SXSW: Austin bids to be part of national program to fight racism in city codes, regulation

Austin has applied for a new program designed to go through various city codes and regulations to identify policies that induct or sustain racism, according a director of the organization sponsoring the project.

The Racial Equity Here project received applications from 11 cities, including Austin, said Tynesia Boyea-Robinson, director of collective impact at Living Cities Inc.,  which is backing the initiative.

The final city or cities will be named in mid-April, she said.

Speaking on the "Bootstrapping Your City’s Innovation Ecosystem" panel at SXSW Interactive Saturday afternoon, Boyea-Robinson said the program is designed to counteract structural racism in a city’s public policies.

Absent an effort to reduce structural racism, programs aimed at improving the welfare of disadvantaged communities will struggle to succeed on a broad scale, she said.

While the panelists discussed a range of technologies and programs designed to build cities for a digital era, the conversation often returned to how those efforts need to be made more inclusive.

Credit: Associated Press

Credit: Associated Press

In between firing a few friendly salvos at each other’s cities, mayors Kevin Johnson and Richard Berry both said that city officials have to put a deliberate emphasis on issues of inclusion, or else it gets lost in the wash of market forces and other interests.

Berry, the mayor of Albuquerque, noted his city’s initiative to back a set of small accelerators and incubators, including one specifically geared toward the city’s musicians and artists.

Berry also noted how Albuquerque has managed to create a regular series of events that bring together diverse sets of residents to discuss issues.

Johnson, the former NBA star and now mayor of Sacramento, cited an unusual opportunity to expand urban core and create an innovation district on former rail yards adjacent to downtown.

Yet Johnson also noted the city's $250 million backing of a new NBA arena for the Sacramento Kings. Beyond just ribbing Berry that his town had an NBA franchise (never mind that the Kings came thisclose to moving a few years ago), Johnson described a series of programs designed to provide job opportunities for single mothers, ex-offenders and homeless people.

“You have to be intentional,” Johnson said, “to give opportunities to people who otherwise would not have an opportunity to participate.”