Local Black leaders call for diversity, inclusion in city, county
A group of local African American leaders has started a petition and penned a letter to the Bakersfield City Council and the Kern County Board of Supervisors for the purpose of improving the well-being of the local African American community.
The group, Kern Community First, calls on local leaders to address three areas its members believe need to be improved: representation in local government at both the city and county level; representation in law enforcement as well as increased interactions with the African American community; and increased economic development for African American, minority and low-income communities.
Group partner NaTesha Johnson, executive director of Upside Production, said they have already held several community meetings.
“Involvement includes any resident who is concerned about the well-being of African Americans and wants to make a difference,” Johnson said.
In terms of better representation in local government, the group outlined a number of items it would like local leadership to make priorities. One of these includes establishing employment goals that aim to employ minorities in every sector of government in a percentage equal to their percentage of the local population.
According to July 2019 data from the U.S. Census, African Americans make up 6.3 percent of Kern County’s population and 7.4 percent of Bakersfield’s.
September 2019 data from Kern County’s human resources department —
excluding data from the streets and highway department as well as the housing department, which were not provided — show African Americans make up about 1.7 percent of the county government’s employees.
For the city of Bakersfield, data from 2018 show that African Americans make up about 4.4 percent of their total employees.
“Underrepresentation in local government has led to lack of voice and consistent marginalization,” said Traco Matthews, chief program officer at Community Action Partnership of Kern. “Because Blacks make up a small percentage of the total population, formal repre
sentation is likely to always be a challenge.”
Matthews said that “perhaps” if it’s not feasible for African Americans to be represented in every sector, those “sitting at tables where there is no formal representation” must have mindsets that think about the impact of their decisions on the Black community.
Bakersfield City Councilman Andrae Gonzales said he is interested in meeting with Kern
Community First’s leaders to discuss working toward their
“common goals.”
“In general,
I support more diversity, equity and inclusion in local government,” Gonzales said.
Fred Prince, of Omega Financial and Insurance Services, explained that better representation in law enforcement can be fixed by local officers giving youth the “inspiration” to want to grow up and become an officer themselves, among other ways.
“There is a lot of work that the (Bakersfield Police Department and Kern County Sheriff’s Office) have to do demographically to represent the African American community,” Prince said. “Leadership should want an organization that is reflective of its community and should demonstrate efforts to reflect that desire.”
As far as representation in local law enforcement, as of August, African Americans make up 4 percent of BPD’s sworn and trainee employees.
For KCSO, the county’s September 2019 data show that African Americans
make up only about 1.3 percent of the sheriff’s office. However, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said that the percentage has grown and is about at 2.5 percent as of Tuesday.
“It’s very difficult. We’d love to have an academy of African Americans,” Youngblood said. “We’re heavy on Hispanics, but we’re in a heavy Hispanic community as well.”
“Anyone that wants this job that’s African American, it’s open.”
In the area of economic development, the group requests that grants be given to individuals to rehabilitate government-owned dilapidated homes and vacant
lots in “distressed” communities. The letter stipulates that the individuals would agree to develop the property within 12 months.
“COVID has devastated fledgling businesses and recovery efforts have fallen short due to lack of relationship and requisite sensitivities,” Matthews said. “After years and years of talking about solutions, these disturbing truths remain. Enough is enough.”
Curtis Floyd, of the Law Office of Curtis Floyd, said the group intends to take further action and that it hopes to see “swift action” on behalf of local government.
“The ultimate goal is to have African Americans on an even playing field with other races with regard to government jobs, law-enforcement interaction, and economic achievement,” Floyd said.