Resolution passed
Shelby County commissioners declare that racism is a ‘pandemic.’
As the United States is wracked by both COVID-19 and protests over the death of George Floyd, Shelby County commissioners linked the two Monday.
Racism is also a pandemic, commissioners declared in a resolution passed Monday. In the resolution, commissioners said they would work “to enact policies that eradicate the effects of systemic racism affecting Black people, and other minorities, throughout Shelby County.”
The resolution comes after the country has been shaken by the death of Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.
It notes that protests over Floyd’s death come in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted Black communities. Nationwide, people of color have experienced more serious illness and have been more likely to die than white people, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Tuesday, Shelby County Director of Health Alisa Haushalter voiced her support of the resolution, saying that when opioid use disorder and COVID-19 were declared pandemics, it allowed the county to more thoroughly address the issues.
“It is our opinion that racism is a pandemic in our country,” Haushalter said. “We in public health have always since the origins of public health in our country focused on the root causes of health and poor health, and what we know is that there are many systemic issues in our country that continue to impact communities of color that result in poor health outcomes, poor economic outcomes and poor education outcomes. As a result of that, it’s time that we declare racism as a pandemic. That allows us to really address it from a more comprehensive perspective.”
In Shelby County, 57% of reported COVID-19 cases have been among Black people, while only 18% have been among white people. Among fatalities, 60% have been among Black people and 32% among white people, according to the Shelby County Health Department. That’s although the county is estimated to be 54% Black and 41% white.
The resolution also came after the leaders of Regional One Health, Baptist Memorial Healthcare and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare condemned the slaying, issuing a statement on “insidious” racism. It also said health care institutions in particular have a significant role to play in addressing longstanding racial disparities and injustices in their communities.
“The indisputable fact is that communities of color are disproportionately suffering from a host of public health challenges. It is unacceptable that African Americans have shorter life expectancies and higher infant mortality rates. It is unacceptable that access to quality care can depend on someone’s race,” they said.
The commission resolution supports the statement from the three CEOS, also detailing a history of violence against Black people from slavery to Jim Crow laws to the deaths of unarmed Black men and boys such as Tamir Rice and Eric Garner at the hands of police.
Racial disparities in health
“In addition to higher levels of police violence against Black Americans, several studies suggest that experiences of racism or discrimination raise the risk of emotional and physical health problems, including depression, hypertension — more than 40% of Black adults have high blood pressure — and even death,” the resolution reads.
It notes that a person’s ZIP code often determines the quality of schools and public services someone has access to, particularly in racially segregated areas.
“Racial disparities in health are being found, but the causes are often misattributed to bad behavior rather than poor living conditions, low economic status and high levels of stress directly tied to the history of discriminatory policies adversely affecting Black Americans in this County from its inception,” the resolution says.
The resolution was supported by 10 commissioners. The two “no” votes came from Commission Chair Mark Billingsley and Commissioner Amber Mills. A third commissioner, Brandon Morrison, did not appear to be present.
Mills expressed concern that businesses might not choose to come to Memphis after learning that the government considers racism a pandemic. She also said she had spoken to doctors and others who did not agree with the assessment.
“Has the economic impact of this been considered?” she asked.
Commissioner Tami Sawyer responded by pointing out that numerous public health organizations have detailed the severe impacts of racism on a person’s health.
“It doesn’t drive businesses away to name something you already know is true and that we’re working towards reducing and solving every day,” Sawyer said. “These aren’t hot ticket items or things that are in the news, as I’ve stated week after week; these are the lives that we live as Black people in this city, these are the lives that brown people are living in this city and this county, these are the lives that Asian Americans are living in this city and this county.”
‘8 Can’t Wait’
A separate resolution, created jointly with the Memphis City Council, requested that the Shelby County Sheriff ’s Office adopt the “8 Can’t Wait” useof-force reduction policies.
Sheriff Floyd Bonner has said his office has adopted several of those policies and is working to enforce the others. The policies include a requirement that officers warn people before firing gunshots and that police officers intervene to stop fellow officers from carrying out excessive force.
That resolution requesting the “8 Can’t Wait” policies passed with the support of 10 commissioners and zero “no” votes.
Commissioners also voted to give county employees June 19, Juneteenth, as a paid holiday starting in 2021. The holiday commemorates the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy learning of the Emancipation Proclamation. That resolution passed 12-0.