Gwinnett County leaders are requesting help to form an equity action plan, a document that will guide the government in eliminating structural racism and ensuring all county residents have the chance to thrive.
The initiative, announced Wednesday by Gwinnett Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson, asks a consultant to analyze county systems, processes, policies, programs and initiatives to ensure they do not have disparate impacts on residents, businesses or others.
“To achieve the Gwinnett Standard, we will make substantial progress in reducing the barriers around institutional and systemic racism and make all of Gwinnett’s communities places of opportunity,” Hendrickson said in a speech to the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, a partner with HR&A Advisors and head of their Inclusive Cities group, said she wasn’t aware of another government in the South that is focusing this thoroughly on equity.
“This is a very thorough and ambitious call to action,” she said. “They didn’t just say, ‘Let’s do some training.’ They want to figure out how to embed equity in every way.”
Batista Schlesinger will work with the county on creating an equity plan for the redevelopment of Gwinnett Place Mall, which the county closed on earlier this year. She said she thought leaders showed “a real commitment to going as deep as required” in prioritizing a countywide plan at the same time discussions about redevelopment were ongoing.
“The last year and a half have shown us where there is inequity, there is fragility,” she said. “We’ve seen what happens when equity isn’t central.”
The mall plan, Hendrickson said, will focus on making sure economic needs aren’t prioritized over those of communities of color that live and work in the area. She said the development of Gwinnett Place should not displace marginalized communities, but help them thrive.
Michelle Kang, the vice president of external affairs for the Korean American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, has a real estate business in Duluth. She said she wants to hear more Asian voices reflected in policies and programs — something she said does not yet happen in the county.
“This is our community,” she said. “This development should be beneficial to everybody.”
The equity proposal is “certainly commendable,” said Jerry Gonzalez, the executive director of GALEO. But he said there’s a lot of work the county can do — and that it hasn’t done in the past.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction, but the proof is in the pudding,” he said. “From outside looking in, Gwinnett County can certainly do more to serve its diverse citizens.”
The county of nearly 1 million people has 650 foreign-owned businesses, according to information provided to potential consultants, and residents who speak more than 120 languages. It’s the most diverse county in the Southeast, and while Hendrickson said 96% of the population was white in 1980, today, white residents make up just a third of the population.
Gwinnett is 30% Black, 22% Hispanic, 12.5% Asian and 3% multiracial. Hendrickson, the first Democrat elected to the position in more than 30 years, is Gwinnett’s first Black chair.
Gonzalez cited voting access as one example of what the county could do for its diverse population. While federal law now requires ballots to be available in both English and Spanish, the county did not voluntarily expand language equity before it was required. Voting materials are not available in Asian languages, though community leaders have asked that they be provided.
That’s a key frustration of Stephanie Cho, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Atlanta. She questioned why the county would need a consultant to come in and address equity when the changes advocacy groups have been championing have so far been ignored.
“It seems like a waste of money to hire a consultant,” she said. “We’re feeling like the commission is just catching up to things the community has been asking for for years. It’s beyond time.”
Hendrickson, in her speech, said leaders need to tackle longstanding issues of equity and understand that Gwinnett — where a quarter of the population is foreign-born — will remain a diverse community.
“To address our present and shape our future, we absolutely must confront our past,” she said.
She said the “dramatic demographic shifts in Gwinnett have created consternation, if not racist reactions from people who have a hard time embracing the change.”
Cho said for Gwinnett to advance, some of those residents may no longer have a place in the county. She wondered if leaders could stomach the pushback they might get for promoting equity.
“There will be a backlash,” she said.
The true test, Gonzalez said, is how the county distributes money in the future. He said if Gwinnett succeeds in making that change, it will be good for everyone.
“As we lift up communities, we all benefit,” he said. “We all have a responsibility to create an ecosystem where that happens.”
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