The mission of the West Palm Beach Mayor’s Task Force for Racial and Ethnic Equality was to identify and help address issues of racial/ethnic equity through education about racial and ethnic inequities, research of best practices, and issuance of policy/funding recommendations to address racial/ethnic inequity in the City of West Palm Beach.

The Task Force was in line with Mayor James’ vision of working to create a “Community of Opportunity for All”, whereby any citizen can achieve their dreams in West Palm Beach.

The Task Force undertook the following projects in the following order of priority:

1. Identified Best Practices & Racial Disparities

The Task Force identified best practices and made recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. It also identified racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, economic development, criminal and civil justice systems, police practices, housing, and education, with a focus on:

• Identifying what racial and ethnic disparities exist;
• Investigating why the racial and ethnic disparities exist;
• Identifying what knowledge and research are needed to eliminate the disparities.

2. Made Recommendations to the Mayor

The Task Force made recommendations regarding ways to reduce these disparities and to promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.

3. Engage, Listen, Learn From and Educate the Community

Another purpose of the Task Force was to create a platform to build resources to help people talk, learn, and teach our City’s history of racial and ethnic injustices.

At this website, learn more about the Task Force, its responsibilities, and the process. We encourage you to explore the Focus Areas of the different Task Force subcommittees and take a look at the final recommendation report that the Task Force submitted to the Mayor!

On these Focus Area pages, you can learn how West Palm Beach stands in terms of racial disparities. Each focus area also includes recommendations from experts on racial and ethnic equity, as well as plenty of links so you can learn more.

Learn Task Force members and read their bios. Find out who was on each of the subcommittees and on the consultant team. The site also includes the meeting minutes, reports and other materials created by the Task Force as it moved through the community engagement and fact-finding process. 

The website also features a comprehensive section focused on the history of racial (in)equity in West Palm Beach, too.