Task force works to declare racism a health crisis

Elyria and Lorain YWCAs are working with county and city officials in Lorain County to have racism recognized as a public health crisis.

Amid international protests and demonstration condemning racism and the tragic death of George Floyd, Executive Director Jeanine Donaldson said the organizations’ community anti-hate task force is working with Lorain County commissioners and cities of Elyria and Lorain.

“This singular event has caused an awakening in America to the centuries of discriminatory policies and practices against black people and to the permanent black underclass it has created,” Donaldson wrote in a letter to The Morning Journal. “It has also awakened white America to the invisible cloak of privilege that envelops every white person and shields them from facing down the evil that is racism.”

With Lorain City Council declaring racism a health crisis during a June 15 meeting, Donaldson said there’s a good chance that commissioners and the city of Elyria will bring similar resolutions to a vote.

“We’re very pleased that the community has responded so well, to see the task moving forward,” she said.

Donaldson said the main purpose for declaring racism a public health crisis is to see commitment to the issue from local governments.

“We’re looking for commitment out of the government entities to reverse the patterns and practices that have brought us to this point,” she said. “We haven’t gotten here by accident, so we have to actively fight against it.”

Part of the task force’s initiative also is to organize and put on workshops and training, with the intent to bring them to county officials and city council members.

“The mission of the task force is to promote tolerance and understanding in Lorain County,” Donaldson said.

The task force is working to recruit local organizations and entities as well to condemn racism and call on law enforcement to review its use of force policies and to report findings annually.

Donaldson said the task force is an umbrella organization of the Lorain County Fair Minded Coalition, which advocates for the removal of sale of the Confederate flag from the fairgrounds.

With this coalition, organizations and city and county officials can work with an already established organization to combat racism, she said.

But, Donaldson said she knows that government support and awareness only goes so far.

“It’s not the government’s job to fix the problem, but the government does need to recognize, whether it’s city or county government, that their policies and practices have led to lifestyles, living conditions and social determinants that for certain group of people, in this case African Americans, makes them chronically, mentally and physically ill,” she said.

“The mission of the task force is to promote tolerance and understanding in Lorain County.” — Jeanine Donaldson, executive director