This week’s GAP Report focuses on a serious problem that Buncombe County doesn’t appear to be taking seriously: the importance of collecting, sharing, and analyzing important racial equity data. There are two fresh examples on this week’s County Commission agenda:

• The County is evaluating its use of COVID Recovery Funds. Millions of dollars have been spent, with millions more to be allocated. Are the funded programs being administered in a racially equitable way? What impact are they having on Black people and other communities of color? There is no way for us to know because this kind of data has either not been collected or isn’t being shared.

• County Commissioners will also appoint two people to serve on two different Boards and Commissions. Might these selections make these Boards more diverse, a goal that the County named in its Racial Equity Action Plan? Once again, there’s no way to know, because after over a year of requests, they refuse to share any information about Board candidates or any information about the racial demographics of their Boards.

These are just the latest examples, part of a pattern of racial data omission that we’ve named before and that the Cease The Harm Audit identified as a “key harm.” The reason is simple: if you don’t track this kind of data, it is literally impossible to monitor progress. It’s relatively easy to name something like racial equity as a goal or priority or value; the work can only begin when you start tracking the relevant data.

We’ve reached out to the County dozens of times over the past year to encourage them to revise their widespread practice of omitting this data, but they’ve either ignored our request or made empty promises to address the problem. It’s time that they heard from their constituents. You can read more about these issues, and get instructions you can use to take action with us, at gapavl.org.