LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles residents are calling on Mayor Eric Garcetti to create a new office devoted to a more racially equitable city.

Members of at least 25 community groups are pushing for the creation of an Office of Racial Equity (ORE) to address structural racism in communities and create policies to correct the wrongs.

Gerri Lawrence works at Community Coalition at South Los Angeles. She believes the ORE is needed now more than ever.

“We see with the emergence of COVID-19 that we have a real issue with race and equity globally and in L.A. Folks who are being the most impacted on all fronts are Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities,” Lawrence said. “Centering race and equity and having a proactive agenda that’s mechanized as part of the city is crucial.”

The idea for an Office of Racial Equity emerged from over 125 dinner discussions as part of EmbRACE LA. The program gathered people of different ethnicities and communities to talk about race. Lawrence facilitated a few of these dinners and said many people agreed race and equity needed to be addressed in Los Angeles and questioned what to do.

“How do we move from dialogue and building understanding to actually doing something about the issue?” Lawrence said. 

A coalition of multiple community groups have been rallying ever since for the creation of the ORE. The city passed a motion in December 2019 to explore establishing an office of racial equity. The first step was taken when the Department of Civil and Human Rights was established. It will eventually house the Office of Racial Equity, but nearly a year after the motion was made, the ORE still has not been created.

The mayor’s office indicated they would send a statement to Spectrum News 1, but as has not done so, yet. 

Lawrence understands the pandemic has slowed many processes down, but she is still working ensure the ORE is created.

“Without community engagement and pressure the ORE could really fall to the wayside. I believe that’s possible,” Lawrence said. “I believe there is a level of commitment that is happened from the Department of Civil and Human Rights, but in order to ensure that momentum isn’t lost and that the vision doesn’t get watered down, definite ongoing engagement partnership with community organizations is going to be essential.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story indicated the mayor's office had not responded to Spectrum News 1's request for a statement. The mayor's office said it would send a response, but at the time this article was published, Spectrum News 1 had not yet received the mayor's office statement. (November 19, 2020)