Sacramento declared racism a public health crisis three years ago. Little changed | Opinion

In 2020, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors declared racism a public health crisis. This was an important acknowledgment that people of color had experienced unequal impacts from the COVID pandemic and police violence, as well as persistent health disparities in many categories.

I commended county supervisors for joining the movement to declare racism a public health crisis. At the time, only a few other California counties and governments in the U.S. had made such a declaration. Now, 36 government bodies in California have made similar declarations.

As a community member and an advocate for health and racial justice, I pay close attention to Sacramento County governance. My colleagues and I have been looking for signs of follow-up action on the promises in the declaration, but we see only small steps taken.

It’s clear that some jurisdictions in California were better positioned than Sacramento County to go beyond their declarations and take timely action: In 2020, the City of Long Beach created a racial reconciliation framework with 120 ambitious goals. In February, they released a very impressive one-year progress report. Long Beach has trained more than 1,000 employees, improved language access, created an equity commission made up of residents, built an online equity dashboard and done much more.

How did they do this? For several years, Long Beach has been collaborating with Race Forward, a national leader on racial equity solutions. They are a member of Race Forward’s Government Alliance on Racial Equity, a national network of governments working to achieve racial equity. By working with this group, they have built their capacity to enact meaningful change.

In Sacramento County, structural racism creates disparities in so many areas, including housing, employment, health and criminal justice. Their 2020 resolution addressed these issues, but their commitments were broad and need to be fleshed out.

Last year, Sacramento County hired a consulting firm, and they are now looking at how to make their contracting policies more equitable. That’s a great start, but it’s not enough.

There was one call to action in the resolution that was really exciting though: creating a Racial Equity Policy Cabinet. Our county government needs a group of residents who can make public policy recommendations to reduce health disparities and dismantle structural racism. Homelessness has increased by 67% since 2019 in Sacramento County, and Black residents are at least three times more likely to be homeless than the general population. That’s just one of many stark racial inequities we must address through policy change.

It’s time for our county leaders to deliver on that promise. The voices of passionate community members can help create policies and budgets that work for everyone.

Inside our county borders, the city of Sacramento has taken an important step in partnering with Race Forward and community members to form an independent Racial Equity Council to advise the Sacramento City Council on public policy.

I was selected last year to join the city’s Racial Equity Council. I’m excited to use my expertise to help the city develop a racial equity lens that city leaders can use to create a more equitable Sacramento. We have a long way to go. That became clear when I saw the city council vote to buy a tank for the police, ignoring the strong objections from the community and the racial equity impact of the purchase.

The city council should commit to making more sincere efforts to include the voices of community members and build trust by listening to them.

At the county level, it’s time to form the Racial Equity Cabinet and give it power and agency. I propose connecting the cabinet with the county’s Health and Racial Equity Unit so we can build on progress that’s been made.

As we celebrate Black History Month, it has now been three years since the county declared racism a public health crisis. It’s time to act.

This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 5:00 AM.