Summary (Updated 8/26/24): To seriously tackle racial inequities, Buncombe County must be consistently diligent  about collecting and analyzing racial demographic data across all their programs and funded projects. We’ve been asking for this commitment for almost two months and still have received no response from the County Manager or any other County leader. 

The Facts: Buncombe County has not historically collected racial demographic data on all of its programs and funded projects; they collect and share this kind of data some of the time, and not other times. The Cease The Harm audit, which summarized sources of current and ongoing racial injury, flagged this inconsistency as a “key harm” in their report earlier this year.

Last week, there were two items on the Buncombe County Commission agenda where it was unclear whether racial demographic data was being collected or would be shared:

• The Annual Report of the G.O. Bond Oversight Committee, which relates to two bonds passed in 2022, one concerning open space and the other affordable housing. The County was preparing to publish a “transparency dashboard,” and it wasn’t clear if racial demographic data would be included.
• A report on the progress of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funded Neighborhood Revitalization program, which will facilitate home repairs. Once again, pre-meeting documentation didn’t reveal whether racial demographic data on the recipients was being collected or would be shared.

Our Assessment: We have a serious and longstanding concern with the County’s inconsistency on racial data collection, which we’ve been voicing for several years now, and every week for the past two months. (You can read a summary of our more recent reports here.)

Regarding the two issues we raised last week:

• The County’s dashboard for the G.O. Bonds was published and does not contain any racial demographic data. (To read more about this issue, check out our original report and report back here.)
• The report on the CDBG-funded Neighborhood Revitalization program revealed that the County is collecting racial demographic information on those receiving these home repair benefits. It’s still not clear when that information will be publicly shared. (To read more about this issue, check out our original report and report back here.)

These two examples perfectly demonstrate the issue we’ve been repeatedly raising: when data is collected sometimes, but not always, it makes it very challenging to assess progress. As we see it, the consistent collection and sharing of racial data is a baseline requirement for any serious attempt to address racial inequities. Deep racial inequities are present in literally every dimension of life in Buncombe County: economics, education, criminal justice, health, and housing. The County has pledged to address these inequities, which is an important starting point. However, the only way to assess whether racial inequities are actually shrinking in County-led or funded work is to collect and share racial identity data about the beneficiaries of their programs – and to do so consistently.

GAP Supporters have been emailing County officials about this issue for several months now. In late June, we received a limited response from County Communications and Public Engagement (CAPE) Director Lillian Govus, who shared how the County was approaching data collection in two specific instances. Then several weeks later, it appeared possible that the County would make an announcement about their racial demographic data policy at the Leading With Race Summit that was scheduled for July 20th. However, the Summit was canceled and no make-up date has been announced. We’re not aware of any response from anyone in leadership at Buncombe County to questions about a comprehensive strategy for collecting and sharing racial demographic data for all County programs and funded projects.

Things to do: Since the County has so far ignored our attempts to engage them via email, we’re now suggesting that you reach out to County Manager Avril Pinder by phone, asking her if the County has a comprehensive plan for racial data collection, and if so, when that plan will be shared with the public.

You can use our call script below when you reach out, and then we invite you to send us a brief report on what response you got.

Call Instructions: Call the County Manager’s office at (828) 250-4100. Ask to speak to County Manager Avril Pinder, to someone else in the office, or leave a message. Here are some things you might say:

• I’m calling to express concern that the County doesn’t appear to have a plan to collect racial demographic data for all of its programs and funded projects. I think that the only way to assess whether racial inequities are actually shrinking in County-led or funded work is to collect and share racial identity data about the beneficiaries of their programs – and to do so consistently
• Is the County working on such a plan? 
• When will that plan be publicly shared?

Report Back

Update 8/26/24: Still no response from the County Manager or any other County leader. 

Updated 8/19/24: Still no response from the County Manager or any other County leader. A GAP Supporter who called the County Manager’s office and asked whether there was a plan for consistent racial data collection was told that it was “in the works,” with no timeline offered.

Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 3 (1 new)

Recipients and Responses:

Buncombe County

• County Manager Avril Pinder: No response