In March 2021, GOPC staff attended a virtual workshop hosted by ThirdSpace Action Lab in Cleveland, OH, presented by the Racial Equity Institute (REI) out of Greensboro, NC. This training is part of GOPC’s ongoing commitment to better understand and address systemic racism and inequality.

The workshop is inspired by “the Groundwater” metaphor, which stresses that structural racism surrounds individuals how toxic water surrounds fish in a lake. If we acknowledge that individuals’ actions do not cause racial disparities, that opens the door to analyze how different systems reflect and reinforce systemic racism. The presenters also challenged us to look at the interconnectedness of systems, similar to how underground water connects to streams, rivers, and lakes. This overlap highlights how addressing racial disparities in the healthcare system can be helped or held back by conditions in the education, financial, or criminal justice systems and beyond.

In this interconnectedness, GOPC finds our place-based research and policy advocacy relevant to help address inequities in our state. Our mission to improve Ohio communities through smart growth strategies must be mindful of communities’ existing conditions, their impacts on race, and how our work helps diminish the effects of historical injustices. We’ve committed to improving our analyses by looking at race and income quantitatively and making sure our qualitative work reflects local demographics as a part of our Racial Equity & Justice Workplan. Continuing to educate GOPC’s staff and partners while listening to leaders of color who are already doing the work can only serve to improve Ohio’s communities in a post-recovery period. We know that we cannot achieve our vision of a revitalized Ohio without looking at disparities across systems and encouraging collaboration to address complex social problems. REI’s groundwater approach presents standards for encouraging that collaboration, and GOPC will continue to lean into the findings presented by REI and other organizations nationwide.

Dismantling the structures that created and maintained disinvested neighborhoods of color will require many more conversations, trainings, and cooperation before realizing concrete results. The journey is long, but the first step is to name the problem, and GOPC is ready to put in the work.

If you or your organization is interested in learning more, consider joining ThirdSpace Action Lab for an upcoming session! You can sign up for information about the 2021 schedule here. Additionally, visit www.racialequityinstitute.org for more details on their work, the metaphor, and examples of the Groundwater approach applied.