presentation to the NAACP

1. Charlottesville Commission On
Human Rights, Diversity, & Race
Relations
Presentation to Charlottesville-
Albemarle Chapter of the NAACP
January 9, 2012

2. The Origins
• Dialogue on Race 2008-City Council Initiative
• Study Circles-Action Forum: Commission idea
came from this
• DOR four Work Groups:
Education, Government, Social/Cultural, Economi
c
• Government Group Action Team: Policy Action
Team, Ex-Offender Team, City Employees Team
• Working on ideas like the Commission, Racial
Impact Statement

3. Dialogue on Race Mission Statement
• Our mission is to engage every segment
of our community in an
open, honest, on-going discussion of
race, racism and diversity and to identify
problems and propose concrete
solutions and paths to action that
promote racial reconciliation, economic
justice and equity.

4. Human Rights Commission
• Developed from DOR process
• Policy Action team diverse
• Spent 9 months researching
• Action team examine what other localities were
doing to respond substantively to institutional
racism
• Places like Albuquerque, NM; Fairfax, VA; Prince
Williams, VA; Alexandria City, VA, State of
Iowa, had human rights ordinances and
Commissions with teeth

5. Cville Race Initiatives Background
• Several previous attempts to implement a Human Rights
Commissions in Charlottesville since the 1970s, all failed.
• 1976 the Department of Community Development/NDS did
a report on race relations in Charlottesville.
• 1985 there was a study done on Race and Education in
Charlottesville
• 2003 There was the Citizens for a United Community
initiative
• 2008 the Dialogue on Race initiative
• 2010-11 there have been several major studies on issues
pertaining to race
• 2010 The Dialogue on Race Policy Action Team proposes
Charlottesville Commission on Human Rights

6. Human Rights Commissions
• Human Rights Commissions are based on federal
and state anti-discrimination laws banning
discrimination
• By race, religion, gender, age, disability in
• Private employment
• Housing
• Private education
• Public accommodations
• Credit

7. Proposed Charlottesville Commission
• Asks Council to enable anti-discrimination in local
law in private employment & housing mirroring
EEOC and HUD regulations
• 7 member permanent commission
• With power to enforce ordinances through
complaint process, investigatory process, possible
hearings, and determinations with ability to give
recourse to victims of discrimination
• Protect businesses and landlords from false
allegations

8. Proposed Charlottesville Commission
• Commission would also have educational &
out reach role (much like current Dialogue on
Race)
• Could investigate trends, conduct studies, hold
informational hearings, advise Council on race
issues
• Proposed staffing includes
Director, investigator, administrative assistant
(modeled on Cville Planning Commission)

9. Determining Need for Commission
In Charlottesville
• First looked at Cville history (e.g., slavery, Jim Crow
laws, segregation and Massive Resistance, Vinegar
Hill, Public Housing, recent events)
• Consulted with Community organizations that deal
with discrimination: NAACP Exec. Comm., QCC, Legal
Aid, Piedmont Housing, etc.
• Asked if there was a need for such a Commission-YES!
• Consulted with Fairfax Director of Equity Programs, Dir.
VA Council Human Rights, Albuquerque Office, Iowa
City w/Commission
• Asked if Commission Ordinances conflicted with Dillon
Rule in VA-Informed it did not

10. Determining Need for Commission
• Consulted with a variety of minority leaders in
the Community and received encouragement
for Commission
• Consulted a variety of recent reports on race
and poverty:
• Report on poverty in Charlottesville
,Schuyler, R. & Hannan, M., A Declaration of
Independence: Family Self‐Sufficiency in
Charlottesville Virginia

11. Determining Need for Commission
• Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on
Youth and Families (2011), Task Force on Race
Disparities and Disproportionality in Youth
Services, concludes there are significant
inequity by race in child welfare, physical
health, & mental health in our area.

12. Determining Need for Commission
• "Public Housing in Charlottesville: The Black Experience
in a Small Southern City," Harris, Sr. and Olmsted
(http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/schwartz/vhill/harris.ht
ml), state:
• “Over time, race-specific decisions in the city have
resulted in segregated public housing.... discrimination
related to race is a reality in Charlottesville's public
housing. First, racial discrimination is evidenced by
public policy that has limited the opportunity for fair
housing. Second, racial discrimination is clearly present
when considered on a spatial or site-specific basis.”

13. Determining Need for Commission
• the University and Community Action for Racial Equity
(UCARE) report, Call for Reaction and
Reflection, concluded:
• "Continuing racial discrimination: Around the
community at large, and among many staff members
who work at UVa, the perception of mistreatment is
widespread, as is the sense that it is either useless to
complain because nothing will change, or unwise to
complain for fear of retaliation." and, "The significant
local problems involving racial disparities such as
housing, education, and youth well-being, employment
and income, and health, attract little interest… ."

14. Determining Need for Commission
• Received statistics from EEOC on complaints in
our area:
• As of 10/14/2011, in FY2010 total of 42
charges filed against Respondents in
Charlottesville, VA. Of those, 36 were closed
and 6 are open.
• For FY2011, 49 charges, 12 of which were
closed and 37 which were still open as of
10/14/11.

15. Determining Need for Commission
• "Obtaining precise estimates of the prevalence of
workplace discrimination is difficult because not
all discrimination is reported. By all
accounts, many employees prefer to resort to
self-help or avoidance rather than pursue a claim
against a discriminatory employer. Thus data
based on official, formal complaints are
underestimates of the prevalence" (Goodman-
Delahunty & Foote in Evaluation For Workplace
Discrimination and Harassmen,t 2011,p. 11).

16. Determining Need for Commission
• At Base are perceived injurious experiences-the
broad mass of injuries that people recognize.
• Some proportion of these experiences become
grievances: injuries that involve a violation of
right or entitlement. Grievances can be thought
of as 100% of the potential claims, for without a
violation of right or entitlement individuals will
not seek redress.
• Only some grievances become claims: when an
individual contacts the party responsible for the
grievance.

17. Determining Need for Commission
• Fewer still are disputes: when the party
allegedly responsible for an individual’s claim
denies their responsibility.
• Some number of disputes results in filings: a
formal complaint
• and the smallest category of all is made up of
trials: cases that are adjudicated”

18. Determining Need for Commission
• Cases drop out …at a rapid rate.
• Only 70% of people with grievances press
them to a claim
• Only 46% pursue a grievance to the level of
dispute,
• Only 5% of grievances lead to filing a lawsuit,
• and only 0.06% of grievances end up in trial.

19. • Galanter (1983) summarizes other literature
about the variables that affect probabilities: The
wealthier and better educated are more likely to
make claims and pursue them to court, as are
those individuals who have terminated their
relationship with the party with whom they have
a grievance" (p. 16).
• if one were to use this formula with the data
from the EEOC provided above, it would indicate
we have a much higher demand and justification
for the Commission.

20. Determining Need for Commission
• Nielsen and Nelson (2005) continue:
• "Deciding whether or not one should make a complaint
internally within the organization, to a Federal
Agency, to a lawyer, or even to one's friends and family
involves complicated processes. ... In the Rutgers study
…, more than a third (34%) of those who reported
unfair treatment in the workplace did not do anything
(Dixon et al., 2002, p. 15). Although they also may
complain to friends, family members, or people in the
office;" 4% "quit;" and 2% "confronted the person."
Only 3% said they "sued" the company or their co-
worker" (p. 19).

21. Determining Need for Commission
• We felt because of socio-cultural issues revolving around race and other forms of
discrimination, the numbers of complaints filed to the EEOC just scratches surface
of the real number of complaints that might be addressed if there were a more
accessible form of complaint enforcement locally;
• if the Commission ordinance written properly people in Charlottesville could use
the Commission as their first source of recourse.
• The culture of racism and the fear of retribution and losing one’s job with no
accessible institution for recourse has psychological and sociological effects on
discrimination complaint demand.
• Raw numbers of complaints filed in the last two years does not accurately reflect
the real need for the Commission.
• along with the testimony of local organizations in town like the NAACP, VO, Legal
Aid, and QCC who handle these forms of complaints informally, that they cannot
handle the demand and recommend the formation of a Human Rights Commission
to do so, clearly establishes the demand and justification for the Commission

22. What’s Next?
• Policy Action Team Submitted proposal for
Commission to City Managers and City
Councilors in December
• City Manager conducting “due diligence” on
proposal and expects to make
recommendation to Council soon
•