
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 9b Page 2 of 5
Meeting Date: April 24, 2018
Template revised September 22, 2016.
Although King County, as compared to the rest of the country, has overall better economic,
health, and quality of life conditions and the region benefits from world-class businesses and
institutions, these assets mask deep and persistent inequities—sometimes more pronounced
than in the rest of the country. Comparing the 10 zip codes with the highest average household
incomes to the 10 zip codes with the lowest household incomes, there is a difference of more
than $100,000 within King County. In a similar comparison, life expectancy also varies by race
by up to 12 years (King County 2015).
These gaps by race and place are a concern because they correspond to significant differences
in opportunity. Place and race matter in King County, and they are predictors of income and a
wide set of outcomes, including life expectancy and education (King County 2015).
When King County looked at data across our communities, whether it is people’s health, access
to housing and good paying jobs, graduation rates, incomes or incarcerations, disparities are
greatest when we look by race. The most persistent and detrimental disparities are starkest
when we look at race. By leading with racial justice, King County is committed to taking on the
root causes of our most challenging problems and to focus where we can have the biggest
impact and needs are greatest (King County 2015).
Many low-income and communities of color in particular face barriers to well-paying jobs and
economic opportunity. For example, unemployment rates for Black/African American, Native
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Native American/Alaska Native residents have recently been
nearly double that of the unemployment rate for White residents (King County 2015).
RACIAL EQUITY
From the inception of our country, government at the local, regional, state, and federal levels
have played a role in creating and maintaining racial inequity, including everything from
determining who is a citizen, who can vote, who can own property, who is property, and where
one can live, to name but a few. Governmental laws, policies, and practices created a racial
hierarchy and determined, based on race, who benefits and who is burdened (The Local &
Regional Government Alliance on Race and Equity, September 2015).
Current inequities are sustained by historical legacies, structures, and systems that repeat and
formalize and legalize patterns of exclusion. The Civil Rights movement was led by
communities, and government was frequently the target. One of the many successes of the
Civil Rights movement was making racial discrimination illegal. However, despite progress in
addressing explicit discrimination, racial inequities continue to be deep, pervasive, and
persistent across the country (The Local & Regional Government Alliance on Race and Equity,
September 2015).