Our Commitment to Fight Against Racial Injustice
We at APA San Diego are deeply saddened, frustrated and angered by the senseless killings of Black men and women in our communities. We are speaking directly to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Amir Rice, Eric Garner, Stephon Clark and countless others. Locally, San Diegans from historically overlooked communities have suffered from similar discriminatory practices. Black lives lost in the San Diego region include Alfred Olango, Earl McNeil, Aleah Jenkins, Toby Diller, and many others who were also killed while unarmed. APA San Diego vehemently condemns acts of violence and aggression upon Black communities and against all forms of discrimination against People of Color.
We stand in solidarity with those who fight against racial injustice. It is incumbent upon Planners to take the time to uplift the current voices advocating for reform of oppressive policies and practices. The Planning profession must learn from these lessons from the past errors in our own education and practice and strive for equitable planning procedures for communities of color in the areas of housing, land use, transportation, and environmental justice policies. We also recognize the role of historic and institutionalized racism in the development of communities and its impact on community members, and we acknowledge that change requires committing to educating ourselves about past errors. We look ahead to helping examine where existing laws and policies may inherently have negative and disproportionate effects on disadvantaged populations. The San Diego Section of APA will work to better connect desired outcomes and practices with clearly stated policies.
We strongly encourage our members and residents throughout the San Diego region to read and share APA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategies, such as our Planning for All initiative goals and our Planning for Equity Policy Guide. Ethical principles are also further underlined in the AICP Code of Ethics along with a new online public engagement toolkit to ensure that all voices are uplifted in the planning process. We also hope you will read the statement from APA California and the national APA Statement on Righting the Wrongs of Racial Inequality.
In February of 2019, our sister section in the Inland Empire invited Richard Rothstein to present on his book The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. A summary and video recording of the event is available, and we encourage you to watch it. Over the next few months APA San Diego will be forming a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee to identify programs, events, and services the San Diego Section should be delivering to our membership locally. If you are interested in participating, please contact Jerry Rivero.