Buncombe County joins Asheville in Committing to Stop the Harm

On December 5th, 2022, the Community Reparations Commission asked the City of Asheville and Buncombe County to formally commit to stop harming Black people in this region. On January 24th, the City of Asheville made that commitment. On February 7th, Buncombe County joined them in the pledge.

The most tangible outcome of City Council’s resolution is the authorization of the Buncombe County Manager and the Asheville City Manager to work together to hire an outside entity to perform an audit of where and how City and County policies and practices are continuing to cause harm to Black people in this region

This is an essential step in our local reparations process. Meaningful reparations are built on truth and awareness of past and current harms. We are reminded of Malcolm X’s quote: 

“If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that’s not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made. They won’t even admit the knife is there.” 

An audit like this is documentation of the “wound(s) that the blow(s) made (and make)” in our local communities, a necessary element to healing.

(You can stay up to speed on developments in the Reparations Commission process via their webpage on the City of Asheville site.)

You can read the County staff report and full resolution here. (The City’s very similar resolution can be found here.) Here is an excerpt of the County document:

1. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners commits and provides assurances that it will take necessary and reasonable action to address harm due to intentional and unintentional policies, programs, practices and procedures that produce disparities as well as racially and gender‐based discriminate outcomes in Education, Health Care, Housing, Economic Development and Justice as identified or discovered from the audit or during the process.

2. Buncombe County Board of Commissioners also commits to take measures to create and/or strengthen the following:

  • Confidence building between government and African Americans;
  • Truth seeking mechanisms and processes; and
  • Timely accountability of the dispensation of the Community Reparations Commission’s immediate recommendations.

We applaud this resolution and encourage you to reach out to the County Commission, as well as Assistant County Manager DK Wesley who took leadership in moving this initiative forward. 

(There is also a template below for sending a similar message to City Council, if you haven’t already done so.)

County Template

If you want to send an email to County officials, you can use our template (which will open an email in your own email program) by clicking here. To proceed manually, you can copy and paste the text below into an email and then send it to the addresses below.

USE OUR EMAIL TEMPLATE

Email Template text you can adapt and use:

To: brownie.newman@buncombecounty.org, jasmine.beach-ferrara@buncombecounty.org, alfred.whitesides@buncombecounty.org, amanda.edwards@buncombecounty.org, terri.wells@buncombecounty.org, martin.moore@buncombecounty.org, parker.sloan@buncombecounty.org, Dakisha.Wesley@buncombecounty.org


Subject: Thank you for committing to Stop the Harm


Dear Assistant County Manager Wesley and County Commissioners,


I want to express gratitude for the passage of the Community Reparations Commission’s “Stop the Harm” recommendation on February 7th. I applaud the County Commission’s unanimous vote. I also appreciate the efforts of Ms. Wesley, working with staff from the City of Asheville, to craft a plan that expedites the much-needed equity audit while also promising ongoing accountability to the Reparations Commission. 


Thanks for your leadership,

City Template

If you want to send an email to City officials, you can use our template (which will open an email in your own email program) by clicking here. To proceed manually, you can copy and paste the text below into an email and then send it to the addresses below.

USE OUR EMAIL TEMPLATE

Email Template text you can adapt and use:

To: AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov, rwood@ashevillenc.gov, bmills@ashevillenc.gov


Subject: Thank you for committing to Stop the Harm


Dear Equity and Inclusion Director Mills, Assistant City Manager Wood, and City Council Members,

I want to express gratitude for the passage of the Community Reparations Commission’s “Stop the Harm” recommendation on January 24th. I applaud City Council’s unanimous vote. I also appreciate the efforts of Ms. Mills and Ms. Wood to craft a plan that expedites the much-needed equity audit while also promising ongoing accountability to the Reparations Commission. 


Thanks for your leadership,


Original Post: January 31st, 2023

On December 5th, 2022, the Community Reparations Commission asked the City of Asheville and Buncombe County to formally commit to stop harming Black people in this region. On January 24th, the City of Asheville made that commitment.

The most tangible outcome of City Council’s resolution is the authorization of the City Manager to work with Buncombe County to hire an outside entity to perform an audit of where and how City and County policies and practices are continuing to cause harm to Black people in this region

This is an essential step in our local reparations process. Meaningful reparations are built on truth and awareness of past and current harms. We are reminded of Malcolm X’s quote: “If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that’s not progress. The progress is healing the wound that the blow made. They won’t even admit the knife is there.” An audit like this is documentation of the “wound(s) that the blow(s) made (and make)” in our local communities, a necessary element to healing.

You can read the staff report and full resolution here. Here is an excerpt:

1. The Asheville City Council commits and provides assurances that it will take necessary and reasonable action to address harm due to intentional and unintentional policies, programs, practices and procedures that produce disparities as well as racially and gender-based discriminate outcomes in Education, Health Care, Housing, Economic Development and Justice as identified or discovered from the audit or during the process.

2. The Asheville City Council also commits to take measures to create and/or strengthen the following:

  • Confidence building between government and African Americans;
  • Truth seeking mechanisms and processes; and
  • Timely accountability of the dispensation of the Community Reparations Commission’s immediate recommendations.

We applaud this resolution and encourage you to reach out to City Council, as well as several key staff members who were instrumental in moving this initiative forward.