Communities in Action
Communities throughout the United States are working to promote diversity, tolerance and inclusion. Learn more about these communities, and send us information about your own community initiatives.
NOT IN OUR TOWN is a national movement that encourages community response to hate crimes. The project combines PBS broadcast, grassroots events, educational outreach and online activities to help communities battling hate talk to-and learn from-each other. Since 1995, NOT IN OUR TOWN has chronicled positive community organizing stories and provided practical tools to stimulate dialogue.
Find out more | 
Fight Hate Guide | Rapid Response to Hate Crimes Guide
Oak Park, IL
From the Village of Oak Park’s Diversity Statement:
“The people of Oak Park choose this community, not just as a place to live, but as a way of life. Oak Park has committed itself to equality not only because it is legal, but because it is right; not only because equality is ethical, but because it is desirable for us and our children. Ours is a dynamic community that encourages the contributions of all citizens, regardless of race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, economic status, political affiliation, or any of the other distinguishing characteristics that all too often divide people in society. Oak Park’s proud traditions of citizen involvement and accessible local government challenge us to show others how such a community can embrace change while still respecting and preserving the best of the past. Creating a mutually respectful, multicultural environment does not happen on its own; it must be intentional.
Our goal is for people of widely differing backgrounds to do more than live next to one another. Through interaction, we believe we can reconcile the apparent paradox of appreciating and even celebrating our differences while at the same time developing consensus on a shared vision for the future. Oak Park recognizes that a free, open and inclusive community is achieved through full and broad participation of all its citizenry. We believe the best decisions are made when everyone is represented in decision-making and power is shared collectively. Oak Park is uniquely equipped to accomplish these objectives, because we affirm all people as members of the human family. We reject the notion of race as a barrier dividing us and we reject prejudicial behavior towards any group of people.”
City Website | Oak Park Regional Housing Center |
Oak Park Area Arts Council
West Mount Airy, Philadelphia, PA
From the West Mt. Airy Neighbors Community Organization website:
“West Mt. Airy Neighbors was founded in 1959 to create and sustain West Mt. Airy as a racially integrated community. It was founded by George Schermer, the first Director of Philadelphia’s Human Relations Commission, and other neighbors concerned about white flight and block busting. From the beginning, West Mt. Airy Neighbors has sought to make its community a welcoming home for all people. To this day, West Mt. Airy remains one of the few stable racially integrated communities in the United States.”
City Website | Mount Airy Business Association | Mt. Airy, USA
East Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
About East Hollywood:
“With a population of 51,000 residents, East Hollywood is a 1.8 square-mile community in the city of Los Angeles surrounded by central Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Koreatown. One of the most culturally diverse communities -- if not the most culturally diverse community -- in Los Angeles, it is home to the city's main Armenian (Little Armenia district), Thai (Thai Town district) and El Salvadoran communities. It is also home to many Mexican, Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Eastern European and Middle Eastern residents and businesses.”
City Website | Video - "This is East Hollywood" |
Barnsdall Art Park
Cleveland Heights, OH
In the city’s mission statement, the very first civic goal is “to remain a leader in integration, assuring mutual respect among a racially and culturally diverse population.”
City Website | Heights Arts: A Non-Profit Community Arts Association| Heights Community Congress
Sherman Park, Milwaukee, WI
Known as “Milwaukee’s oldest and most culturally diverse neighborhood.”
From the Sherman Park Community Association Website:
“’Why can't we all just be neighbors?’ was the question asked by Sherman Park area residents in 1971. That summer, they founded the Sherman Park Community Association, officially recognizing the neighborhood of Sherman Park. The founding members of the SPCA, in search of integration and racial harmony in Sherman Park, wanted diversity to bring about unity within their community. In its thirty years, the SPCA has tackled issues of fair housing, school desegregation, racism, real estate practices, crime and transportation in its effort to find common ground for everyone in Sherman Park. Because of the SPCA, Sherman Park's 43,000 residents can enjoy a culturally diverse community that enriches the entire city of Milwaukee as well.”
City Website | IN:SITE a Resource for Temporary Public Art (currently working with SPCA on art installations in Sherman Park)
Bowie, MD
An excerpt from the City of Bowie Diversity Statement:
“In our commitment to the welfare of all our citizens, the City of Bowie seeks a climate that welcomes, celebrates, and promotes respect for the entire variety of human experience. Indeed, the richness of diverse backgrounds provides the fundamental building blocks for unity within every strong community. In our commitment to unity through diversity, we welcome people of all backgrounds, and we seek to include knowledge and values from all cultures in all aspects of our community life. Our commitment to work toward an environment that values diversity requires that we create, promote and maintain environments, activities and programs which further our understanding of individual and group diversity. We will also develop and communicate policies and promote values which discourage intolerance and discrimination.”
(*Event* - Bowie International Festival 10/4/08 11a-5p at Allen Pond Park. Info: 301-809-3078)
City Website | WETA Neighborhoods: Learn how Bowie Residents Embrace their Growing Diversity |
The Bowie Center for the Performing Arts
“Racial Integration Improving Here”
An article about 14 neighborhoods in Hamilton County, OH that have maintained stable racial integration since the 1980’s.
“Neighborhood of the Week: A diverse area, primed for renewal, reinvestment”
A profile of Providence’s Elmwood neighborhood, a diverse area with a large Hispanic, black, and Asian community, including a large immigrant population. Anne Grant, a longtime Elmwood resident was quoted saying, “There’s a spark in so many of the immigrant groups…especially those who have come from wars…They have lost so much, yet they are really working so hard for the benefit of their children….It’s a privilege to be with them.” Elmwood is one of many neighborhoods that has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis, but it is an example of how respect and cooperation, in combination with support from local organizations, can create a strong community, even in the face of economic difficulties.