African American Focus Group
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African American Focus Group
Date of focus group : December 22 , 2020 Facilitators : Tell Forsythe & Nicholas Hawkins Demographics of the group
• Gender : Male ( 4 ), Female ( 5 )
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Summary : The overall feeling on how the participants felt about race relations in Arlington was a feeling of not much growth and unity over the years . Participants still feel that racially , Arlington is still stuck in the past in the way these African-Americans felt . One participant said , “ There is an undercurrent of implicit biases that are happening in the city .” Many of the participants shared examples of how they feel they are still judged solely by the color of their skin . From trying to shop to getting an education , African-Americans in Arlington still feel there is much separation in society . Another participant described race relations in Arlington as “ respectful , tenuous , and suspicious .” One participant felt that their experiences of being an African- American in Arlington and how they are treated had to do with their education and socio-economic status . So if you present yourself in an educated manner , you ’ ll be treated accordingly . One participant describes the racial vibe in Arlington as , “ I would say that there is a lot of tension that is never discussed .” They also feel that both young and old African-Americans feel this way in the city .
Police brutality and how the police treat people of color was a huge part of the discussion . One participant expressed a lot of anguish around this as one of her very good friends was killed by Arlington Police . She also expressed views of racial profiling by the police . Being one of the younger participants in the group , she has said that , “ So I would say that my personal experiences here have been terrible . I can ’ t really compare it to anybody else . But that ’ s just me personally growing up in Arlington . And I feel like a lot of younger people as well can probably relate to a lot of things that we ’ ve seen and gone through growing up .” One of the best quotes as to being African-American in Arlington was “ It ’ s a cool place as long as you stay in your place .”
When it comes to what the participants thought would be important to the African-American community in Arlington , there were many great suggestions . Addressing disparity in the community was one and also making sure education in terms of talent , supplies , and programs was readily available in the African-American community like it is in the white community . “ Equity in education , not only equity , but also because Arlington has a big push now too , they ’ re doing lots of surveys and studies about how to level the playing field and I certainly applaud them for that . But it goes deeper than just what Arlington can do . It ’ s about , you know , the textbooks , how they are presented , it ’ s about teacher bias . I ’ m a principal I see it every day .” Also making sure opportunities to small businesses owners in the minority community was just as prevalent as it is to white business owners . They felt there are more grants and more opportunities afforded to white business owners and that minority business owners are left out of the loop in terms of those opportunities . So if there are ways to rectify that issue that would be great . “ We get the crumbs … in relationship to the amount of money that is out there being spent by the city . It doesn ’ t put a drop in the hat what they allocate or award to African-American business owners .”
The group overall wanted to make sure their voices were heard and that the information provided would help to ensure that the right officials be held accountable to ensure that race relations can improve in the city . “ I just want to say thanks for the opportunity to participate . This has been enlightening and I hope that our information and comments do not fall on deaf ears . And that something actually positive and concrete comes out of this .”
Unity Council Report 110