(1)(a) The general assembly finds,
determines, and declares that:
(I)The legacy of slavery, racial discrimination, and systemic racism has
harmed Black Coloradans and continues to harm Black Coloradans in material
ways. Black individuals and communities, whose unpaid labor formed the basis for
wealth and power in this country, are owed the opportunity and resources to build
wealth and power for themselves. Like many western states, Colorado is widely
perceived as historically abstinent from participating in slavery. However, slavery
was only fully abolished in the Colorado constitution in 2018.
(II)Colorado demonstrates a track record of racial discrimination, resulting
directly in racial disparities. The Ku Klux Klan wielded great influence and power in
Denver and in state p
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(1) (a) The general assembly finds,
determines, and declares that:
(I) The legacy of slavery, racial discrimination, and systemic racism has
harmed Black Coloradans and continues to harm Black Coloradans in material
ways. Black individuals and communities, whose unpaid labor formed the basis for
wealth and power in this country, are owed the opportunity and resources to build
wealth and power for themselves. Like many western states, Colorado is widely
perceived as historically abstinent from participating in slavery. However, slavery
was only fully abolished in the Colorado constitution in 2018.
(II) Colorado demonstrates a track record of racial discrimination, resulting
directly in racial disparities. The Ku Klux Klan wielded great influence and power in
Denver and in state politics in the 1920s. Major Colorado towns such as Denver,
Grand Junction, Pueblo, and Canon City were hotbeds of Klan activity. The Klan in
Colorado peaked in 1925. By this time, it had infiltrated all levels of the state
government. The Klan controlled many members of the legislature, held a state
supreme court judgeship and seven Denver district court benches, and had
controlling majorities in some town councils. Some of the most notable klansmen at
the time included the mayor and police chief of Denver and the governor of
Colorado.
(III) The impact of those in power transpires into policies, systems, and
practices adopted at the state level. Those policies, systems, and practices are built
upon over decades and further ingrain inequities that have a disparate impact on
Black Coloradans.
(IV) In 2020, the home ownership gap between Black and white Coloradans
was thirty-one percent. Just twenty-five percent of adult Black Coloradans have
earned a postsecondary degree or credential, while ninety-one and four-tenths
percent of tier one jobs identified in the Colorado workforce development council's
2022 talent pipeline report and seventy and four-tenths percent of tier two jobs
require a postsecondary credential. In Colorado, Black individuals constitute five
percent of the population but seventeen percent of those in jail and eighteen
percent of those in prison. At thirteen and seven-tenths percent unemployment,
Black workers in Colorado faced higher unemployment rates than other racial
groups surveyed between May 2021 and April 2022. Black Coloradans experience a
wide array of negative health outcomes at rates that are disproportionate to white
Coloradans in the following areas: Food insecurity, infant mortality, childhood
asthma, diabetes, and HIV and AIDS. The average Black Coloradan has a life
expectancy nearly three years fewer than the average white Coloradan.
(V) Disparities in both K-12 education and postsecondary training, including
higher education and workforce training; home ownership; health disparities and
access to health care; and a systemically unjust criminal justice system, combined
with police brutality, have contributed to a reality in which half of Black families in
Colorado are considered low-income. A lack of access to economic mobility and
financial prosperity has impacted Black Coloradans for generations. Black
Coloradans' lost earnings and assets detract from Colorado's labor force and tax
base, as well as the growth of Colorado's economy.
(VI) Racial equity studies are tools used to qualify and quantify past
discrimination and recommend certain corrective measures as may be warranted by
the study's findings.
(b) Therefore, the general assembly declares that an independent study
must be conducted and a steering committee be created in the state historical
society to determine the extent to which Black Coloradans have experienced and
continue to experience racial discrimination directly linked to harmful practices,
systems, and policies of the state and to quantify the economic impacts of any
discrimination discovered during the study.