Processes, structures, and distribution of resources shape health and safety outcomes in communities and applying racial justice principles to these three areas will improve safety and equity outcomes. Addressing only one or more facets of this principle is insufficient. The three levels are described below.
- Procedural racial justice refers to transparent, fair, and inclusive processes that address power imbalances. Procedural racial justice ensures that the people and communities most impacted by structural racism and violence can exercise their democratic right to drive public policy agendas, influence institutional decision-making, and set budget priorities that will improve their lives and the neighborhoods in which they live.
- Structural racial justice addresses underlying factors and policies that gave rise to inequities and commits to correcting past harms and preventing future consequences. Structural racial justice exposes deep factors related to power that perpetuate disadvantage across systems and then reverses these inequities through combinations of new norms, policies, and representation.
- Distributional racial justice ensures the fair distribution of resources, benefits, and burdens and prioritizes resources for communities experiencing the most significant inequities. Quantitative and qualitative data guide distributional racial justice. It allocates goods, services, and other resources to create fair opportunities for health, safety, and well-being for all.
The East San Jose PEACE Partnership builds procedural racial justice into their community safety work by increasing community members' leadership, participation, and decision-making power in East San Jose. This includes providing opportunities for participation in community decision-making processes, such as deciding how to spend grant funds. The PEACE Partnership overcomes barriers to participation by paying for resident participants’ time and expertise through gift cards, honorarium, and stipends, providing childcare and language interpretation. PEACE builds structural racial justice through the PEACE Leadership Team that includes residents from the three zip codes in the county most impacted by racial injustice and violence, who have decision-making power and oversight authority in major decisions. Members of the PEACE Partnership also encourage procedural justice through efforts to encourage voting and other forms of civic engagement. The PEACE Partnership builds distributional racial justice by prioritizing funding proposal by residents and grassroots organizations by and for residents of color, who historically have not been able to access funding for their violence prevention efforts.