By Keith Holt

It’s a beautiful fall morning and I’m attending the conference on Advancing Racial Justice at the UIC campus. As I introduce myself to other participants, they seem puzzled about what a “bike guy” has to do with racial justice. I understand where they were coming from.

I was drawn to the conference theme, “Race, Equity and Policy.” The thought-provoking discussion focused on racial equity and institutional racism and public policy. Yet because of the complexity of this topic, I am still processing the information. I want to share some key points.

Everyone understands that individual racism takes the form of individual attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviors. However, institutional racism is historical, institutional or governmental policy; and practices – though ideally racially neutral – lead to racist outcomes. For example, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s lack of diversity on staff, the lack of significant minority participation on the board of directors, and the lack of advocacy in minority communities had an unintentional racist outcome. Recent board efforts to increase minority participation, to intentionally build advocacy efforts in minority communities, and improve affirmative hiring practices, demonstrate a deeper commitment to combat these past outcomes and move the organization forward.

According to the Ford Foundation’s Initiative on Race, Equity, and Community Philanthropy in the American South: “Equity is equivalent to social justice. Equity is not equality, nor (is it) treating each person in exactly the same way. Equity brings society into balance. Equity requires investment in all our human and communal resources to maximize our potential as individuals, families, communities and a nation.”

I would hope that all CBF decisions take social equity into consideration, but that’s not second nature yet. That’s why I was there, to help bring CBF and myself closer to this goal. It’s essential to make equity a primary goal in all planning decisions, to consider the “equity” impact of all decisions. It’s necessary to make the principles (economy, environment, equity) work in concert not conflict.

Social equity is in line with CBF’s multi-modal transportation advocacy. Distribution of bicycling facilities should affirmatively uphold our commitment to underserved communities, instead of going for the “easy win.” I challenge myself and CBF to take social equity into consideration throughout our work, rather than as an afterthought.

Keith Holt is the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation liaison to the African-American community and Chicago’s South Side