About The Florida Timeline

The Initiative

The Florida Timeline (the timeline) is an ongoing initiative to draw awareness to the systemic racism that has permeated historical laws in Florida and continues to reverberate in modern-day policy. The initiative was launched in October 2022 with two policy topics appearing on the timeline. Over many years, the website will be continuously updated with more policy topics on the timeline and accompanying resources to contribute to a much-needed narrative shift in Florida. The goal is to connect historically inequitable policies to present-day harm and demonstrate how policies created for racial justice have a broadly shared, positive impact for all Floridians.

The Research

The information presented on the timeline is the culmination of extensive research on the part of Florida Policy Institute (FPI) and partners. The research focuses on narrative and shared understanding to highlight key policies and events that had intentions and/or outcomes that were racist, exclusionary, and/or inequitable. While the research is organized by policy topic to make it clear how systemic racism impacts various aspects of life, inequity does not occur in policy silos. Floridians experience the simultaneous impact of all these policy decisions along one timeline.

The Vision

When we understand the shared legacy of unequal opportunity in our state, we can counter attempts to divide us and silence public discussions about racial equity and justice. We believe in a more equitable, brighter Sunshine State where everyone who lives here truly has the opportunity to thrive without barriers based on race or ethnicity. The Florida Timeline is a resource for fact-based information that helps Floridians learn from our policy past to shape our future.

The Team

The Team

The Florida Timeline Initiative is made possible by the commitment and support of the entire staff at Florida Policy Institute and our partners. Contact us at [email protected].

Criminal Justice Research: Tachana Joseph-Marc
Education Research: Norín Dollard, PhD 
 Food Security Research: Cindy Huddleston
 Housing Research: Cicely Hodges
 Tax Policy Research: Esteban Leonardo Santis, PhD 
Worker Justice Research: Alexis P. Tsoukalas, PhD
Worker Justice Research Assistant: Adriana Sela

Communications Director: Sonia Lindell
Communications Associate: Anika Huda
Project Manager: Amber Nixon

Background

Tachana Joseph-Marc, senior policy analyst at FPI, participated in the RE-Analyze learning community with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to strengthen her ability to research and advocate using a lens of racial and ethnic equity. She looked at state policies and certain federal policies that were intended to be exclusionary, racist, or inequitable and policies that had outcomes of the same nature even if they were not intended to be that way. She produced an extensive list of categorized policies and yet, she knew there was more that could be done to tell the full story of our state’s history of policy inequity. Tachana recognized the need for a more comprehensive overview of these policies that could help us ensure new policies do not continue the mistakes of the past. Tachana’s work through RE-Analyze inspired the creation of The Florida Timeline Initiative.

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