Charlotte’s $250 Million Racial Equity Initiative Stumbles Amid Controversy

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced a $250 million racial equity initiative in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Source: Charlotte Observer

In May 2020, the Democratic mayor of Charlotte, NC, Vi Lyles, approached the Charlotte Executive Leadership Council in May 2020, with an idea for a major community initiative inspired by the uproar of voices calling for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. By November 2021, Mayor Lyles announced the $250 million Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative, a public-private partnership for a more equitable Charlotte. Meant to last for three to five years, the initiative started with $196 million in funds, of which $80 million was from public funds, and $97 million from private philanthropy. Sponsors such as Duke Energy, Bank of America, Lowe’s, and Truist also pledged money to the initiative.

The goal of the initiative was to create “racial equity, social justice, economic opportunity, and upward mobility” for Charlotte’s communities of color. To do so, the initiative planned to create a center for digital equity, invest in Black neighborhoods to create corridors of opportunity, improve local HBCU Johnson C. Smith University, and increase the number of Black and brown people working in positions of power within corporations. However, it has been plagued by accusations of conspiracy and deception.

Republican councilman Tariq Bokhari alleged that City Manager Marcus Jones and the mayor had worked together behind the scenes to misguide council members into rushing a critical council vote for the purposes of funding the initiative. On October 26, 2021, Jones asked council members to vote on a relief plan to approve a plan using $60 million of federal COVID-19 relief aid. However, this vote had not been put on the agenda and council members acknowledged afterwards to feeling misled. A week after the vote, the mayor announced the Racial Equity Initiative, which used $10 million of those funds. Lyles later expressed regret at the poor communication surrounding the rushed vote and stated she would work towards better transparency in the future.

Another controversy surrounded the decision to hire Kimberly L. Henderson for the Executive Director of the Employer Office of Inclusion and Advancement. Henderson’s past work as the Director of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services was scrutinized through an independent audit. The audit found that the agency paid nearly $3.8 billion to fraudulent causes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although defenders pointed out that COVID-19 had caused record highs in unemployment claims, the agency had withheld the information regarding fraud from the public for months. Hundreds of thousands of unemployment checks were sent to dead or incarcerated people, and in one instance, 1,400 checks were sent to a single address. The audit determined that up to 25% of what the agency had paid out was fraudulent; the department is now under criminal investigation.

The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance confirmed that they had known about Henderson’s past job before hiring her, yet Henderson resigned on February 14, 2022. She highlighted in her resignation letter that she was not the subject of the criminal investigation, but wrote that she was resigning to avoid the initiative being jeopardized by “public misconceptions.” She also pointed out she was simply trying to provide aid for Ohioans who needed it. Henderson now works for a consulting firm in Charlotte.

In an open letter, the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative acknowledged Henderson’s resignation and attempted to provide clarification on what was being done with the funds. They named partner organizations that would guide implementation of key programs, such as Queen's University, the City of Charlotte, and the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, and established two independent oversight boards. At the present moment, given its rocky start, doubts remain high about the initiative’s capacity to create meaningful change for Charlotte’s citizens.