Texas’s Capital City Uses Discriminatory “Racial Equity Lens” to Hire, Create Policies

It appears that officials in the capital city of the nation’s second largest state are engaging in discriminatory employment practices by utilizing a blanket “racial equity lens” to build capacity and leadership in all its taxpayer-funded departments. With a population of nearly a million, Austin, Texas uses its Office of Equity and Inclusion across all city departments to promote guidance that delineates “clear racial equity expectations regarding hiring” and applying “stronger racial equity criteria” to design and execute executive-level searches. Texas’s capital city also integrates explicit consideration of racial equity in decisions that impact the entire population, including policies, practices, programs, and budgets. The practice discriminates based on race, sex, color, and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), and it is why President Trump issued an order to reverse the Biden administration’s governmentwide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative, which forced most federal agencies to create “equity action plans.” Trump’s order, issued in January, called them “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”

Local governments apparently ignored the broader federal order, and the DOJ is starting to crack down on them. The agency’s civil rights division recently launched an investigation into the longtime employment practices in the city of Austin, which has nearly 14,000 employees across dozens of departments and an operating budget of $6.3 billion. Committed to “fostering a culture of inclusivity,” the city boasts on its website that its Equity and Inclusion office has three divisions to better handle human and civil rights as well as equity. The goal is to remove barriers to opportunity, address discrimination, and foster a community where all identities are respected. The so-called equity division is especially active and manages racial equity issues, which the city claims is the primary determinant of social equity. “The City of Austin recognizes historical and structural disparities and a need for alleviation of the wrongs by critically transforming its institutions and creating a culture of equity,” according to its website, which confirms that the equity division works across all city departments and with major institutions, non-profits, and other community organizations to build capacity and leadership in working from a racial equity lens.

When it comes to hiring the expansive racial equity lens likely violates federal law, the DOJ warns. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate discriminatory race-based employment practices and DEI policies, in Austin or other cities,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the agency’s civil rights division. “Such practices are illegal and un-American, and we will vigorously protect equal opportunity and hold accountable those who seek to perpetuate vestiges of outlawed discrimination.” In a letter to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Dhillon writes that the DOJ is opening an investigation to determine whether the city of Austin is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “When the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a state or local government employer is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination in violation of Title VII, it is the Attorney General’s responsibility to take appropriate action to eliminate that violation, including presenting the matter to the appropriate court for civil proceedings,” the head of the DOJ’s civil rights division states, adding that the probe is based on information that the City of Austin may be engaged in employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race, color, sex, or national origin.

Specifically the city’s Office of Equity and Inclusion guidance directs managers to lay out clear racial equity expectations regarding hiring, incentivizing the use of best practices within hiring processes to minimize bias and incorporate equity throughout all phases of hiring processes. It also orders stronger racial equity criteria for the design and execution of executive-level searches as part of an overall review of hiring and human resources practices. Austin also collects and analyzes demographic data in major job classifications to identify gaps in representation and utilizes “racial equity tools” designed to integrate explicit consideration of racial equity in decisions, including policies, practices, programs, and budgets. “Accordingly, I have authorized a full investigation to determine whether the City is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” Dhillon writes.