President Joe Biden signed an executive order Thursday aimed at rooting out systemic racism from the federal government and doing more to achieve racial equity.
The order, made in the middle of Black History month, extends an order Biden made on his first day in office requiring federal agencies to investigate inequities within their departments and to proactively address shortcomings. That is now an annual requirement.
The aim is to deliver “equitable outcomes” for all Americans, including underserved communities, through government policies, programs, and services.
The order also requires federal agencies to establish “equity teams,” with a designated senior leader charged with implementing the administration’s equity goals and “delivering equitable outcomes, to the extent consistent with applicable law.” And it requires the establishment of a new White House steering committee on equity to “coordinate Government-wide efforts to advance equity.”
The executive order also requires federal agencies to be mindful of the impact of “emerging threats” that include “algorithmic discrimination in automated technology.”
The goal is “to put equity at the center of how this government operates,” Chiraag Bains, Biden’s deputy assistant for racial justice and equity, told the Associated Press.
In announcing the order, Biden wrote that his administration has been a vigorous champion of racial equity and has “embedded a focus on equity into the fabric” of federal policymaking and services, leading to “better decision-making and more equitable outcomes.” But, he added, members of underserved communities still face significant barriers “to realizing the full promise of our great Nation, and the Federal Government has a responsibility to remove these barriers.”
“By advancing equity, the Federal Government can support and empower all Americans, including the many communities in America that have been underserved, discriminated against, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality,” Biden wrote in the order.
Derrick Johnson, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, applauded the announcement.
“President Biden today is taking yet another step to advance racial equity, by signing a new executive order which will invest in underserved communities, address emerging civil rights risks, and improve economic opportunities in rural and urban communities. This is a big deal,” Johnson tweeted Thursday afternoon.
President Biden today is taking yet another step to advance racial equity, by signing a new executive order which will invest in underserved communities, address emerging civil rights risks, and improve economic opportunities in rural and urban communities. This is a big deal.
— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) February 16, 2023
On his first day in office, Biden’s first executive order called for a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all. It provided new funding to historically black colleges and other social programs aimed at closing racial disparity gaps.
In October, Biden pardoned all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession in a gesture many saw geared toward serving the goal of racial equity in the justice system.