Marin Leader

Marin County is making an effort to build racial equity in the midst of a global movement to raise awareness for inequity on the basis of race that exists in institutions, organizations, processes and situations in the country, according to a county press release.

Specifically, the initiative will be aimed toward solving long-term injustices. To help advise the county on these situations, a new committee has been appointed that consists of residents in the county that have personally experienced prejudice and discrimination on the basis of race. 

The Marin County Office of Equity met this week in an online meeting that the public was encouraged to participate in. The agenda for the meeting has been posted on the webpage of the board. 

The effort to address inequities is not new to Marin County. They have had plans to address racial inequity since at least 2017 in the form of the Race Equity Action Plan. This plan will now be headed by 15-20 members of the Race Equity Planning Committee. They will continue the work of the plan that was established in 2017 and also come up with new initiatives to provide insight into the situations and processes that are furthering prejudice in the county. 

“The next year is critical to our collective approach to equity work in the county. We have a responsibility to our employees and the county at large to ensure that the equity work takes root and grows to the point of reaching Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging[External] in Marin County. Our relationships with the most marginalized populations in Marin must be healed to move this work forward in dynamic ways. That healing comes from changing the model of how we engage, support, and create connection with community," Anyania Muse, the county's first equity director, said.

According to the Board of Supervisors, equality is one of the "Four E's" that are included in their priorities for the county. The others are education, economy and environment.