Task force members presented two years of research to city council members on what reinstating a human rights commission would look like for Oklahoma City.
“The most public facing thing that a human rights commission is used for is when people experience discrimination within the geographic area that human rights commission serves,” Dr. Andrea Benjamin said.
City leaders said the nationwide protests racial injustice in 2020 pushed them to look into forming a commission.
The City’s first Human Rights Commission started in 1980, but they stopped meeting in1996.
“The majority of residents in Oklahoma City experienced discrimination or harassment and that precedes the untimely death of George Floyd and they felt a lot wasn’t being done to address human rights,” Maurianna Adams said.
City Councilwoman Nikki Nice said the work the commission plans to accomplish is just as important as the first day they starting planning. She referenced the mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo two weeks ago.
“I represent one of the blackest zip codes in this city so, very similar in nature. The fact that this was also a community who was a food desert for quite some time and now, once again because of selfishness, they are once a food desert again,” Nice said.
The commission will mediate complaints regarding discrimination in public accommodation, employment, and housing.
“It can be much more community base, and more conversation driven. It’s not necessarily meant to be punitive, but it could also serve as an educational moment for people,” Dr. Benjamin said.
There will be a public hearing on June 7th and it will go to a vote in July.
