Summary: At their meeting on September 3rd, the Buncombe County Commission approved an increase of funding to its Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program. There was no discussion of whether this program will be collecting racial demographic data on who benefits from this program, and no response from County leadership to that question.

The Facts: According to the staff presentation, this program will “bring high-speed internet access to 967 locations,” focusing on the areas of Broad River, Upper Hominy, and Fairview. The County is seeking to expand this program, which relies heavily on federal money, so that more residents can receive this benefit.

Source: Staff presentation

Our Assessment: This appears to be a promising program, enabling many County residents important Internet access. However, it is yet another instance of the County’s inconsistency in collecting racial demographic data, an issue we’ve been flagging every week for several months now. To review: 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. We have been calling for County leaders to make a public commitment to address this inconsistency, and to lay out a plan for how all of its programs and funded projects will collect and analyze racial demographic data.

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, they only collect racial demographic data some of the time, and this inconsistency makes it very challenging to assess progress toward shrinking those gaps. As we see it, 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.

So we’re calling on Buncombe County leaders to collect and analyze racial demographic data on their broadband program, and also reiterating our larger call for an overarching commitment to do that across the board.

Our Ask: EAt their meeting on September 3rd, the Buncombe County Commission approved an increase of funding to its Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program. There was no discussion of whether this program will be collecting racial demographic data on who benefits from this program, and no response from County leadership to that question.

Report Back

Update 9/9/24: The proposed broadband expansion project was discussed at the September 3rd County Commission meeting, but there was no discussion of whether the project would be collecting racial demographic data on those receiving this benefit. No one in leadership at Buncombe County responded to our request for this consideration.

Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 5

Recipients and Responses:

Buncombe County Leadership

• County Manager Avril Pinder: No response
• County Chief Equity and Human Rights Officer Noreal Armstrong: No response
• County Commissioner Brownie Newman: No response
• County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara: No response
• County Commissioner Amanda Edwards: No response
• County Commissioner Martin Moore: No response
• County Commissioner Parker Sloane: No response
• County Commissioner Terri Wells: No response
• County Commissioner Al Whitesides: No response