Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris stood in front of the Jefferson School with leaders of the African-American community this morning to present an initiative that will strive to make Charlottesville a more attractive place for African-American professionals to work and become part of the community.
The initiative, dubbed "Action Plan for Growing, Recruiting and Retaining a More Diverse Charlottesville Workforce," was created after City Council approved a dialogue on race and racism.
“If we want the community to take a hard look at how people of different races experience life in Charlottesville,” said Norris, “we in City Hall need to take a hard look at what we are doing to improve opportunities for people of all races, particularly when it comes to the bedrock issues of employment and economic empowerment.”
In city schools, 46 percent of the students are African American, said Norris, and yet, only 15 percent of the teachers are. Norris’ plan entails the continuous monetary support of the African-American Teaching Fellows with the goal of 10 new African-American teachers joining city schools each year.
More after the picture
M. Rick Turner (center), president of the local chapter of the NAACP, praised the efforts of Norris (right) but added that community participation is vital "to actualize this initiative."
“There is a shortage of mentors in our community,” said Anne Oliver of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Charlottesville.
The plan also includes the same support for the Charlottesville Police Department Explorers Post and the Health Sciences Academy at Charlottesville High School.
The second part of the plan is recruitment: increasing outreach to black colleges and universities and to minority students at UVA, as well as cooperating with community partners such as UVA, the city, the county and the Charmber of Commerce.
Lastly, the retention of black professionals, said Norris, is just as important as recruiting them. He said that can be achieved with one-on-one mentoring of professionals, promotion opportunities for all, an increased access to affordable homeownership and the enforcement of an anti-discrimination policy at the workplace.
“We need a shift in mindset,” Norris told C-VILLE. “People are concerned with diminished diversity.”
Although Eugene Williams, local civil rights leader, is happy with Norris’ plan, he is cautious. “Actions speak louder than words,” he said, in an attempt to engage the community to contribute and act on the initiative.
Rev. Nana Ghartey, a native of Ghana and an African-American community leader, said that there is no better time for the community to move ahead with the initiative. “We need to put our head together and support this man,” he said referring to Norris, who is running for re-election to City Council. “Let us make our presence known and felt.”
In January, City Council decided to spend $10,000 on the dialogue on race and racism and City Assistant Manager Maurice Jones was tasked with crafting a plan that would engage the community in a civil dialogue on the issue of race relations. The proposed city budget for 2009-2010 includes $30,000 more for the dialogue.
