Asheville has gotten whiter over the past two decades. The proportion of African-American residents in the city dropped from 17.6 percent in 2000 to 12.3 percent in 2016, a change city officials attribute to a combination of white influx and black exodus. For the people of color who remained in Asheville, 2018 proved a mixed bag.
The mayor of Asheville announced the departure of City Manager Gary Jackson at a City Council meeting that also addressed the city’s effort to create a commission focused on racial equity and its opposition to an NCDOT plan to widen Merrimon Avenue.
Kimberlee Archie came on board city staff as Asheville’s first equity and inclusion manager last July. In honor of Martin Luther King Day, Xpress asked Archie to share her thoughts on King’s legacy and how it applies to the continuing effort to create equity in Asheville.
Two finalists for the newly created Equity and Inclusion Manager position with the city of Asheville mingled with community members at a meet-and-greet on July 10. Kimberlee Archie and Alaysia Black Hackett shared their backgrounds, their visions of how the position can serve the city and some of the issues they see as most pressing for the new role.
