PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jimmy Pan, Former Policy Director of the Racial Justice Commission, on the State of Racial Equity in New York City
2:07:31
ยท
6 min
Jimmy Pan, former Policy Director of the Racial Justice Commission, testifies on the delays in implementing racial equity plans mandated by 2022 ballot measures. He emphasizes the importance of upholding the rule of law and the will of the people in New York City, especially in light of national challenges to democratic institutions.
- Pan expresses concern about missed deadlines for racial equity plans and questions whether future deadlines will be met.
- He draws parallels between the current situation and historical efforts by Eleanor Roosevelt and FDR to establish human rights and economic security as foundational principles.
- Pan argues that New York City is at an inflection point, needing to commit resources and overcome administrative hurdles to implement the racial justice ballot measures as intended by voters.
Jimmy Pan
2:07:31
Doctor.
2:07:32
Chair and committee, happy Black History Month and really pleased to be before the committee again.
2:07:39
You know, come here in my personal capacity but I was obviously very privileged to be the policy director of the Racial Justice Commission that put these ballot measures into law.
2:07:50
And I can personally attest to the passion, the dedication, and the sweat of all the public servants in this room in making sure that we have structural change and that we're abiding by the spirit of these ballot measures.
2:08:05
But I think we have to say what has to be said which is these ballot measures were put on the ballot in 2021, They were voted on in 2022.
2:08:17
As mentioned by Chair Tajani, we are four hundred days past the original deadline for the preliminary plans and well past the postponed deadlines for the plans.
2:08:30
And I think given the chaos we all see across our nation and in New York City, it's up in the air whether we'll have plans by the anticipated deadlines.
2:08:41
And I'm sure everyone is offering those deadlines in good faith but I think we also have to be realistic and say we'll see them when we see them.
2:08:53
And with that in mind, I want to draw a very foundational question.
2:08:59
I know we've talked a lot about specifics and I know, Chair, you said you're less interested in the macro, but I think at the bottom of a lot of this, and as a lawyer, as a New Yorker, someone speaking in my personal capacity, I think we have to ask is New York City going to continue to be a city of law?
2:09:21
Is New York City going to continue to be a city of law?
2:09:25
What we see in DC now is a challenge to law, a challenge to the courts, a challenge to the constitution, and I think we're starting to see that ripple to New York City.
2:09:43
New York City is the greatest city in The US.
2:09:48
And I think it's time for us to decide as public servants.
2:09:53
Are we gonna be the city that fights to uphold law knowing that despite in our nation's history law has often been used to oppress and marginalize?
2:10:09
But we have our own laws, we have a charter which every public servant swears to uphold, and we have these racial justice ballot measures which for the first time in our city's history represents the will of the people, right?
2:10:26
Not just legislators, not just past mayors, but New Yorkers who came out in the thousands and spoke, who voted in the tens of thousands overwhelmingly to change their city's central document, their constitution that we all uphold, and say we want a different form of government.
2:10:49
A government that works for everybody.
2:10:50
A government that has racial justice.
2:10:52
A government that at its bottom provides economic security for all.
2:10:58
I think this is a big question we all need to answer in the coming days.
2:11:03
It's not a theoretical question.
2:11:06
We all see what is starting to happen in DC.
2:11:10
And I'm saying this not to lay this at the feet of anyone in this room in particular, but I think it goes all the way up to the mayor, to the speaker, to all of our elected officials.
2:11:23
On behalf of New Yorkers are we going to be the shield against the degradation of rule of law?
2:11:31
I'll just be very quick here and make a point since we're the Human Rights Committee.
2:11:37
Know Eleanor Roosevelt and her international compatriots really put human rights on the map.
2:11:43
It's a pretty new concept.
2:11:45
But I think we saw after the rise of Nazism and fascism in Europe, after the rise of the Great Depression, felt that human rights was something that we actually need to put into law, create a preamble, set a new set of values for government.
2:11:58
And meanwhile, her husband, FDR, came into office to create economic security for all.
2:12:06
Seeing the millions of Americans suffering of hunger waiting in lines and seeing that economic deprivation led to authoritarianism across the world and to war.
2:12:20
And so those two together had the foresight and vision to put these principles, human rights and economic security into law.
2:12:31
And that's what led to the creation of the middle class for the first time in this country.
2:12:36
And we know that many marginalized and racialized people were excluded from that, but they knew that these three pillars had to be upheld for the first time in American history to really have a middle class.
2:12:47
And so we see the middle class disappearing here in New York City.
2:12:52
We see it disappearing across the nation.
2:12:54
And we see the American dream dying.
2:12:56
And I know these sound like grand points, but I'm serious when I say I think we're at an inflection point in New York City.
2:13:06
And this is not only about the ballot measures, but truly about our commitment to overcome administrative hurdles, to overcome staffing hurdles, and to put really resources behind what New Yorkers said they wanted to see.
2:13:22
Otherwise our charter just becomes a suggestion.
2:13:26
And so with that I'll keep my remarks a little bit short.
2:13:30
I'm happy to answer any questions we've had, many years experience now trying to implement these ballot measures and so happy to comment on my own personal perspective.