racial and ethnic minorities, they reinforce anger, resentment, and mistrust against

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

those who are perceived to benefit from the current situation but who appear not to be addressing the disparity issue. Residential and social segregation isolates and insulates many in the community from the issue, and what they do see may only reinforce traditional stereotypes and fears. The issue is yet more complex. Tensions in race relations stem not only from racial disparities, but also from the cumulative effect of historical grievances, differing perceptions of ongoing discrimination, and frustration with government and other institutional attempts at remedies. Comments from study participants demonstrated this tension: anger at past injustice; anxiety that a particular minority may be left out of the process; distrust of "one more study" after past efforts failed to produce desired changes; denial that a race relations problem exists; frustration that government already gives too many benefits to minorities; and more. One resource speaker described the results in this fashion: "For blacks, it's always about race. For whites, it's never about race." How people experience life in Jacksonville affects how they perceive race relations and the extent of the underlying problems. Jacksonville has experienced a pattern of periodic community incidents causing flare-ups of racial tension. These incidents are often perceived in different ways; for many whites, the incident is an aberration that should and can be resolved by directly addressing the immediate issue. For many blacks, the incident provides visible evidence of underlying systemic problems that have never been adequately addressed.

Demographics of race History and culture have made race an important aspect of identity in American society. The 2000 Census shows that Duval County's population continues to grow more diverse, which impacts efforts to understand and to improve race relations. Race is an imprecise concept. As few as six out of 40,000 genes in the human body are involved in determining skin color, far fewer than the number of genetic divergences that biologists use to identify separate classifications within a species. At the same time, the identification of people and their status in society based on race has a long history in America. The U.S. Census has always classified people by race. Traditionally, American public policy has followed the concept that someone with ancestors of more than one racial or ethnic group is classified with the racial category of lowest social status. Also known as the "one-drop rule," this policy meant that one nonwhite ancestor, however remote, was sufficient (if known) to classify an individual as a minority, which often had significant negative legal and social implications.

However, the 2000 Census dropped the "one-drop rule", asking respondents to "indicate what this person considers himself/herself to be," while providing no definitions for the accompanying categories and allowing respondents to select multiple categories or provide their own. Yet in a 1999 administrative rule, the federal government reaffirmed that people who selected more than one racial category on the 2000 Census are classified as "minority," thus ensuring against statistical dilution of minority political influence. The actual terms Americans use to identify different racial and ethnic categories have changed frequently during the last century, as previously used terms came to be considered pejorative. This study uses the terms white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American to refer to racial and ethnic categories. Because some organizations that served as data sources for this study maintain data in different ways, Asian and Native American statistics are sometimes combined under the label "Other" in tables or charts from those sources. In all charts and tables, the greatest level of detail available is provided; during the course of this study, the study committee found that many organizations keep statistical information in white/nonwhite or black/nonblack categories only. Statistics of Jacksonville's Hispanic population often are calculated separately from racial classifications, adding to the complexity in understanding the data. The 2000 Census identifies "ethnicity" as a separate category from racial classifications. While ethnicity in

general use refers to national origin or cultural heritage, instead the Census uses "ethnicity" to mean Hispanic or nonHispanicâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;one can be Hispanic and white, Hispanic and black, and so forthâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;but the Census provides no other ethnic classifications. Because race is understood in both genealogical and cultural terms, some aspects of the following discussion apply to ethnicity, although this study focuses on race. Jacksonville's recorded history begins with conflict among rival European powers and Native Americans. The indigenous Timucua population was largely destroyed by the 1600s. Attempts by other Native American groups to settle in Northeast Florida ended when Andrew Jackson, after whom Jacksonville is named, defeated the Seminoles in 1817. The population in Northeast Florida soon shifted to consist of mostly European colonists and enslaved Africans. In the 1990 Census, 97 percent of the population in Duval County identified themselves as either black or white. By 2000, growth among Asian, Native American, Hispanic, and other racial and ethnic groups more than doubled the percentage of Jacksonville's population that considered themselves neither black nor white. This study focuses on race relations between blacks and whites in Jacksonville in order to identify strategies for improving race relations for the long-term benefit of the entire community.

Duval County population, 2000 U.S. Census Percentage of total population, 1990

Percentage of total population, 2000

Population, 2000

Race: White

72.8%

65.8%

512,469

Black

24.4%

27.8%

216,780

Asian/ Pacific Islander

1.9%

2.8%

21,603

Native American

0.3%

2,598

Other

1.3%

10,170

Two or more races

2.0%

15,259

Total

778,879

Ethnicity: Hispanic (of any race)

2.6%

4.1%

31,946

Source: 2000 U.S. Census. NA = not applicable

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Differences in perceptions Whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans have differing perspectives on the state of race relations in Jacksonville, although most agree that significant progress has been made and that significant improvement is still needed. Understanding the state of race relations today must begin with a review of the past, because people's past experiences affect how they view current events. A number of surveys have documented how Jacksonville residents view race relations. These surveys, along with similar national reports, illustrate the magnitude of the issue this study addresses.

History Over the last 150 years, American public policy relating to race focused on the role of blacks in society. Official segregation ended through a series of actions beginning in the 1950s and extending through the late 1990s. The legacy of institutionalized segregation and discrimination continues to influence race relations in Jacksonville. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, began the process of removing institutional racial discrimination in America. The 13th Constitutional Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery. In 1868, the 14th Amendment provided for equal protection under the law, regardless of former conditions of servitude. In 1870, the 15th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote for all men, and black men began voting in elections in Florida. However, national and state public policy continued to foster institutional discrimination. Florida passed a poll tax in 1885 and took other actions to keep blacks from voting. In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, upheld that "separate but equal" was constitutional, although the lone dissenter, Justice John Harlan, wrote: Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.... In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case.... The present decision, it may well be apprehended, will not only stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal and irritating, upon the admitted rights of colored citizens, but will encourage the belief that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficient purposes which the people of the United States had in view when they adopted the recent amendments of the Constitution. Policies called Jim Crow laws mandated segregation in public places, and Colored Only/Whites Only signs became commonplace in Jacksonville. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged official segregation. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Supreme Court decision explicitly reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring "separate but equal" and segregated public schools to be unconstitutional. Passage of the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act required desegregation of public accommodations. From the 1960s through the time of this study, Jacksonville citizens confronted one another repeatedly over the implementation of desegregation, with sit-ins, protests, riots, lawsuits, and boycotts (see timeline on page 7). Because discriminatory public policy and ordinances specifically targeted blacks, civil rights protests in Jacksonville focused almost exclusively on the rights of black citizens. For this reason, and because blacks have comprised the largest racial minority, race relations in Jacksonville traditionally have been a black/white issue. One consequence of a society in which laws treated people differently based on skin color has been to develop institutions and a culture that treat all people differently because of the color of their skin, including Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, and other ethnic groups. In 2002, Jacksonville's present is built on its past. Its history of division and race-based mistreatment still plays a significant role in its institutions and in how many people view current situations. As Jacksonville grows through increasing in-migration, the history of race relations impacts people differently, based partly on the length of time they have lived here and the history they bring with them. Interracial interactions often are complicated by differing perceptions of shared events, based on their past personal experiences.

Achieving Desegregation: The Case of the Duval County Public Schools The 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education required the elimination of segregated public schools. Jacksonville was slow to comply with this decision; 11 years later, only 137 black students were attending white schools, while no white students attended black schools. In 1971, the courts ordered busing to eliminate segregated schools, citing the Supreme Court's mandate that discrimination must be "eliminated root and branch." In 1990, the school system adopted a new desegregation program, emphasizing magnet schools, to allow the required busing to be more voluntary. In 1999, the federal district court declared the Duval County Public Schools to be "unitary," meaning that the school system was operated without discrimination "to the maximum extent possible." This ended court supervision of desegregation efforts. The decision was upheld on appeal in 2001. Using the definition of a desegregated school from the 1990 Desegregation Stipulation and Agreement between the Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP and the Duval County School Board, 58 percent of Duval County publicschool students attended desegregated schools in the 2000-01 school year. In the same year, 49 percent of

Timeline Selected Events in History Jacksonville

National Brown v. Board of Education rejects "separate but equal" as unconstitutional

1954

Montgomery Bus Boycott, recognized as beginning the Civil Rights Movement

1955

U.S. passes Civil Rights Act

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated

1959

Blacks picket downtown businesses, protesting segregation

1960

"Axe Handle Saturday": black protestors attacked in Hemming Plaza

1963

13 black first-graders attend white schools for first time

1964

Civil disturbances in reaction to Mayor Burns' support of segregation

1967

City of Jacksonville establishes Human Rights Commission

1968

City of Jacksonville/Duval County consolidation takes place

1969

Riots after white salesman shoots black youth on Florida Avenue

1971

Riots after white policeman shoots black youth; Court-ordered busing begins in Jacksonville schools

1974

U.S. Civil Rights Commission recommends cutting off federal funding for Jacksonville law enforcement due to racially discriminatory policies and practices

1984

Jacksonville City Council passes first minority set-aside ordinance; Clarkson Committee recommends improvements in police policy and procedures

1990

NAACP and School Board enter into Desegregation Agreement; magnet schools replace forced busing

1991

NAACP sues Duval County School Board over implementation of desegregation agreement Judge John Santora makes racially-prejudiced remarks and is removed from being Chief Judge

1992

Jacksonville Together! presents recommendations for community healing

1995

Jacksonville elects first black sheriff

2001

Jacksonville schools declared "unitary," removed from federal supervision

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Measuring perceptions through surveys Hispanics, whites, blacks, Asians, and Native Americans respond differently to questions about the state of race relations in Jacksonville. Most agree that race relations are improving in Jacksonville. Most also agree that significant improvement is still needed. Several recent telephone surveys have sought to document the state of race relations among Jacksonville residents. They consistently demonstrate both a concern for race relations in Jacksonville and a difference in how people view the issue, depending on their racial or ethnic background.

Overall, how would you rate the state of race relations in Duval County?

100%

White Black

80% 60% 52%

48%

40%

31%

20%

30%

17% 11% 4%

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Don't Know

Source: 2000 Jacksonville University survey

University of North Florida surveys, 1998-2000 The University of North Florida's Center for Community Initiatives, in partnership with the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, has conducted annual phone surveys since 1998 about perceptions of race and race relations in Duval County. The surveys reported that responses from whites and blacks in Jacksonville differ significantly, indicating that whites and blacks "see the world through two different lenses." They also found that most Jacksonville residents consider race relations to be an important issue in their lives. In the 1998 survey, 85 percent of white respondents and 88 percent of black respondents agreed with that statement. The 2000 survey concluded: While there appears to have been some improvement in the area of race relations, much still remains to be done.

In your opinion during the last year, do you feel that racism is a problem in Jacksonville?

100%

People of color White people

80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 19

Source: JCCI 2001 Quality of Life Report. Survey conducted by American Public Dialogue, September 2001

Jacksonville University survey, 2000 The Social Science Research Center at Jacksonville University (JU) conducted a poll for WJCT public television between November 20 and December 8, 2000, during the controversy over the 2000 Presidential elections. The survey reported that 63 percent of whites felt race relations were "excellent" or "good," while 78 percent of blacks rated them "fair" or "poor."

JCCI Quality of Life Indicators, 2001 Jacksonville Community Council Inc.'s (JCCI) Quality of Life in Jacksonville: Indicators for Progress, published annually since 1985, examines current measures of the quality of life and reports trends over time. The JCCI survey displays a consistent difference between the perceptions of white respondents and of people of color (survey respondents include a small percentage of Asians and Hispanics.) In 2001, 53 percent of whites and 67 percent of people of color felt that racism was a problem in Jacksonville.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Perceived discrimination Different perceptions of the quality of race relations are related to differing perceptions of the extent of discrimination in Jacksonville. In general, a higher percentage of blacks report that they believe discrimination is a problem in Jacksonville than whites do; many whites report that they think discrimination no longer exists. Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans also report discrimination, though generally at lower rates than blacks. National studies report that differing perceptions about discrimination made significant differences in opinions about public policy toward race. Perceptions differ by race, not only about race relations in Jacksonville, but also about how life is experienced by members of another race. Tensions in race relations often are related to perceptions of mistreatment. In Jacksonville, many blacks report feeling discriminated against, while many whites report that they think discrimination no longer exists. In UNF's 2000 survey, for example, most white respondents felt blacks have equal opportunities for success and are treated fairly in housing, employment, education, the criminal justice system, and in the media. On the other hand, blacks reported much higher levels of discriminatory treatment and a much more pessimistic view of how the Jacksonville community treats blacks. Other surveys have had similar results, as follows: Employment In JCCI's 2001 Quality of Life survey, 39 percent of black respondents report having personally experienced racism while at work in the previous year, compared to 12 percent of white respondents. In JU's 2000 survey, 35 percent of blacks thought blacks had just as good a chance as whites to get a job for which they were qualified, compared to 81 percent of white respondents.

In general, do you think that black people have as good a chance as white people in your community to get any kind of job for which they are qualified, or don't you think they have as good a chance? Whites

Blacks

Have as good a chance

81%

35%

Don't have as good a chance

16%

61%

Don't Know/No Answer

Differing Perceptions: The Case of Consolidation In 1968, the governments of Duval County and the City of Jacksonville were consolidated into one governmental unit. Perceptions of why this consolidation occurred differ dramatically among residents, based on race: Whites are more likely to cite the efficiencies of the new form of government, the corruption in the pre-consolidation county and city government offices, changes in property tax assessments, and disaccreditation of Duval County Public Schools, believing that "righteous indignation" led citizens to act to create a better government. Blacks are more likely to stress white fears about the growing population and political power of blacks in the pre-consolidated City of Jacksonville as driving the consolidation movement. Without consolidation, blacks would shortly have had a majority of the voting population and could have elected black leadership. Many blacks contend that blacks were forced to choose between the potential political power or promises of improved services in the core city, including better schools and improved drainage. Consolidation was adopted by a citizen referendum, which received the majority of both white and black votes. Which perception of the motivations for consolidation is accurate? Reasonable people often disagree. Proponents see local government as more efficient and effective than it was before consolidation. Critics argue that inner-city schools and drainage remain

Source: 2000 Jacksonville University survey

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Housing

Political system

In JCCI's 2001 survey, 23 percent of black respondents reported having experienced discrimination while renting or buying a home in the previous year, compared to 5 percent of white respondents. JU's 2000 survey reported that 83 percent of whites think blacks have an equal playing field in the housing market.

The 2000 UNF survey found that "far fewer Black respondents believed that local government gives equal representation to the interests and concerns of all racial and minority groups compared to Whites and Other Minorities." Quality of life

In general, do you think that black people have as good a chance as white people in your community to get any housing they can afford, or don't you think they have as good a chance? Whites

Blacks

Have as good a chance

83%

50%

Don't have as good a chance

12%

43%

Don't Know/No Answer Source: 2000 Jacksonville University survey

Criminal justice Surveys in Jacksonville report differences in the belief that racial profiling, which is being stopped by the police because of one's racial or ethnic background, occurs; 65 percent of black respondents to JU's 2000 survey said they thought racial profiling was "widespread," compared to 26 percent of white respondents. In addition, 37 percent of blacks reported having been stopped by the police just because of their race; only 4 percent of whites reported having the same experience.

In some areas, it has been reported that police officers stop motorists of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officers believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes. Do you believe that this practice, known as "racial profiling" is widespread or not in Duval County? Whites

Blacks

Yes, widespread

26%

65%

No, not widespread

50%

21%

Don't Know/No Answer

24%

14%

Source: 2000 Jacksonville University survey

Surveys have also measured racial differences in people's perceptions of their own quality of life. Results of these surveys show that blacks consistently report a lower quality of life than whites, with Asians and Hispanics generally in between. In the 2000 UNF survey, blacks in Jacksonville reported experiencing a lower overall quality of life than did whites, Asians, Hispanics, or Native Americans. A 2000 national survey conducted by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) found similar results. Respondents were asked to rate whether they were "satisfied" or "dissatisfied" with distinct aspects of their life. The table illustrates strongest dissatisfaction among the black community and significant differences among the reporting groups. Life Satisfactions by Race/Ethnicity Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the following aspects of your life? (Satisfaction levels shown in percentages) Aspects of life (percent satisfied)

Blacks

37%

94%

62%

Yes, specify No Don't Know/No Answer Source: 2000 Jacksonville University survey

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Hispanics

Asians

73%

49%

64%

68%

Your present housing

91%

77%

82%

90%

Your job or the work you do

88%

74%

80%

82%

Your education

81%

67%

69%

81%

Your access to health care

78%

73%

72%

82%

The education children are getting today

36%

29%

48%

49%

How well different groups in society get along with each other

29%

21%

41%

43%

Source: NCCJ 2000 survey. Satisfaction with work based only on those employed.

Results of these surveys are consistent in all areas of concern with those of similar national polls. Whites and blacks have differing perceptions about the extent of discrimination in their communities across the country. Recent reports suggest that these differences impact efforts to improve race relations in at least two ways:

Whites

Blacks

Your household income

Have you ever felt that you were stopped by the police just because of your race or ethnic background?

Whites

hindering the ability to achieve a common understanding of the problems in a community that need addressing; and influencing opinions about the proper public policies to address these concerns.

A 2001 national survey conducted by Harvard University, in partnership with the Washington Post and the Kaiser Foundation, asked respondents about the life experiences of blacks in America. The study compared the survey responses with 2000 U.S. Census data and found that 70 percent of white respondents had significant misperceptions about the actual quality of life of blacks. The level of misperception about real disparities in income, employment, education, and access to health care made significant differences in the opinions respondents held about public policy solutions.

Disparities in Quality of Life The following analysis of actual disparities in Jacksonville is designed to move beyond perceptions of discrimination to create a common factual basis for discussing solutions. Studies have consistently found significant differences in the quality of life between blacks and whites in America. The same holds true in Jacksonville. Available data demonstrate significant racial disparities in education, income and employment, housing, criminal justice, health, and the political process. Many aspects of the quality of life are numerically measurable. Substantial data reveal that blacks and whites experience different actual outcomes in major aspects of life in Jacksonville.

Education The Duval County Public School population in 2000-2001 (125,727 students) was 49 percent white, 43 percent black, and eight percent other racial or ethnic groups. Significant race-based differences exist in several measures of educational outcomes: participation in certain exceptional education programs, standardized test scores, and high-school graduation rates. While less than three percent of public-school students participate in gifted programs, those who do are mostly white. Black students, while 42.7 percent of the student body, make up just 16.5 percent in the gifted program. Students classified as "educable mentally handicapped," meaning that their IQ is assessed between 50 and 70, are predominantly black. Only 23.4 percent of students in educable mentally handicapped programs are white. Standardized test scores are one way of measuring educational achievement. In 1998, the State of Florida began requiring that public-school students take the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT). Through 2001, tests were given to all students in 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. In 2002, the tests were expanded to all grade levels. The reading and mathematics sections of the test are graded on a five-point scale. Level Three represents satisfactory grade-level performance.

Duval County Public Schools: Racial/ethnic distribution by exceptional education program, 2000-01 American Indian/ Alaskan Native

White non-Hispanic

Black non-Hispanic

Total students

49.2%

42.7%

3.7%

2.7%

0.2%

1.6%

Gifted program

70.2%

16.5%

3.8%

6.6%

0.3%

2.5%

Educable mentally handicapped

23.4%

73.8%

1.6%

0.6%

0.1%

0.4%

Hispanic

Asian/ Pacific Islander

Multiracial

Source: Florida Department of Education Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

In 2000, a significantly higher percentage of white students scored at Level Three or above than black students. The percentage of Hispanic students scoring at those levels fell in between the other two, while Asian students generally did better on the FCAT than any of the other groups for whom data were reported. While scores for all students improved over three years, the disparity in educational achievement remained consistent. Duval County Public Schools 2000 FCAT Scores: Level 3 (satisfactory) or higher

100%

4th grade 8th grade 10th grade

Reading

80%

72%

68% 59%

60%

57%

53% 40%

40%

45%

40%

35%

31% 21%

20%

14%

0% White

Black

Hispanic

Asian

Source: Duval County Public Schools Scores reported are those transmitted to the State of Florida for school grading purposes. They do not include students in English as a Second Language or Exceptional Student Education classes.

Duval County Public Schools 2000 FCAT Scores: Level 3 (satisfactory) or higher

100%

4th grade 8th grade 10th grade

Math

80%

75% 72% 74%

67% 69% 62%

60%

55% 49% 39%

40% 25%

30% 28%

20% 0% White

Black

Hispanic

Asian

These differences in test scores remain even when household income is factored in. Using participation in the free or reducedprice lunch programs as a measurement of household income, black students, on average, underperform other students within the same income categories. FCAT Scores, Level 3 or Higher by participation in free or reduced-price lunch programs and by race 2001 math and reading scores Black Non-Black

100% 80%

Another measurement of educational outcomes is the high-school graduation rate. Data in Duval County show significant race-based differences in the rates that students achieve high-school diplomas. The Duval County Public Schools and the Florida Department of Education do not calculate high-school graduation rates by racial category. However, by calculating the number of students who earn a standard diploma and comparing that to the number of students who entered ninth grade four years earlier, approximate graduation rates by race can be obtained. Until 1999, this method was used by the State of Florida to calculate official high-school graduation rates. These calculations show a 12 percent difference in the 2001 highschool graduation rate between white and black students. Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and multiracial students graduated at rates higher than those for either white or black students. Similarly, the dropout rate varies by racial group. Asian students have the lowest dropout rate among racial categories, at 5.9 percent, while the rate for black students is the highest, at 9.3 percent. (The high-school dropout rate measures the number of students who withdraw from school between the 9th and 12th grades, as a percentage of the total school population. This number is not the inverse of the graduation rate, because many students stay in school but fail to graduate.)

73.6% 62.5%

60% 48.9%

27.9%

20%

49.6%

40.0%

40%

Calculated graduation rate and dropout rate Duval County Public Schools, 2000-01

32.2%

15.9%

White

0% Math

Reading

Free/Reduced-price Lunch

Math

Reading

Full Price Lunch

Source: Duval County Public Schools Scores are from the 2001 FCAT, fifth-grade math scores and fourth-grade reading scores. Data include all students taking the test. Socioeconomic status is measured by student participation in the free or reduced-price lunch programs. Household income must be below 180 percent of the federal poverty line to participate in one of these programs. The poverty threshold income in 2001 for a family of four was $17,650; 180 percent of that is $31,770.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Graduation rate Dropout rate

Black

Hispanic

46.4%

34.8%

46.7%

7.5%

9.3%

8.4%

American Indian

Multiracial

68.8%

80.0%

51.6%

42.3%

5.9%

6.5%

7.0%

8.3%

Asian

Total

Source: Florida Department of Education The graduation rate is calculated by comparing high-school graduates with ninth graders entering school four years previously. Florida schools no longer calculate the graduation rate this way; beginning in 1999, students are tracked by ID number for a more accurate rate. However, rates are not calculated by race or ethnicity in the new method. Rates calculated in this chart include only standard diplomas. Special diplomas, GEDs, and other certificates are not included.

Income and Employment Income disparities between whites and blacks have remained relatively constant, even when the average household income for each group has risen. Nationally, median household income is highest among Asians and lowest among blacks. In Duval County, 43.7 percent of black households earned income less than $15,000 per year in 1990, compared to 18.7 percent of white households and 15.2 percent of Asian households. In contrast, while 29.3 percent of Asian households and 23.8 percent of white households earned more than $50,000, only 9.2 percent of black households had similar incomes.

Percentages of Duval County households with income in lower and upper income brackets, by race, 1990 White

Black

Asian

Less than $15,000

18.7%

43.7%

15.2%

$50,000 or more

23.8%

9.2%

29.3%

Source: 1990 U.S. Census

2000 figures were not available for this study.

National Median Household Income by Race and Ethnicity, 2000

Race or Ethnicity

Median Household Income

Asian and Pacific Islander

$55,500

White

$44,200

Hispanic (of any race)

$33,400

Black

$30,400

Blacks are more likely to be unemployed than whites. In 2001, the national unemployment rate for whites was 3.3 percent; for blacks, 6.3 percent; and for Hispanics, 5.3 percent. Blacks are more likely to remain unemployed for longer periods of time; in 1999, unemployed white male workers remained unemployed for an average of 12.7 weeks, Hispanic males for 12.1 weeks, and black males for 18.0 weeks. Black workers are more likely to have lower-paying jobs than whites. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 1999, white workers were more likely to have white-collar occupations than black workers, and within white-collar occupations were more likely to hold professional or managerial employment than black workers.

Source: 2000 U.S. Census

Income disparities can be measured by the percentage of children participating in the free or reduced-cost lunch programs in the Duval County Public Schools. Eligibility is determined by household income. Free lunch is available to those whose household income is within 130 percent of the federally defined poverty level and reduced-cost lunch for those whose income is within 180 percent. In 2000-2001, two-thirds of black children were in the program, compared to about one-fourth of white students and half of Hispanic students.

Even when holding the same kind of employment, median earnings vary. In 1999, white male professionals earned an average of 32.9 percent more than black male professionals and 14.5 percent more than Hispanic male professionals. On the job, black employees are more likely to experience racial discrimination than white employees. In 2000-01, the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission processed 178 charges of race-based employment discrimination. Blacks filed 63.6 percent of all discrimination complaints; whites 30.7 percent; Hispanics 3.9 percent; Asians 1.5 percent, and Native Americans 0.3 percent.

Percent of students by race/ethnicity participating in free or reduced-cost lunch programs, 2000-01

Free/reduced-cost lunch

White non-Hispanic

Black non-Hispanic

27.2%

67.0%

Hispanic

55.1%

Asian/ Pacific Islander 31.3%

American Multiracial Indian/ Alaskan Native 34.4%

48.6%

Source: Florida Department of Education

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Neighborhoods and housing Jacksonville continues to have a high proportion of Census Tracts with a resident population between 75 and 100 percent black or 75 to 100 percent white. Jacksonville was ranked as highly segregated in 1990 by the Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research. According to the 2000 Census, it has become somewhat less segregated in the last ten years. In order to be fully desegregated, according to the 2000 Mumford Center analysis, 54 percent of either blacks or whites in Jacksonville would have to move to a different Census Tract.

Health Significant disparities exist in health outcomes between white and nonwhite populations in Jacksonville, mirroring statewide and national trends. One measure of health is the death rate, which is the ratio of deaths to the number of people in a specific population in a given year. A lower death rate suggests a higher life expectancy and a healthier population. In Duval County, the age-adjusted death rate for blacks is 1.4 times the rate for whites. The rate for Hispanics and other minority groups is much lower than the rates for either whites or blacks; however, the relative size of these population groups may influence the rates. Source: 2000 U.S. Census

The data also show significant differences in death rates for specific causes among different racial groups in Jacksonville. Black infants are 2.7 times as likely to die as white infants before their first birthday. Blacks are more likely to die from strokes, diabetes, and AIDSrelated causes than whites. Other diseases show similar disparities. The black death rate from prostate cancer is approximately double the white rate. Heart disease rates are higher among blacks than whites, although lung cancer is higher among whites than blacks. Blacks are more likely to die from homicide, while whites commit suicide at double the rate of blacks.

The 1998 Jacksonville Area Rental Audit conducted by the Fair Housing Advocacy Center found that blacks experienced differing treatment in 58 percent of attempts to obtain rental housing in Jacksonville. Differences occurred in information about availability, access to appointments to see the unit, access to an application, and rental terms (including amount of rent, application fees, and deposits).

Disparities selected in health-care outcomes, Duval County Whites

Blacks

Other

922.1

1,333.0

457.9

348.3

6.2

16.8

2.0

5.4

Stroke death rate (1999)

62.0

122.9

48.7

20.5

Diabetes death rate (1999)

26.3

71.9

8.0

7.5

Newly-diagnosed HIV cases per 100,000 people (2000)

16.6

122.7

6.0

9.4

HIV/AIDS death rate (1999)

11.2

35.4

0.0

2.5

Death rate (1999) Infant death rate per 1,000 births (2000)

Source: Florida Department of Health. Rates are per 100,000 unless otherwise specified. All death rates in table are age-adjusted. Age-adjusted death rates are calculated to avoid skewed data resulting from the distribution of age groups in the population. Data for Asians or Native Americans are available only combined in "Other." Data reported are for the most recent year available.

Hispanic

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Criminal justice In Jacksonville, a black motorist is more likely to receive a traffic citation than a member of any other racial group.

Traffic citations issued in Duval County by race, 2001

Race

Traffic citations, 2001

Percent of total traffic citations

Percent of Duval County population

White

133,892

57.9%

65.8%

Black

91,591

39.6%

27.8%

Other

5,886

2.5%

6.4%

Source: Duval County Clerk of the Court Data for Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics are available only grouped under "Other."

Blacks are arrested and incarcerated at nearly double the level of their percentage in the Duval County population. Blacks incarcerated for drug-related offenses are even more overrepresented, at more than three times their percentage of the population.

People incarcerated in the Duval County Jail, 2001

Race

Number incarcerated

Percent of incarcerated

Percent of Duval County population

White

22,353

46.6%

65.8%

Black

25,110

52.3%

27.8%

Other

508

1.1%

6.4%

Source: Duval County Clerk of the Court Data for Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics are available only grouped under "Other."

Drug-related incarcerations in the Duval County Jail, 2001

Race

Number incarcerated

While blacks are overrepresented as inmates in the criminal-justice system, they are underrepresented among those administering the system. The proportion of private attorneys, assistant state attorneys, public defenders, and judges who are black is lower than the percentage of blacks in the total population and much lower than the percentage of blacks who are arrested and charged with a crime. In 2001, two of 25 circuit court judges (8 percent) and two of 14 county court judges (14 percent) were black. Black lawyers make up between two and three percent of the Florida Bar Association total membership. Less than 20 percent of all Jacksonville police officers were black. However, the sheriff, Jacksonville's chief law enforcement officer, was black.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sworn Officers, 2001

Percent of those incarcerated

Percent of Duval County population

Race

Number of officers

Percent of officers

Percent of Duval County population

White

2,424

38.0%

65.8%

White

1,186

77.3%

65.8%

Black

3,913

61.3%

27.8%

Black

295

19.2%

27.8%

Other

0.7%

6.4%

Other

3.5%

6.4%

Source: Duval County Clerk of the Court Data for Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics are available only grouped under "Other."

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Political process

Minority-access legislative districts

Disparities in access to the political system can be examined through events (voting in the 2000 presidential election), processes (creation of minority-access legislative districts), and people (the racial demographics of current elected and appointed government officials.)

Minority-access legislative districts have political boundaries drawn so that demographics positively influence the chance that a minority candidate will win election. In Jacksonville, with a black population of 27.8 percent, four of the 14 City Council districts (29 percent) have majority-black populations and are designated "minority-access" districts.

2000 presidential election The 2000 presidential election was decided by 537 votes in the State of Florida. In Jacksonville, 26,909 ballots were declared invalid (4,967 under votes, in which no vote was recorded for President, and 21,942 over votes, in which more than one candidate for President was selected.) Significant disparities emerge when the rates of ballot disqualification are compared to the racial composition of the voters. City Council districts with the fewest black voters had the fewest ballots declared invalid, while districts with the highest percentage of black voters had the highest percentages of ballots declared invalid. The minority-access districts 7, 8, 9, and 10 had two to four times the number of ballots declared invalid of any other districts.

Disqualified ballots (overvotes and undervotes) by City Council District 2000 Presidential Election, Duval County

City Council District

Percentage of ballots cast by black voters

Percentage of total ballots declared invalid

Public policy assumes that, without minority-access districts, minorities would likely not get elected and would thus have diminished access to political power. Minority-access districts also make it less likely that a minority could run successfully outside of the designated districts. While blacks have occasionally won at-large seats on City Council, no black has won in a majority-access district. Given these dynamics, the likelihood, with minority-access districting, that minorities could gain a majority of 10 out of 19 City Council seats (14 district seats plus five at-large seats) appears remote. Government leadership As of 2002, 23 percent of elected officials in the City of Jacksonville were black, as were 30 percent of department heads and 24 percent of division chiefs. The white Mayor was advised by a white chief of staff, a white chief administrative officer, and a black deputy chief administrative officer. Of the six independent authorities in Jacksonville, four had black executive directors, and two had black board chairmen.

Government elected leadership in Duval County, 2002 Percent of elected officials

Percent of Duval County population

12%

13%

White

75.0%

65.8%

Black

23.2%

27.8%

Other

1.8%

6.4%

Hispanic

1.8%

4.1%

14%

18%

20%

52%

73%

18%

74%

18%

77%

19%

74%

20%

Elected officials include the School Board (7 members, 2 black), the City Council (19 members, 5 black), State legislators (11 members, 3 black), County Court judges (14 judges, 2 black, 1 Hispanic, 1 Other), and the Mayor, Sheriff, Supervisor of Elections, Tax Collector, and Property Appraiser (of which the Sheriff is black.)

Source: Supervisor of Elections

City of Jacksonville appointed leadership, percentages by race, 2002

The data hold true at the precinct level as well. In precincts 8R and 9R, which had the highest rate of ballots disqualified in Duval County (31 percent of all ballots cast), over 99 percent of those voting were black. By contrast, the six precincts that had two percent or fewer of ballots declared invalid averaged 98 percent white voters.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Board members of independent authorities

Department directors

Division chiefs

Percent of Duval County population

White

70.6%

70.0%

78.0%

65.8%

Black

26.5%

30.0%

22.0%

27.8%

Other

0.0%

6.4%

Hispanic

2.9%

0.0%

4.1%

Explaining the Disparities Disparities in the quality of life experienced by people in different racial and ethnic groups in Jacksonville are created and sustained by multiple causes. Individual racism and prejudice explain some. Practices of public and private institutions influence disparities as well. Individual choices and behaviors also contribute. Income and education disparities, above all others, reinforce each other and magnify other disparities. Race-based differences in the quality of life enjoyed in Jacksonville are rooted in multiple causes. While individual situations may vary, the causes of the disparities identified in this report can be understood in three categories: racism and prejudice; institutional practices; and individual choices and behaviors. Beyond those categories, the effects of poor education and poverty deepen all other disparities and extend across generations.

Education Duval County's public-education system contributes to race-based disparities. z

Some disparities in educational outcomes can be attributed to the way in which children are taught. Despite subscribing to educational theories that recognize cultural differences, the Duval County Public Schools, in practice, tend to treat all students as if they share the same cultural background. Resource speakers emphasized that children's cultural background affects the skills, preparation, and learning styles they bring to the classroom, and that teachers need to receive adequate training to meet the diverse needs of their students.

Duval County Public Schools have had difficulty attracting and retaining high quality teachers, principals, and administrators in low performing schools. Duval County receives the lowest funding per student of all school districts in the state serving a diverse student population of 100,000 or more. Inadequately prepared teachers, principals, and administrators often perpetuate the disparities by being assigned to low-performing schools, most of which disproportionately serve black students.

Maintaining racially-identifiable schools contributes to poor outcomes. According to a 1997 study by The Florida Times-Union, black students attending desegregated schools in Jacksonville tend to score better on tests than those attending racially segregated schools.

Disproportionate participation of students, based on race, in gifted programs creates disproportionate opportunities for future education and employment.

Disproportionate participation, based on race, in mentallyhandicapped programs contributes to long-term disparities, especially since the labels associated with mentally-handicapped programs and the types of instruction received create lifetime disparities.

Historical differences in school funding also have contributed to current education disparities. Within the past several years, however, the school system has allocated increased funding and other resources to low-performing schools.

Racism and prejudice Some of these quality-of-life disparities result from individual actions by people who maintain racist attitudes and prejudice toward others. These actions may be intentional or unintentional, but their effect is the sameâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;to create a disparate quality of life, depending on people's racial or ethnic background. While civil-rights laws make most racial discrimination illegal, laws themselves cannot change longstanding practices, resolve distrust, or erase racial stereotypes and prejudices. Individual discriminatory behavior remains evident in the workplace, in renting or buying homes, in retail stores, and in other arenas of public life. Race-based stereotypes explain some of the opposition to low-income housing and disparities in hiring practices. Fears of mistreatment explain why some racial and ethnic minorities delay going to the doctor when ill or avoid looking for housing in identifiably white neighborhoods. Stress resulting from fear of real and perceived racism explains some of the health disparities experienced by black residents of Jacksonville.

Institutional practices Some disparities may also be explained by institutional factorsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;practices of private businesses and government agencies which create disparate opportunities and/or outcomes, although they are usually not intended to have a discriminatory result. In addition, the many institutional practices that discriminate against people based on their income may result in a disparate racial impact because of disproportionately lower incomes among blacks.

Disparities in educational outcomes multiply over time. The best predictor of future educational success is the age and education level of the mother at the time of the student's birth. Levels of literacy and spoken vocabulary at home affect a child's preparation for school. The next generation of students begins school with the effects of the previous generation's disparities in educational outcomes. Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Employment

For many years, neighborhoods in the core city with a high proportion of black residents received fewer public services and infrastructure improvements. Only recently, the City of Jacksonville has begun to invest a majority of its neighborhood infrastructure funds in these neighborhoods as a start toward remedying past neglect.

Commercial development in southeastern Duval County has exacerbated the financial and racial divisions among neighborhoods. New residential development has followed business development to Jacksonville's Southside, while both commercial and residential development has languished on the Northside and Westside, which have larger proportions of black population.

The residential real-estate market also perpetuates racial disparities. Some realtors show homes in different neighborhoods to different prospective buyers, based on their race. Some banking and financial institutions charge higher interest rates or higher fees to racial or ethnic minorities for home mortgages. Some apartment complexes also charge higher rates or impose extra fees based on race. Though illegal, these practices continue, effectively pricing many lower income racial minorities out of certain areas, and adding to the difficulties of sustaining home ownership.

While most businesses have equal employment-opportunity policies, many continue to perpetuate employment disparities. z

The practice of using traditional networking channels to find new employees tends to exclude minorities from hiring opportunities. These networks tend to reflect and perpetuate older patterns of single-race hiring.

Organizations that use search committees to find employees often find that those hired tend to reflect the racial makeup of the committee. A search committee composed primarily of white males may feel more comfortable with candidates who are white males.

Supervisors often make subjective judgments when selecting the "right person for the job." If evaluation is based on ability to "fit in well with the team," supervisors may feel more comfortable working with candidates similar to their own race, social class, and education. Physical appearance, hairstyle, and manner of speech may similarly affect hiring opportunities.

Opportunities for advancement within many organizations follow procedures similar to hiring practices. Shared social networks and perceived similarities may play a large role in deciding which candidate to promote. In addition, a mentor may be an important component in advancement, and people tend to mentor others of their own race.

Some businesses, especially small businesses, lack formal policies concerning diversity and racial harassment in the workplace. Others have these policies but do not enforce them.

Businesses that do not recruit or promote racial or ethnic minorities, and/or do not enforce against race-based harassment, are more likely to continue to employ and retain largely white employees, contributing to employment and income disparities. Racial and ethnic minorities, perceiving discrimination, are less likely to seek employment with such businesses, thus reinforcing the perception and the resulting disparities.

These effects on residential housing patterns in turn affect the racial makeup of neighborhood schools. Choices to attend nonneighborhood schools are limited for students of families without the resources to transport or support their children from a distance. Criminal justice Certain practices within the criminal justice system influence race-based disparities in both arrests and sentencing. The geographical assignment of police officers to different neighborhoods in Jacksonville impacts disparities in arrests: z

Based on a history of calls received and incidences of criminal activity, greater numbers of police officers are assigned to patrol lower-income inner-city areas. This increases the number of police/citizen encounters in racially identifiable black neighborhoods, which in turn is used to justify assigning greater numbers of police officers to these neighborhoods.

Patrolling police officers respond to crimes that they observe in progress. This increases their concentration on street crime, including violence, prostitution, and drug trafficking, rather than crime that occurs out of the public view. Street crime is more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods, resulting in a disproportionate number of blacks being arrested.

Neighborhoods and housing Segregated housing patterns are influenced by several institutional factors. z

The location of Public Housing units in low-income areas reinforces existing residential patterns. In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Jacksonville of violating fair housing laws and issued a consent decree mandating that Jacksonville locate 225 new Public Housing units in majoritywhite neighborhoods by 2006.

Other practices influence disparities in sentencing: z

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

People with low to moderate household incomes are less able to afford private legal representation and have less access to bonding opportunities.

Certain sentencing factors are disproportionately weighted against low-income arrestees, including: differences in sentences for possession of "crack" cocaine compared to those for possession of powder cocaine (possession of five grams of "crack" cocaine has the same five-year mandatory minimum sentence as possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine); and

Political campaigns have been racially divisive: z

Political leaders in Jacksonville, including both candidates and parties, have used race-specific messages on occasion to advance a candidate or a cause.

To the extent that the primary local newspaper participates in Jacksonville politics, it is perceived by many, especially in the black community, to contribute to racial divisiveness as well.

the

stability of the home environment and family economic stability may be used as factors in sentencing, which may result in longer sentences for the poor and those from single-parent homes.

Intervention and diversion programs for juveniles, through which offending youth are provided services rather than time in prison, serve disproportionately white youth, while black youth are more likely to serve time.

The result of these factors is that residents of low-income, predominantly-black neighborhoods are more likely to be arrested and more likely to serve longer sentences than the white population in Jacksonville. This removes a disproportionate number of black men from the workforce, adversely impacting their future earning potential and decreasing family stability, which may in turn reinforce criminal activity.

Disparities in perceived or actual access to the political system in Jacksonville are compounded by income disparities: z

Many public-policy decisions appear to be made by select groups of top businessmen, who are white males.

The cost of campaigning for office appears prohibitive to many in Jacksonville, leaving a disproportionate number of racial minorities feeling that they have limited access to the political system.

Policies regarding voting and voting districts also influence race-based disparities in political access: z

In Florida, those convicted of felonies are disenfranchised (prohibited from voting) for life, unless their civil rights are restored through an appeal to the state Clemency Board, an infrequent occurrence. Because black males are disproportionately convicted of felonies, they also are disproportionately excluded from the voting process.

The process of using race as a criterion for mapping voting districts creates both districts in which minorities have a greater chance of being elected and districts in which minorities have a smaller chance of being elected. One result has been the appearance that political representation is based on racial, not geographical, lines.

Health Disparities in health outcomes are related to two institutional factors: differences in health insurance coverage and differences in health-care treatment. z

Whites are more likely to have health insurance coverage and to have better insurance coverage than most other racial groups, which correlates with differences in employment and income among racial groups.

Even when health-care coverage and income levels are comparable, race-based disparities in health outcomes persist. Research indicates that health-care patients tend to receive different quality or types of treatment, based on their racial or ethnic group. Treatment methods used for white patients are often more aggressive than those used for other patients. Resource speakers stated that inadequate physician training in diversity issues contributes to this problem.

These factors make it more difficult to resolve racial tensions through the political process.

Poor health outcomes may reinforce the distrust many blacks feel toward the medical establishment due to historical incidents of medical abuse, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. This may deter some people from seeking medical treatment, which may in turn create worse health outcomes. Political process State policies and local political practices have contributed to racial polarization in Jacksonville and the perception that blacks have limited influence in Jacksonville's political processes. Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Individual choices and behaviors Personal choices and individual behaviors play an important role in explaining disparities. For example, housing patterns are influenced by individual choice. Many people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds feel more comfortable and less threatened living by people of the same background. This pattern of choices in Jacksonville contributes to racially-identifiable neighborhoods. Recent research concludes that personal choice influences health outcomes as well. Blacks tend to accept lower-functioning as an acceptable outcome, and are more averse to risky treatments. Whites, on the other hand, are more likely to insist on full functionality and more willing to take risks in their medical treatment. Individual behaviors affect disparities as well. The higher rates of births to teens and of single parents in Jacksonville's black community contribute to economic disparities, as single-parent households have lower average incomes than dual-parent households. In addition, resource speakers suggested that more blacks are in jail because proportionately more blacks commit crimes.

Education and income Beyond particular factors related to personal prejudice, institutional practices, or individual choices, the pervasive effects of disparities in education and income mutually reinforce one another and deepen all other disparities. Disparities in educational outcomes contribute to income disparities. Higher educational outcomes usually transfer to better employment and higher wages. Similarly, income disparities affect education. Students from lower-income families on average underperform students from middle- or upper-income families. Connected to family income is the student mobility rate; if a family moves several times during the school year, the student is less likely to learn at the same rate as his or her peers. Economic disparities influence the affordability of housing, the ability to obtain and maintain adequate health insurance, and the ability to pay for needed services and medications not covered by insurance. Lower-income patients also feel a greater financial urgency to return to work, perhaps before they are medically ready to do so. Income disparities also create differences in access to and influence with elected and appointed officials. Different education levels strongly influence one's ability to access and maneuver through the criminal justice system, the health-care system, and the political process. The effects of poverty, as with poor education, worsen over time. Wealth is traditionally accumulated over generations, and passed down to children and grandchildren. Historical racial inequities may be felt for several generations.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Efforts to Address Racial Tension Many organizations and institutions in Jacksonville are involved in addressing racial tension. Their efforts vary in approach and focus. Some concentrate on reducing individual racism and personal prejudice. Others work to reform institutional practices that create race-based disparities. Still others concentrate on eliminating race-based disparities directly. The net impact of these efforts to date on racial tensions and race relations is mixed. A number of organizations in Jacksonville work, in different ways, to reduce race-based disparities in the quality of life. The following sections describe the major efforts now underway.

Efforts to increase interpersonal interaction across racial lines

who focus on diversity training and analyses of the effects organizational practices have on supporting a racially diverse work environment. Most large organizations have developed policies protecting the rights of minority employees; for example, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office requires cultural diversity training for all of its officers. Some individuals and organizations are working to promote institutional change in other ways. In 2002, Creating Opportunities that Result in Excellence (CORE) was created to provide financial incentives for experienced teachers to work in lower-performing public schools, most of which serve primarily black students. The NAACP has organized boycotts, lawsuits, and protests of institutions it identifies as acting in a discriminatory manner in order to promote change.

Efforts to address disparities directly z

Education: The Duval County Public Schools fund their raciallyidentifiable black schools at higher per-student rates than other schools. Other community-based educational initiatives provide support for students in lower-performing schools, seeking to reduce the dropout rate and improve student educational outcomes. These initiatives serve all students in need, regardless of race. Because of the racial disparities in family income and educational outcomes, however, they play an important role in reducing educational disparities. These programs include Head Start, Communities in Schools, and Full Service Schools.

Employment: Governmental affirmative-action programs seek to address employment disparities by encouraging or requiring the hiring of racial and ethnic minorities. Minority contracting policies developed by the City of Jacksonville, independent authorities, and the Duval County School Board have increased the percentage of public dollars that go to minority-owned businesses.

These efforts focus on getting people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds to interact personally through learning, networking, solving problems, and/or worshipping together. The expectation is that increased interpersonal interaction will improve race relations and decrease discrimination in the community. Organizations with this focus include the Interfaith Council, NCCJ's Metrotown, Volunteer Jacksonville's Project Blueprint, and Leadership Jacksonville.

Efforts to increase understanding and reconciliation These efforts seek to bring people together to discuss their differing perspectives and gain a greater understanding of diverse viewpoints among people of different races. They emphasize dialogue and, through dialogue, expect reconciliation and mutual action that reduces racism. Programs include Study Circles, sponsored by the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, and Citizen's Forums for Racial and Cultural Harmony, sponsored by the Jacksonville branch of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). Other organizations, such as the Interchurch Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment (ICARE), Reconcile Jacksonville, JCCI, and the First Coast Diversity Council, also seek to achieve racial harmony and understanding by facilitating dialogue.

Several organizations have been formed to promote economic and other interests of racial and ethnic minorities in Jacksonville. These include the First Coast African American Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic American Business Association, Asian American Cultural Council, and the Filipino-American Community Council of Northeast Florida.

Efforts to identify and eliminate discrimination Racial discrimination is illegal in businesses with more than 15 employees, housing where the seller or leaser owns or manages more than four units, and in public accommodations. Several organizations offer legal assistance in cases of alleged discrimination. These include the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. Legal Aid also tests fair housing practices using undercover volunteers.

Efforts to understand and reform institutional practices Local government and many local businesses make efforts to identify and eliminate practices within their institutions which create racial disparities. They may hire one of several local consultants

Housing and neighborhoods: Most efforts to redevelop declining neighborhoods are targeted to issues other than race. However, because a disparate number of racial and ethnic minorities live in economically-depressed neighborhoods, these efforts address the race-based neglect these neighborhoods received historically. The City of Jacksonville has increased public funding for infrastructure improvements in low-income neighborhoods and created an Intensive Care Neighborhoods program to address housing disparities. Private redevelopment efforts, such as local affiliates of Habitat for Humanity, Fresh Ministries' Operation New Hope, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), as well as neighborhood revitalization organizations are improving some older black neighborhoods. Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Criminal justice: The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is encouraging greater community input into the criminal justice system through the Sheriff's Advisory Councils (SHADCO) and the Citizens Academy. The City of Jacksonville's Juvenile Justice Comprehensive Strategy Minority Overrepresentation Committee is studying disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system.

Health: Many public and private health initiatives are seeking to improve indigent health care. Most have identified and targeted reducing race-based health disparities as an essential part of their efforts. They include Healthy People 2010, Healthy Start, Communities in Charge, and targeted community health education fairs.

Impacts on race relations The net impact, to date, of the many efforts to improve race relations or race-based disparities in Jacksonville is mixed. While some efforts succeed in improving race relations, others have been less successful or have even fostered negative reactions in the community. Dialogue-based programs, such as Study Circles, are successfully creating understanding and improved race relations among their participants. However, that participation is limited, and the program focuses on attitudes over outcomes.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Programs that directly address disparities have had widespread community supportâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;unless the program is perceived to have negative impacts for a particular segment of the population. For example, many residents of white neighborhoods who say they favor housing desegregation efforts protest locating Public Housing near their homes. Some white workers feel they have lost opportunities for employment or advancement due to affirmative-action employment programs. At the time of this study, some white contractors were suing to eliminate minority contracting programs by the City of Jacksonville, contending that they have an adverse economic effect on their businesses and on whites who are denied opportunities because of the programs. Some efforts to reduce disparities directly have resulted in increased, rather than reduced, racial tensions in Jacksonville. Other programs designed to address disparities directly have helped to improve race relations. Actually reducing disparities helps to build trust and positively impacts those who benefit from the programs. In Jacksonville's past, just announcing a plan to address race-based disparities has helped to defuse racial tensions. By the time of this study, however, people were more skeptical of such announcements and were more likely to wait to see the results. This study was charged with discovering best practices being used in communities around the country to improve race relations. Many communities operate programs similar to those in Jacksonville, such as Study Circles or other dialogue efforts. However, this study did not identify a community whose race relations practices provided a blueprint for Jacksonville to follow; instead, the complexity of the issue appears to demand a unique local solution.

Conclusions Conclusions express the value judgments of the committee based on the findings. 1. Although the United States is committed, on paper, to fairness for all its citizens, these ideals have yet to be met in practice. While Jacksonville has made progress in race relations over the past 40 years, significant race-based social and economic inequalities still exist in Jacksonville, and racism still persists. Much improvement is still needed, because racism breaks the body, mind, heart, and spirit of people. 2. Past and current efforts to address racial disparities, discrimination, and tensions have been insufficient: z

Efforts to deal with race-based flare-ups have focused on the surface problems of the moment and have failed to address the fundamental issues that created the problems. Policies designed to reduce economic disparities have not addressed the attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate race-based disparities in Jacksonville. Attempts to improve race relations through dialogue only, although beneficial, have reached small numbers of people, have not resolved race-based disparities and their effects on racial tensions, and inadvertently have increased racial tensions when they were not followed up with community action.

3. Addressing racial discrimination in Jacksonville requires intentional change by individuals, families, businesses, government, and other community institutions. People of all races in Jacksonville must recognize the problem and assume individual and collective responsibility for eradicating discrimination. 4. Institutional factors which create or perpetuate racial disparities are difficult to address because these factors now are more subtle and covert, often are not intentionally perpetrated, and frequently are denied. Strong, active, and persistent leadership is required to ensure that government, businesses, and other community institutions rid themselves of discriminatory attitudes and practices. 5. Jacksonville's failure to eliminate racial disparities in educational expectations, placements, and achievement has lifelong negative consequences for many children and inhibits resolving racial tensions. Eliminating disparities in school performance is critical to ensuring a high quality of life for all Jacksonville citizens. 6. The Duval County Public Schools magnet-school program is insufficient to attain full school descregation. The continued presence of racially identifiable schools prevents children from learning how to live and work with children from other races and limits educational outcomes for all children.

7. The Duval County Public Schools provide insufficient training to enable teachers effectively to educate children from diverse cultural backgrounds. 8. Despite the use of public policies and strategies, revitalization of the economy of Jacksonville's Northside has been insufficient. As a result, race-based economic disparities create divisions in Jacksonville which inhibit positive race relations. 9. The implementation of affirmative-action policies in Jacksonville has created new racial tensions while attempting to address racial disparities. 10. Failure to enforce fair housing fully in Jacksonville, despite a court order and other attempts to integrate Public Housing, has far-reaching impacts in racial disparities. Historically, these disparities have been attributed too widely to the exercise of individual choice or to the dynamics of economics. This perspective still impedes the development of positive race relations, suggesting that much work is needed to improve the effectiveness of fair housing policies and initiatives. 11. Jacksonville's minority-access districts for elected representatives have provided opportunities for political power to blacks that otherwise would not have existed. However, because these districts concentrate representation of minorities among only a few elected representatives, blacks have reduced influence in other districts. 12. Jacksonville's political leaders, black and white, often have used inflammatory appeals to racial identity ("playing the race card") to get elected or to gain support for a political issue. The result is divisive and further aggravates racial tension in the community. 13. Jacksonville's political leaders have inadequately addressed race relations in specific public policy initiatives. 14. The existence of substantial race-based disparities in health-care outcomes reveals inadequate awareness, concern, and attention to the health of blacks in Jacksonville. 15. The disproportionate number of blacks who are incarcerated in Jacksonville contributes to the incidence of single-parent families, economic disparities, disproportionate disenfranchisement, and the perception that racial minorities should distrust the criminal-justice system. The low numbers of blacks who work as professionals in the criminal justice system also contributes to this distrust. The result is increased racial fear and tension in the community.

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

16. While the mass media in Jacksonville have made efforts to inform and enlighten the public about Jacksonville's diverse population, they have inadequately reported the reality of race relations to the community. Currently, the media are both a significant part of the problem and a necessary part of the solution. 17. Because churches and other faith-based institutions are influential with many people in all racial groups, they can either help or hinder in improving attitudes and behaviors toward people of other races. Many faith-based institutions have failed to use their influence to effectively improve race relations. 18. Progress to improve race relations in Jacksonville has been impeded by the following unproductive individual behaviors: z z z

blaming or stereotyping people based on past or current actions of other members of their racial group; unwillingness to act outside of one's comfort zone with members of another racial group; inability to differentiate between one's perception of race relations and objective reality, as well as unwillingness to accept that one's perceptions could be inaccurate; poor communication skills, including both unwillingness to listen and using language patterns that inhibit understanding; and persistent debating over whose perception of history is correct, which precludes meaningful discussion about current race problems.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

19. Successful efforts to improve race relations must address: z z z

deep-seated, longstanding race-based beliefs that dominate Jacksonville's social environment; individual behaviors by racial minorities that contribute to racial disparities; and the multigenerational economic impacts of past racial discrimination.

20. Those who experience positive social interactions and interpersonal relationships with people of other races and cultures are more likely to value tolerance than those who have not had these experiences. 21. The wide range of perceptions among Jacksonville's citizens about past and current racial disparities impedes resolution of problems in race relations. Because people tend to draw conclusions and make decisions about current situations based on the filter of past experiences, people of different races may reach significantly different conclusions about the same event. Currently no process exists in Jacksonville to acknowledge and resolve these differences.

Recommendations Recommendations are the committee's specific suggestions for change, based on the findings and conclusions.

z z

1. The Mayor of Jacksonville should take ownership of the race relations problem in Jacksonville. The Mayor should galvanize community leadership, including government, business, education, and the faith community, to create a vision for Jacksonville of racial justice and inclusion, in which all residents feel free to, and actually do, participate fully in public life, unimpeded by race-based disparities or discrimination. 2. To build public support for that vision and to hold the community accountable for achieving it, the City of Jacksonville should sponsor an annual weeklong diversity celebration. The celebration should include: z

z z z

convening community-wide accountability sessions, using a race relations report card (see Recommendation #4) and other data to document the degree of progress toward resolving race-based disparities and discrimination in Jacksonville; recognizing efforts that address race relations issues and produce outcomes that reduce disparity and discrimination; including and paying attention to the perspectives of emerging racial and ethnic minority groups; and sponsoring public events designed to celebrate diversity and foster interracial interaction.

3. The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (JHRC) should take a more active role in monitoring and advising City government on its efforts to resolve race-based disparities and discrimination in Jacksonville. 4. Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI) should convene citizens to create and distribute an annual report card on race relations in Jacksonville, modeled after its Quality of Life Indicators report. The report card should measure race-based disparities as well as perceptions of racism and discrimination in the community. It should also prioritize the measures based on the need for action to improve race relations. 5. The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (JHRC) and the Jacksonville branch of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) should build on past efforts and increasingly available community data on local race relations to expand significantly the Study Circles and other community dialogue programs. Participants in these programs should learn to become agents for institutional as well as individual change. To accomplish this, JHRC and NCCJ should:

6. The Duval County Public Schools should focus attention on eliminating racial disparities in educational outcomes. This will require strong leadership from both the School Board and the Superintendent. Specifically, the system should expand its efforts to: z

z z z z

increase partnerships with and significantly expand participation from government, business, media, and religious organizations;

identify low-performing schools in which students are succeeding, identify successful policies, practices, and teaching methods that support the success of these students, and incorporate them into all schools; work to improve all low-achieving schools, regardless of the racial makeup of the student body; ensure that all students gain sufficient proficiency in the English language to enter college or employment; ensure that all students are taught about conflict resolution, cultural diversity, and racial tolerance; issue an annual report card on progress in eliminating racial disparities in educational outcomes, including measures such as graduation rates, dropout rates, and test scores, and identify and implement specific strategies to address lack of progress; and provide learning opportunities outside of the traditional school setting, including evening and weekend classes, for low-performing students and their parents. Individual schools, with full support from the School Board, should develop partnerships with community organizations and businesses to facilitate these educational opportunities.

7. The Duval County Public Schools, through the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership, should expand and emphasize training that enhances the ability of public school teachers and principals to educate children from diverse racial backgrounds. This training should include an awareness of cultural differences as they impact race relations in the classroom, including: z z z z z

train members of these organizations to act as facilitators for interracial dialogue in their organizations; focus dialogue efforts to foster subsequent development and implementation of action plans that will improve race relations in Jacksonville; and publicize the outcomes of action-plan implementation efforts.

understanding diverse cultural behaviors; teaching to diverse learning styles; promoting respect for all races and cultures; resolving conflict; and developing ways to manage classroom behavior positively.

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

8. The City of Jacksonville should establish a fund to match the incentive money to be paid to successful teachers working in low-performing public schools through the privately-funded program called Creating Opportunities that Result in Excellence.

13. The Jacksonville Human Rights Commission should continue to strengthen relationships with its partners, such as the Jacksonville office of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Jacksonville Legal Aid, Inc., in their efforts to provide fair housing enforcement.

9. The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission should strengthen its policies that require businesses receiving incentives to meet targets for racially diverse participation by:

14. The Northeast Florida Board of Realtors should aggressively partner with the Jacksonville Housing Partnership and the Jacksonville Urban League to ensure that all Jacksonville residents have the widest range of possible housing choices available to them by:

adding a penalty clause to ensure that companies comply with racial diversity goals and nondiscriminatory practices or provide substantive evidence of a good faith effort; and reporting on the progress of participating businesses towards meeting racial diversity goals in their contracting or employment.

10. The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, in cooperation with major lending institutions, should take the lead to remove obstacles to economic development in minority communities by: z z

identifying the degree to which racial discrimination is a barrier in lending practices to minority companies; creating a micro-loan fund to assist new and undercapitalized businesses that do not qualify for conventional financing; and encouraging practices to improve access to capital for economic development in racial minority areas.

11. All public contracting entities, including the City of Jacksonville, Duval County Public Schools, and the public authorities, should revise their minority business contracting programs, based on principles of flexibility and fairness, to include: z

monitoring closely the structure and operation of disadvantaged business participation in contracts to eliminate "pass-through" contracts that do not substantially advance disadvantaged businesses; establishing mentoring programs, independent of procurement programs, between established businesses and disadvantaged businesses, to enhance the latter's chances of success; and encouraging the development and expansion of apprenticeship programs that will develop and strengthen minority businesses. The study committee considered but did not reach consensus on additional steps to modify the City of Jacksonville's minority business contracting policies.

12. The Jacksonville Housing Authority should locate Public Housing and other types of affordable housing in non-minority areas in numbers of units beyond those required by the Justice Department consent decree.

15. The Duval County Health Department should work with area health-care associations and institutions to ensure that they educate their members on current racial disparities in health-care outcomes and treatment and to train medical professionals in best practices to improve health-care delivery for all people. 16. Communities in Charge Jacksonville, a community coalition organized to generate solutions to the problem of the medically uninsured, should continue its leadership role in convening public and private health institutions to ensure adequate medical care for all and to decrease the disproportionate racial gap in medical coverage. 17. The Florida Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Dental Association, Northeast Florida Medical Society, Duval County Medical Society, Duval County Health Department, United Way of Northeast Florida, and American Cancer Society should work together and with area health-care institutions to offer an annual health summit to provide comprehensive health screenings and education targeted to the black community. 18. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, State Attorney's Office, Clerk of the Courts, and Public Defender's Office should continue actively to recruit black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American employees to deploy a criminal-justice workforce that reflects the diversity of the community. Creative efforts should be used to identify and attract these recruits. Each organization should report annually its progress toward achieving racial diversity. 19. The Chief Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit should require that: z

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

tracking and reporting home sales by race and location to determine if prospective buyers are being steered to certain neighborhoods based on their race; encouraging increased communication among real estate agents to ensure that race is not a factor in which homes are shown to particular clients; and working with neighborhood associations and CPACs to reduce prejudice and fear of housing integration.

all adult and juvenile diversion programs in the criminal or juvenile justice systems track and report participation and outcomes by race; and the Clerk of the Court track disposition of all cases by race.

20. The City of Jacksonville should annually evaluate its departments and divisions on their accomplishments in setting and meeting diversity goals. 21. The Mayor of Jacksonville should investigate the need for an Asian American Advisory Board, modeled after the existing Hispanic American Advisory Board, to advise the administration on concerns and issues of interest to members of the Asian community. 22. The Supervisor of Elections should create an independent, non-partisan, community-based commission to:

25. The Jacksonville branch of the National Conference for Community & Justice (NCCJ), with the support of the Interfaith Council and other religious organizations, should implement a program that develops partnerships between faith congregations of differing racial composition for dialogue, worship, social activities, and economic development activities. 26. The Florida Times-Union, with other print and broadcast media, should support community efforts to eliminate racial discrimination and disparities by: z

z z

establish guidelines for and monitor adherence to fair campaign practices, especially as they relate to race; and educate voters about the qualifications of and policies supported by all candidates for public offices in Jacksonville.

23. United Way of Northeast Florida should convene the leadership (political, religious, education, and business) of all racial groups in Jacksonville to mobilize the community to address selfdestructive behaviors that contribute to poverty and resulting racial disparities, particularly within racial minorities, such as teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and dropping out of school. Jacksonville's black leadership in particular should take a more active and public role in addressing these issues.

ensuring racially diverse viewpoints on their editorial boards; recognizing racial disparities in Jacksonville and enhancing community awareness of the issues in its reporting; and reporting and giving positive editorial recognition to efforts that successfully address Northeast Florida's racial disparities and race relations.

27. The Jacksonville branch of the National Conference for Community & Justice (NCCJ) should convene a broad-based coalition that should create a "Declaration of Principles" regarding race relations and advocate for its formal adoption by as many public and private organizations as possible.

24. The Jacksonville branch of the National Conference for Community & Justice (NCCJ) should create a Center for Conflict Resolution where potentially divisive issues can be mediated and constructive solutions found before crises erupt. The City of Jacksonville should grant funds to the center, seeking financial partnerships with law enforcement and educational organizations.

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

References

The following written materials offered useful information related to the study issue.

Jessie Ball duPont Fund, Unfinished Business: Overcoming Racism, Poverty, and Inequality in the South, 1998. Florida Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Racial and Ethnic Tensions in Florida, March 1996. The Florida Times-Union, Special Report on Duval County Public Schools, October 1997. Michael Hughes and Melvin E. Thomas, "Race, Class, and Quality of Life in America", American Sociological Review, 1998, Vol. 63 (December: 785-795). The Institute for Democratic Renewal and Project Change Anti-Racism Initiative, A Community Builder's Tool Kit: 15 Tools for Creating Healthy, Productive Interracial/Multicultural Communities, 1998. Jacksonville Community Council Inc. Quality of Life in Jacksonville: Indicators for Progress. 2001. Richard Martin, A Quiet Revolution: Consolidation of Jacksonville-Duval County and the Dynamics of Urban Political Reform, White Publishing Company: 1993. The Mayor's Council on Community Reconciliation, Jacksonville Together! Recommendations for Community Healing, February 13, 1992. The National Conference for Community and Justice, Faith Leaders on Intergroup Relations: Perspectives and Challenges, New York: 2002. The National Institute on Educational Governance, Finance, Policy-Making, and Management, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U. S. Department of Education, Leading for Diversity: A Study of How School Leaders Achieve Racial and Ethnic Harmony, December 20, 1999. National Issues Forum, Racial and Ethnic Tensions: What Should We Do? 2000. National League of Cities, Ensuring Race Equality: Resources for Local Officials, 2002. The New York Times, How Race Is Lived in America: Pulling Together, Pulling Apart. Times Books: New York, 2001. Bradley R. Schiller, The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination. Prentice-Hall: New Jersey, 2001. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., Beyond Race and Gender: Unleashing the Power of Your Total Work Force by Managing Diversity. Amacon: New York, 1991. The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University, Special Report: Race and Opportunity, The Washington Post, July 11, 2001.

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Resource People

The JCCI study process relies on information supplied by knowledgeable resource people, in addition to published reference materials. We wish to thank the following for their contributions to this study.

W.O. Birchfield Former state legislator

Dan Haskell Associated Builders and Contractors

Edward Pratt-Dannals Duval County Public Schools

James Boddie, Jr. St. Pius V Roman Catholic Church

Edward Hayes Diversity Training Associates

Alexis Priestly-Jackson Attorney

Steven Baker Jacksonville University

Wendell Holmes Past School Board president

Isaiah Rumlin NAACP

Mary Borg University of North Florida

Rodney Hurst Former City Council member

Bill Scheu Attorney

Lloyd Brown The Florida Times-Union

Bob Ingram Bethel Baptist Institutional Church

Fred Schultz Schultz Investments

Jim Crooks Retired historian

Mia Jones Duval County Public Schools, Minority Business Affairs

Richard Seibler Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

John Curtin Jacksonville Neighborhoods Department John Delaney Mayor of Jacksonville Willye Dennis Former state legislator Duane Dumbleton Baha'i faith Edward Eng Asian American Cultural Council Ronnie Ferguson Jacksonville Housing Authority Michael Figgins Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. Ruby George Duval Teachers United Jacqueline Gibbs City of Jacksonville Purchasing Department Nat Glover Sheriff Jeff Goldhagen Duval County Health Department Bibiana Golfin-Greer Filipino-American Community Council of Northeast Florida

Stan Jordan State legislator Susan Lamb First Coast Council of Conservative Citizens Gwen Marlow The Marlow Resource Group Michael Matuson Temple Ahavath Chesed Elizabeth Means SHANDS Jacksonville Joe Miller Jacksonville Public Works Department Donald Moran Duval County Chief Judge Ken Myers Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church Tony Nelson First Coast Black Business Investment Corporation Ray Oldakowski Jacksonville University

Harry Shorstein State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit Mario Taylor Jacksonville Department of Regulatory and Environmental Services Charlene Taylor Hill Jacksonville Human Rights Commission Gerald Tjoflat U.S. Circuit Judge Davette Turk Fresh Ministries Clark Vargas Hispanic American Business Association Paula Weatherby Political consultant Mark Wilbanks Southside Baptist Church Carolyn Williams University of North Florida Isiah Williams Jacksonville Advocate

Rolando Perez Hispanic American Cultural Association

Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Committee Membership and Work Committee members met together 33 times from October through June. In addition, the management team met many times to provide guidance and direction for the study. The committee received information from 51 knowledgeable resource people and additional written materials researched by JCCI staff.

Brian Davis, Co-chair

Bruce Barcelo, Co-chair

MANAGEMENT TEAM Roberto Arias Al Barlow Michelle Cook Connie Hodges Pete Jackson Audrey McKibbin Moran

Nes Papel Bill Scheu Deborah Thompson Paula Weatherby Valerie Williams

COMMITTEE Judy Aranda George Bashure Tony Bates Richard Berry Erica Bowman Wanda Boyd David Boyer Clanzenetta Brown Lee Brown Shepard Bryan Doug Carter Johnny Carter Jeane Chappell Jim Crooks Laura Crooks Sherry Czerniejewski Christopher Daboul Laura D'Alisera

John Edwards, Jr. Edward Eng Jerry Flakus Elgin Foreman, Jr. David Foster John Frank Bill Hoff Andrew Jackson Helen Jackson Josephine Jackson Veronica James Stephen Jensen Mel Johnson Mia Jones Bonnie Knight Dinah Kossoff Marietta LeBlanc Marcia Lebold

Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations Study

Carla Marlier Guy Marlow Gwen Marlow Virginia Morrison Cheryl Murphy Roosevelt Paige Dorothy Pate Brenda Pollak Tommy Prater Marvin Reese Katherine Sandusky Anna Scheu Randolph Silas Ella Simmons Jon Singleton Paul Stasi Delena Stephens Leonard Stevens

Tom Sullivan Caroline Swain Maria Taylor Charlene Taylor Hill Leonard Thiesen Denise Thomas Robb Trippsmith Valveta Turner Gretchen Van Aken Richard Weber Neil Williams Novella Williams Stephen Williams Patricia Wright Alton Yates John Young Judy Youngblood

About JCCI Board of Directors Edgar Mathis, President David M. Foster, President-Elect Paula B. Weatherby, Secretary John Cobb, Treasurer Oliver Barakat William H. Bishop III, AIA Elizabeth Corrigan Bomhard Virginia Borrok Michael T. Boylan Patricia A. Brzozowski Joy Burgess Sue K. Butts Charles A. Clarkson Gary Corbitt John Daigle, Jr. Jack Diamond Edward J. Eng, P.E. Charles L. Griggs Edward F.R. Hearle David W. Hemphill Howard Kelley William Mason III Douglas C. Miller John Rutherford Susan McCranie Siegmund Mary Ellen Smith Debra Thompson Glenda Washington Gerald W. Weedon Susan Summerall Wiles

Executive Director Lois Chepenik

Past Presidents J.J. Daniel Jack H. Chambers Yank D. Coble, Jr. Robert D. Davis George W. Corrick Howard R. Greenstein Jacquelyn D. Bates David M. Hicks James C. Rinaman Kenneth W. Eilermann J. Shepard Bryan, Jr. Juliette Woodruff Mason Lucy D. Hadi Charles P. Hayes, Jr. Steve Pajcic Tracey I. Arpen, Jr. Guy Marvin III Luther Quarles III W.O. Birchfield Michael J. Korn William E. Scheu Afesa Adams William D. Brinton Sherry Burns Sue K. Butts

Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI) was created in 1975 with the goal of improving the quality of life in Jacksonville through informed citizen participation in public affairs. JCCI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, broad-based civic organization. It involves citizens in community issues through open dialogue, impartial research, consensus building, and leadership development. Each year, JCCI produces an annual report on the quality of life in Jacksonville. It also selects two issues for in-depth community study. Diverse study committees meet weekly for about six months, gaining a thorough understanding of the problem and reaching consensus on key findings as well as recommended solutions. Following completion of the study and publication of a report, an implementation task force of citizens takes the report to the community and seeks to place the issues on the community agenda. The goal is to seek further deliberation, increased public awareness, and finally, action by appropriate officials. In addition to its annual studies and Quality Of Life report, JCCI plans and coordinates human services for United Way of Northeast Florida and the Human Services Council (HSC), a coalition of the local funders of human services. A second indicator document, the Community Agenda, is prepared annually for United Way and the HSC. Its indicators focus on health and human services. JCCI also facilitates JCCI Forward, an initiative of emerging leaders to pave the way for greater progress under the next generation of local leadership. Upon request, JCCI provides a variety of planning, research, consulation and facilitation services under contract. JCCI receives funding from United Way of Northeast Florida, the City of Jacksonville, the Duval County Public Schools, corporations, and individual members. JCCI membership is open to all citizens interested in building a better community. More information about JCCI and its projects is available at www.jcci.org.

JCCI Staff

Planning Staff

Support Staff

Lois Chepenik Executive Director

Mickee Brown Cheryl Murphy Jennifer Parsons Michelle Simkulet

Earlene Hostutler Tabatha Joyner Tess Mork* Lashun Stephens *

Ben Warner* Associate Director

* Staff for this study Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

Previous JCCI Studies STUDY 1977 1977 1977 1978 1978 1979 1979 1979 1979 1979 1980 1980 1980 1981 1981 1982 1982 1982 1983 1983 1984 1984 1985 1985 1986 1986 1987 1987 1988 1988 1989

Local Government Finance* Housing* Public Education (K-12)* Public Authorities* Strengthening the Family* Citizen Participation in the Schools* Youth Unemployment* Theatre Jacksonville* Civil Service* Planning in Local Government* Capital Improvements for Recreation* But Not In My Neighborhood The Energy Efficient City* Coordination of Human Services* Higher Education* Disaster Preparedness* Teenage Pregnancy* Downtown Derelicts* Mass Transit* Indigent Health Care* Jacksonville’s Jail* Growth Management* Visual Pollution Minority Business* Private Delivery of Public Services Mental Health and Drug Abuse Services for Children and Youth* Child Day-Care Services Infrastructure* Local Election Process* School Dropout Prevention* Reducing the Garbage Burden*

1989 1990

Independent Living for the Elderly* Future Workforce Needs*

CHAIR Robert Davis Thomas Carpenter Robert W. Schellenberg Howard Greenstein Jacquelyn Bates Susan Black Roy G. Green Richard Bizot Max K. Morris I. M. Sulzbacher Ted Pappas Pamela Y. Paul Roderick M. Nicol Pat Hannan R. P. T. Young Walter Williams Jr. Mari Terbrueggen Earle Traynham David Hastings Linda McClintock Eleanor Gay Curtis L. McCray Doug Milne Jack Gaillard George Fisher Flo Nell Ozell George W. Corrick Joan Carver Jim Rinaman Gene Parks Jack F. Milne & James L. White III Roseanne Hartwell Yank D. Coble Jr.

JCCI studies are available free to interested, local individuals. Most studies may be downloaded from our website at www.jcci.org. Those marked with a star are out of print; copies available at $7.00 each.

STUDY 1990 Philanthropy in Jacksonville* 1991 Adequate Water Supply* 1991 Positive Development of Jacksonville’s Children* 1992 Long-Term Financial Health of the City of Jacksonville* 1992 Young Black Males* 1993 1993 1994 1994 1995 1995 1996 1996 1997 1997 1997 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001 2002

Planning for Northeast Florida’s Uncertain Military Future* Public Education: The Cost of Quality* Reducing Violence in Jacksonville Schools* Jacksonville Public Services: Meeting Neighborhood Needs* Teenage Single Parents and Their Families* JAXPORT: Improvement and Expansion Creating a Community Agenda: Indicators For Health and Human Services* Leadership: Meeting Community Needs* Improving Public Dialogue* Transportation for the Disadvantaged* Children with Special Needs* The Role of Nonprofit Organizations Incentives for Economic Development* Improving Adult Literacy* Arts, Recreation and Culture in Jacksonville Affordable Housing* Improving Regional Cooperation Services for Ex-Offenders Growth Management Revisited Making Jacksonville a Clean City

CHAIR Juliette Mason Russell B. Newton Jr. Henry H. “Tip” Graham Mary Alice Phelan Chester A. Aikens & William E. Scheu David L. Williams Royce Lyles Dale Clifford Michael Korn Afesa Adams Jim Ade Bruce Demps Bill Brinton Jim Crooks Cathy Winterfield Virginia Borrok Sherry Magill Henry Thomas Edythe Abdullah Ed Hearle Bill Bishop Jim Rinaman Dana Ferrell Birchfield Allan T. Geiger Brenna Durden

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