‘I’m truly sorry.’ Durham County commissioner apologizes after being called racist.

A task force presented its racial equity report to Durham County officials Monday night, but few could ignore the elephant in the room.

Concerns emerged about an investigation into County Manager Wendell Davis’ accusation of racism against County Commissioner Heidi Carter. The racial equity discussion ended with Carter apologizing for her role in the conflict with Davis.

“I’m truly sorry for this,” Carter said.

An alliance of anti-racism organizers in Durham had called for transparency in the matter in an email to county and city staff earlier that day.

Davis accused Carter of racism in February. The claim grew out of a remark Carter made over public school funding. Carter had responded, then, by calling the accusation “baseless.” She questioned why Davis brought up the issue so close to an election, The News & Observer has reported.

An investigation by the International City/County Management Association cleared Davis of ethical wrongdoing in July. A month later, a report by legal consultant James Coleman found no racist intent in Carter’s remarks.

Coleman’s report had, however, described county government as “dysfunctional.”

In a letter to city and county government staff, the Durham-based network Organizing Against Racism urged Durham County commissioners to respond to the alliance’s concerns about the board’s ethics.

OAR Durham stands in solidarity with the Racial Equity Task Force, the Durham NAACP, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Communities in Partnership, SpiritHouse and others, the letter stated.

At the meeting, a member of the Racial Equity Task Force also implored the county commissioners to publicly address the report about the government’s “dysfunction.”

“We are here to request that the commission make a statement that this experience of racial discrimination will be addressed, that it will be addressed meaningfully, and if possible to please engage the community and the public around this issue,” said Kaaren Haldeman, the task force vice-chair.

In response, Wendy Jacobs, the chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, said she has a responsibility to lead the board and that “transparency is an important aspect of governing.”

County attorneys suggested to the county manager and the five-member board that they attend racial equity training to improve board relations, Jacobs said. But their legal team recommended they wait until the new board of commissioners convenes after the election to begin the process, she said.

Letter raises concerns of ‘White Supremacy Culture’

Co-written by Camryn Smith and Cathy Rimer-Surles, OAR Durham’s letter states that Jacobs must follow up on “her promise to convene a community conversation to discuss findings” in the report.

At Monday’s meeting, Jacobs said she couldn’t host a public conversation about the investigation because the matter involves “personnel issues.” State statutes limit what the board can discuss publicly without violating employee privacy.

“I don’t recall personally ever making a promise to host a community conversation and I apologize, deeply, for any communication individually, about that,” she said.

Smith and Rimer-Surles’ letter raised additional concerns.

“There has been a complete lack of ethics and transparency into the process for investigating this matter with no involvement of or accountability to the people of Durham who elected the current Board into office,” the letter states.

The white members of the board of commissioners “have failed to put into practice the principles of anti-racism that they claim to espouse,” Smith and Rimer-Surles wrote

“We are appalled and alarmed by the ongoing manifestation of White Supremacy Culture among the white members of the Board of Commissioners and the failure to recognize that the intention of racially biased words and actions on the part of their perpetrator is completely irrelevant to the profound impact of those words and actions on the individuals affected,” they wrote.

The letter also states that the commissioners have a “moral and ethical obligation to suspend ANY actions or decisions regarding Mr. Davis until there has been due diligence, transparency, and accountability with the Durham community as promised.”

Smith and Rimer-Surles did not respond to requests to clarify what kinds of “actions or decisions” the letter may be referring to by 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Carter says she is ‘sincerely sorry’

Near the end of the discussion about the task force report, Carter addressed Davis’ accusations.

“Honestly, I’ve struggled with how best to respond to the manager’s account of racial bias in my interactions with him and county staff,’ she said.

She published statements on the matter in order to acknowledge the manager’s account of racial bias and “point out” what she considered “inaccuracies or mischaracterizations” of interactions regarding public policy, she said.

“Looking back, I recognize that my defensive reaction perpetuated a familiar defensive response by a white person, especially in the midst of ongoing anti-Black violence in this country,” Carter said, apologizing.

She said it’s her “lifelong responsibility” as a white person to examine her own actions.

“I will deepen my own anti-racist efforts, which include making anti-racist education a regular practice, listening and learning from community members, and seeking to build trust while working across difference,” she said.

“Based on the investigation reports, I recognize that some county staff, in addition to the county manager felt some of my actions were racially biased. And I’m sincerely sorry for that as well,” she added.

A tense work relationship

Tensions between the manager and the commissioner predate the incident in February, rooted partly in conflicts over funding for Durham Public Schools, a majority African American and Latino school district.

The county funds roughly 30% of the public school’s budget, and the county manager drafts a budget every year for commissioners to approve.

Carter was a member of the school board for 12 years before joining the county commissioners in 2017.

In 2015, Davis expressed concerns about the district’s low test scores and grade-level proficiency while drafting the budget. He then proposed $6 million less than what the school board requested, which Carter opposed as the school board’s chair, The N&O reported.

Grade-level proficiency across the district has been consistently below 50% every year. Between 2015 and 2019, it grew from 44.9% to 49%, according to DPS’s most recent data.

In 2018, Davis proposed to give less money to the district because of diminishing enrollment, as parents gravitated more towards charter schools. Carter, who was a commissioner at the time, called the choice “very conservative,” The N&O reported.

The dispute between the two in February that led to Davis’ accusations regarded a plan to fund the school district’s construction needs. At a public meeting, Carter had said she was frustrated with how long it took for Davis to implement the plan, The N&O reported.

“I’m frustrated that it took a near emergency,” Carter had said. “I feel like if the direction had been given from management to you all, we could’ve gotten this sooner.”

Afterward Davis wrote the letter, which said Carter “demonstrated a consistent pattern of disparate treatment toward him and other employees of color” since 2016.

In the letter, Davis alleged Carter personally had told him, “You work for the Board, and when we tell you to do something, you’d better grin and bear it.”

The language, he wrote, “harkens back to a time in American history, when people of color were slaves.”

‘An Urgent and Loving Call to Action’

Following the Racial Equity Task Force’s presentation on their report, “An Urgent and Loving Call to Action,” commissioners praised the team for their work.

“I really appreciate that message, that loving call to action, in the spirit of love and healing,” said Jacobs. “I hear you, and I really welcome the invitation for us to work together on that partnership.”

Commissioner Brenda Howerton recognized how the conversation around racial equity is painful for some community members.

“And when we ignore it, it compounds the pain,” Howerton said. “We talk about adverse trauma. Our children are experiencing adverse trauma. And we’ll see the results, I bet, as they get older, if they don’t stop the bleeding.”

She added that the board cannot forget how two new commissioners will be joining the board soon.

“They need to be included in this conversation,” she said. “Because whatever we decide to do, they will be a part of the action to make it happen.”

This story was updated Nov. 2, 2020, to clarify the identity of OAR Durham as a Durham-based organization, independent from the Racial Equity Task Force, the Durham NAACP, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Communities in Partnership, and SpiritHouse.

This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 9:23 AM.