Commitment Statement

We commit to build an antiracist DC. This means a District that actively pursues antiracist policies and practices buttressed and substantiated by antiracist ideas and narratives. Through this pursuit DC can repair past and ongoing harms and produce and sustain racial and ethnic equity. We commit to uprooting anti-Black racism in particular, which has served to oppress both Black and non-Black residents of color.

We understand that there is no such thing as race neutral and that racism in the District can be eliminated with a sustained effort on the part of many.

We commit to work within ourselves, our organizations, and in collaboration across sectors against all policies, practices, and ideas that create and reinforce racial inequity or maintain the status quo.

We commit to being brutally honest about how and why we got to where we are today in order to identify and actively oppose racist policies,ideas, and systems in private and public institutions and in our economy at large.

We commit to this collective pursuit with one another—community members, nonprofit and business leaders, government officials, and philanthropists—in deep listening and respectful partnership. In this pursuit we commit to center the experiences of those closest to the harms created by racist ideas and policies.

Some have already begun work in these areas, while others are just beginning. We recognize that each of us is in different places on this journey and we will work together to achieve these goals. We will join forces in discussions on how we can ensure we are accountable for our efforts to address racism and co-create an antiracist DC.