Association Between Racial Equity Plans and Political and Sociodemographic Factors in US Cities

Racial equity is the state at which a person's race does not determine how they are treated, or their opportunities, resources, or outcomes. It entails the continuous process of identifying and removing policies, practices, and structures that create and sustain racial disparities. Some local governments that had not previously developed equity programs pledged to address racial inequity during the pandemic in response to COVID-19 disparities and calls for racial justice. Understanding cities' approach to addressing inequities is important for measuring progress and developing effective strategies. From May to August 2023, we implemented topic and regression modeling approaches to assess how the 200 largest cities in the USA were planning to implement strategies to address racial inequity. Of the 200 cities, 75 (37.5%) had equity offices, departments, initiatives, or divisions; 19.5% and 9.5% had equity and racial equity plans, respectively. Overall, cities with a combination of a Democratic governor and mayor had the most equity offices or departments (39 cities; 19.50%), followed by Republican governors and Democratic mayors (19 cities; 9.50%), which aligned with previous research on political affiliation of leaders and policy priorities. The geographic region where a city was located also impacted equity plans, though less than one might expect given typical conceptions of the political affiliations in different areas of the country. Highly populated cities were more likely to have a stronger equity emphasis. Cities focused on equity in housing, economic well-being and/or workforce, environment, infrastructure, safety, health, education, civic engagement, and criminal justice and/or policing. While some cities recognized the importance of developing equity plans and offices, their approaches differed. However, to be effective, plans to address racial inequities must be accompanied by implementation and approaches to measure, analyze, and assess progress. Our findings can inform plans and strategies to advance racial equity.