We the people of Nashville call for a representative government that is committed to equity and free of corruption.

The Metro Human Relations Commission submitted their investigative report on March 4, 2024, detailing how white Metro Arts Commissioners and Metro Legal violated artists’ rights when they defunded Thrive recipients by referencing the Supreme Court stance on affirmative action. This Title VI report has taken six months to investigate with extensive interviews, recordings, meetings, and attempts at reconciliation.

Now Mayor Freddie O’Connell has allowed Metro Legal and Metro Finance to freeze $2 million in funding for artists. Arts funding in Nashville is already an insufficient 0.17%, lagging behind cities of comparable size. Only in 2023 did Metro Arts see a historic “rise” in funding for BIPOC-led organizations and BIPOC artists because of Executive Director Daniel Singh’s leadership. That “rise” was to just 20% of the total arts budget—white-led art institutions continue to receive the vast majority of tax dollars at 80%.

This is by design. Racism and inequity are not mere mistakes.

When we artists even dared to expose the racism and inequity at hand, Metro Legal and Metro Finance doubled down. During a special session with the Arts Committee of Metro Council, Metro Legal Director Wallace “Wally” Dietz suggested that abolishing Metro Arts altogether was the path forward. Privatizing tax dollars, so art monopolies like the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Frist get funding directly from our budget instead of through Metro Arts grants, is a white supremacist solution. Abolishing Metro Arts harms local artists!

It’s time to clean up corruption in Metro Government.

The same Commission that pushes the narrative of ED Daniel Singh’s incompetence pushed the same HR campaign in 2021 against three BIPOC women who were forced out of Metro Arts for equity work. In 2022, Metro Legal hired Luther Wright to investigate claims of “reverse racism” and “toxic work environment” after a white Metro Health Department employee complained that Stephanie Kang contributed to a letter about the effects of racism on BIPOC health (scientifically proven facts were debated by white supremacists at the Health Department). White supremacists won: Stephanie left, and the Bureau of Health Equity, funded by millions of federal dollars, went away and collapsed. In 2022, Metro Legal also allowed MNPD to purchase FUSUS with our tax money, illegally bypassing the democratically-elected body; Finance helped cut the check. In 2022, Community Review Board Director Jill Fitcheard sued Metro on grounds of racism—another BIPOC woman being discriminated against and having to expend energy fighting against a government that should work on behalf of the people.

Every time, BIPOC have been fired/forced to resign on trumped-up HR complaints, or expend their energy fighting racist accusations about their performance instead of doing the work that needs to be done. What’s worse, this has all happened in the span of three years.

It’s time to clean up corruption in Metro:

1. Apologize to Daniel Singh for the racist attacks against his equity work, his integrity, his vision for Nashville. He needs to be back in the office.

2. Cut contracts and stop wasting tax dollars on unnecessary lawyers to fight Daniel Singh. Metro Legal has hired Griffin and Strong, Luther Wright, Tim Garrett, Tyler Yarborough, and Saul Solomon. Remove Wally Dietz for misuse of tax funds to fight equity.

3. Remove Kevin Crumbo for suggesting racist policy changes, like halting the grants process for FY25, to the Metro Arts Commission, and for granting large organizations $2 million from FY24 budget without consent from Metro Council.

4. Begin reconciliation between Daniel Singh and Metro Arts staff. If staff need to be reassigned, they should be. Artists cannot be strongholded for another year. This department cannot be collapsed like every other equity-based, BIPOC-led department.

Corruption is a cancer and will spread, as it has been. We are calling on the Mayor and Metro Council to step in, as the democratically-elected officials, and to stop white supremacists from rolling back equity work in Metro. Equity can’t wait.