The WK Kellogg Foundation has awarded the Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism a three-year, $150,000 grant to study systemic racism in the county. The council plans to use the money to investigate the extent of racism in local education, law enforcement, and immigration. Among the issues that will be researched are whether local police engage in racial profiling, particularly among Latinos, and why there are so few Latino members of school boards in districts with significant Latino populations.
According to Tomas Alejo, brother of Watsonville Mayor Luis Alejo and a local activist, racism often exists in subtle ways beneath the surface. Rather than combating incidents of racism after they occur, the grant will give local authorities the tools to act preemptively, and prevent institutional racism from occurring, says activist Simba Kenyatta. Kenyatta and Alejo are both members of the Coalition’s steering committee, along with Santa Cruz City Council member Tony Madrigal.
