The National League of Cities selected the City of Arlington as the winner of its 2021 Cultural Diversity Awards for the work of the citizen-led Unity Council.
Submissions for the awards program were grouped by size, and evaluated for creativity, impact on the community and scope of the program. The City of Arlington was awarded the top prize in the 200,001-500,000 population category.
After eight months of research and a series of community conversations, the Unity Council presented a proposed racial equity plan to the Arlington City Council on Feb. 23.
The 28-member Unity Council’s mission has been to gather community input, research best practices and recommend strategies that the City of Arlington could implement to promote and encourage greater equity and to advance unity across our community. The Unity Council’s work, which began in July 2020, is part of the City’s commitment to equality, inclusion and the elimination of institutional racism and other forms of discrimination in its policies and practices.
Dr. Jason Shelton, associate professor of anthropology and sociology and the director of the Center for African American Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington, led the Unity Council’s work.