ABSTRACT
Race and social equity is a nervous area of government; it has a pervading emotional and historical context that can make avoidance and minimization appear attractive options. However, such behaviors are damaging, particularly for the public administrators who are tasked with providing public services to all. Perhaps ignoring racial inequities can best be understood by the analogy of the cumulative effect of ignoring a dental cavity. Examining issues of racial equity in the provision of government services is fundamental to understanding how the public sector institutions systematically provide services in structural ways that influence important outcomes. Government agencies should be invested in analyzing the racial-equity dimensions of their services from an intrinsic goal to demonstrate high performance and accountability. The examination of local government action in Seattle, state government action in Wisconsin, and federal government action at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers useful models for other government agencies to consider.
