A small city in Colorado turned an act of bigotry — someone publicly flying a Nazi flag — into an opportunity for growth for the city. Fruita considers itself a welcoming, inclusive community, so they seized upon this opportunity to pass an Inclusivity Proclamation. The proclamation affirms their commitment to defeating prejudice and also added inclusivity as a part of their next city planning strategy.

The collection and analysis of data is a crucial first step in revealing and addressing areas of racial inequality in cities. Using the methodology of a 2015 New York City program designed to study metrics of inequality, the St. Louis Equity Indicators Project has already filled large gaps in data by identifying 72 metrics of inequality in the heavily racially-divided city. Following the recommendations of the Ferguson Commission, the St. Louis’ Equity Indicators provide a baseline by which the city can track efforts to improve racial disparities across issues of health, education, and legal justice.