Towns Try To Combat Racism

Institutional racism occurs when minorities are systematically discriminated against by any group or organization.

But local leaders said the complaints and protests sparked by David Horowitz's article that denounced reparations for slavery in Monday's edition of The Daily Tar Heel have not had any effect on the way they govern.

Chapel Hill received a formal complaint of institutional racism about five years ago.

Employees in the Department of Public Works filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because they thought the town systematically kept minorities in lower-paid positions and did not give them ample opportunities to advance, Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf said.

Waldorf said the EEOC found no grounds for these claims, but the Town Council did take steps to ensure such complaints would not come up again.

She said that their lowest paid employees have a higher salary than the average in this region.

Waldorf also said the Town Council formed a committee of top- and middle-level public works management and employees to talk about grievances and ways to improve upon those.

She added that the Town Council tried to stop these types of complaints by providing minorities with training opportunities that would help them be promoted.

Some local officials maintain that this type of racism is hard to pinpoint and eradicate. "Institutional racism is very prevalent in our society," said Carrboro Board of Aldermen member Jacquelyn Gist. "What's insidious about it is that good, well-intentioned people perpetuate it without meaning to."

Gist said institutional racism stems from ingrained patterns of behavior and ways of doing things, which makes it hard to spot and tough to stop. "It's the hardest part of racism to cite and the most important one to cite," she said.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Edith Wiggins said she agrees that institutional racism is rampant. "Institutional racism is everywhere, and we all have a job to look for it and try to stop it," she said.

Waldorf said one of the main factors perpetuating institutional racism is unproductive dialogue between whites and minorities. "Part of what's at issue in things like this is clear communication and hearing the other person's point of view," she said.

Alderman Diana McDuffee said Carrboro has not heard any formal complaints of institutional racism.

"I've been on the board for six years, and I don't recall ever having a case of institutional racism while I've been on the board," she said.

But Gist said the topic does come up at meetings in different forms.

"We discuss it in terms of questions like how do we get more minorities on advisory boards and to run for elections," she said. "It's always there."

The City Editor can be reached

at citydesk@unc.edu.