People gathered around happy in front of the image of City of charlotte
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Community harmony matters to us all

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations is the human relations agency for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The department seeks to enhance community harmony and promote awareness of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s growing multiculturalism by facilitating community dialogue and meetings, and coordinating resident and organizational coalitions to address community issues and concerns. Community Relations accomplishes this mission by:

  • Addressing discrimination through enforcement of the city’s Fair Housing Ordinance.

  • Collaborating with CMPD to improve police community relations.

  • Serving on host committees for cultural events (MLK Celebration) Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Citywide Birthday Celebration.

  • Serving as mediators during conflict resolution.

  • Ensuring Americans with Disability Act Title I and II compliance citywide.

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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee
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is committed to building community harmony
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by advocating for diversity
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and equality for all.
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Willie Ratchford: If you care about the community, and you
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care about the future of your children and them having a good
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place to live and where racial tensions are not an issue of or
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problem, then you should care about the work of the Community
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Relations Committee.
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Vanessa Clarke: For me, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community
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Relations Committee is representative of a community
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that is definitely moving forward in terms of racial
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equality and equity, definitely in terms of being able to
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address the issues that have made some communities more
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oppressed than others.
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Righteous Keitt: Sadly, we live in a society where not everyone
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has the same access to the resources, so giving those
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resources to those who need it. That is something that a lot of
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people who look like me haven't had and that is a issue that we
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have suffered not just in Charlotte, but in cities across
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this country. Equity, unlike equality is simply given those
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the resources necessary to make sure that everyone is able to
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achieve the same thing.
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Pat Millen: Equity to me and opportunity in Charlotte is
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about getting jobs that will allow you to be successful and
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independent. Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not,
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this is an intersection here where these talented kids are
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getting opportunity, and as a result are going to be
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tremendously successful for the rest of their lives. But where I
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see the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee
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helping is to make it to make broader and more widespread
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introductions for us so that we can interact with all citizens
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within this county.
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promotes opportunities to create positive outcomes
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through dialogue,
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training and conflict resolution.
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Willie Ratchford: The need for honest and substantive
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conversations around difference is going to be important. And so
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the CRC plays an important role in getting people to talk with
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one another.
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Chuck Boufford: I think some of the strides that have been taken
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over the last several years, especially when civil
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disturbances have occurred, have been gigantic. This is why I
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enjoy the work I do as a mediator, because people can sit
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down and exchange ideas and hopefully come to a resolution
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of their conflict.
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Melanie Dunston: Equity for me is just having everybody treated
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fairly. As a mediator. I've gone through a lot of race relations
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between both parties. And it has been very difficult as a
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mediator to try to resolve them. But at the end, it's been really
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successful. I'm able to give them information that they can
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use. They get it they say you know what this, this is okay.
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Vanessa Clarke: I believe that there is great opportunity for
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the CRC to work within the community to really enhance and
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be progressive and the groundwork that has already been
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laid for a more inclusive and diverse society.
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Willie Ratchford: We have a really great future ahead of us.
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We've got to be intentional about the work that we do. And
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we've got to get folks to realize over time, that no one
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of us is as good as all of us. We are one country with one
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nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And it
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means everybody
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Join us in this work and stay engaged with the Community Relations committee
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by visiting charlottenc.gov/CRC


Our Mission

Community Relations empowers, collaborates, engages and promotes opportunities to create positive outcomes.

Our Vision

Be recognized as a global model in building community harmony by advocating for diversity, equity and access for all.