Austin Justice Coalition slams city in State of Black Austin Address

Nearly 16 years ago, the city released its African American Quality of Life Final Report, which detailed 56 initiatives underway to improve the quality of life for Black residents. On Wednesday, the Austin Justice Coalition hosted a State of Black Austin Address at Stateside Theatre, excoriating what it described as the city’s lack of meaningful progress since then. 

“If Austin does not get serious about their investment in Black life and Black culture, Austin – I guarantee it – will be the first big city with no Black people in it,” Chas Moore, AJC founder and co-executive director, said, referencing Austin’s steadily declining Black population.  

Underlying its claims, AJC partnered with local nonprofit Measure to study persistent racial disparities in education, health care, housing and economic opportunities. The 40-page report will be released later this week. Meanwhile, Moore called on the city to elect more Black leaders and implement the outstanding initiatives in its own report, starting with completing the planned expansion of the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center. 

“It is disheartening to witness the persistent neglect of the African American community in Austin,” he said in a Monday statement announcing the address. “The recommendations in the 2008 report remain unfulfilled, and it is time for the city to confront its failure to address the deeply rooted issues that continue to plague our community.” 

In response, a city spokesperson pointed to the 2008 report, which indicates that each of the 56 initiatives were in the process of being implemented or had already been implemented. The spokesperson also referred to several related city efforts in recent years, including the updated Minority-Owned and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise Procedurement Program; the ongoing Black dispossession study to quantify the cost of the city’s 1928 master plan; the preservation of the African American Cultural Heritage District; the renaming of city assets dedicated to the Confederacy and white supremacy; and the Guaranteed Income Pilot Program.

Measure founder and President Meme Styles also spoke at the Wednesday event, hinting at some of the AJC/Measure report’s findings regarding the city’s failure to improve Black Austinites’ well-being.

“What we found through our research is that, historically, the city of Austin’s efforts to improve the quality of life for its Black residents have relied on isolated initiatives rather than a cohesive, long-term strategy … that actually addresses the root causes of structural racism and enduring accountability,” Styles said. 

She added that Measure struggled to assess progress since the 2008 report due to a lack of communication from and data collection by the city.

“We encountered so many limitations that impacted our ability to actually fully access and understand the implementation of those recommendations,” she said. 

The forthcoming report builds on existing research, including a May 2022 survey by Measure and the African American Cultural Institute that identified some factors contributing to Austin’s shrinking Black population. Among other factors, the city’s unaffordable cost of living was cited by 88 percent of survey respondents, and 80 percent pointed to the lack of a sense of belonging.

In addition to calling on the city to act, Styles and Moore encouraged Austinites to engage in these issues. For instance, Styles asked community members with any insights into the city’s initiatives to improve Black Austinites’ quality of life to share them with Measure. And Moore asked Black residents to boycott city meetings unless their well-being is on the agenda. 

“Black people built this city,” he said. “You’ve got to give what is owed to us.” 

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