Rep. Kent Smith co-sponsors resolution to declare racism a public health crisis

State Rep. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) signed on as a co-sponsor to House Democratic priority legislation to declare racism a public health crisis. Previously introduced in the 133rd General Assembly as HCR 31, the resolution provides meaningful action steps to address racial health disparities and begin to dismantle systemic racism in Ohio. 

“Pervasive racism threatens the health of Black people every day. In June 2020, Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association said, ‘We do know that health inequities at their very core are due to racism.  There's no doubt about that.’

Therefore, we should not be surprised that this particular health inequity affects Ohioans.  The Health Policy Institute of Ohio released a Policy Brief on August 14, 2020, entitled 'Connections between Racism and Health' detailing the challenges facing Ohio and making several public policy recommendations. A month later, they released another report on September 3, 2020, where they examined the disparities by race and ethnicity in fighting the COVID pandemic in Ohio. One of the most disturbing findings that was that race and ethnicity data was not being collected in 13% of COVID cases across the state. In six counties (Champaign, Columbiana, Holmes, Licking. Logan and Miami) 35% or more of the COVID cases had race reported as ‘unknown.’  These data failures make it more difficult to assess the extent of the problem for Ohio's minority population.  

The two Health Policy Institute of Ohio reports make it clear that racism is indeed a public health crisis, which is why I cosponsored the resolution.  I believe that the Ohio General Assembly should prioritize the rights of the most vulnerable and that political power needs to be used to correct moral wrongs.  Inadequate medical care within the system that is caused by racism demands our attention. This resolution that acknowledges the problem is a good first step,” said Rep. Kent Smith. 

The resolution comes as Black Ohioans experience lower vaccination rates than white Ohioans, and COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted Black and brown communities. Black and brown Ohioans also continue to face differences in health outcomes such as higher infant and maternal mortality rates, higher incidences of childhood trauma, higher youth incarceration rates, higher poverty rates, and a life expectancy almost four years below white Ohioans. 

The resolution calls for the following actions:

·        Establishing a glossary of terms and definitions concerning racism and health equity;

·        Assert that racism is a public health crisis affecting our entire community;

·        Incorporating educational efforts to address and dismantle racism, and expand understanding of racism and how racism affects individual and population health;

·        Promoting community engagement, actively engaging citizens on issues of racism, and providing tools to engage actively and authentically with communities of color;

·        Committing to review all portions of codified ordinances with a racial equity lens;

·        Committing to conduct all human resources, vendor selection and grant management activities with a racial equity lens including reviewing all internal policies and practices such as hiring, promotions, leadership appointments and funding;

·        Promoting racially equitable economic and workforce development practices;

·        Promoting and encouraging all policies that prioritize the health of people of color, and support local, state, regional, and federal initiatives that advance efforts to dismantle systematic racism and mitigating exposure to adverse childhood experience and trauma training of all elected officials, staff, funders and grantees on workplace biases and how to mitigate them;

·        Partnering and building alliances with local organizations that have a legacy and track record of confronting racism;

·        Encouraging community partners and stakeholders in the education, employment, housing, and criminal justice and safety arenas to recognize racism as a public health crisis and to activate the above items;

·        Securing adequate resources to successfully accomplish the above activities. 

The resolution now awaits referral to a House committee.