Case Study
Affirming the rights of black new yorkers
The Challenge
Zebra Strategies was approached by the NYC Commission on Human Rights to conduct research regarding the experiences of Black New Yorkers with racism and other forms of discrimination. The Commission wanted to gain insights regarding the challenges that Black New Yorkers face, as well as identify how to be perceived as a trusted resource for reporting these negative experiences.
Our Initial Findings
We conducted three qualitative focus groups, with a total of 30 English and Spanish-speaking Black New Yorkers. A qualitative discussion about racism and discrimination was followed by ad testing of three potential campaigns, resulting in several important insights:
- Racism is perceived to be an inevitable aspect of life in the United States and a near-universal experience in public spaces, places of employment, and private businesses—from being followed while shopping to having cars searched by the police
- Awareness of the Commission was limited, and there was reluctance to report incidents because of doubts there would be results
- Transparency is needed on what the outcomes of reporting would be
Actionable Insights
Based on our findings, we recommended that the Commission create a Reporting FAQ page on their website to answer questions and provide reassuring information about what to expect when filing a report.
The Commission has since created multiple FAQ pages, along with a video providing an overview of the reporting process.
