What is racism? And why is it a public health crisis?
"Racism is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks (which is what we call "race"), that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities, unfairly advantages other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources."
--American Public Health Association Past-President Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, MPH, PhD
Racism operates at various levels in society and is a driving force of the
Social Determinants of Health (
https://bit.ly/2DEuepR
)
, like Housing, Education and Employment - and is a barrier to health equity. To achieve health equity, we must address injustices caused by racism.
Community Teamwork’s mission is to be a “catalyst for social change” and we
understand the urgent need for change in how we recognize and respond to the effects that racism has had on the health of black and brown people in our community. Whether it be through the lack of affordable housing or the housing conditions many in our black and brown community live in which lead to a disproportionate number of people with asthma, or the education and wage gaps experienced by minorities which lead to generational poverty - the health of our black and brown communities are suffering.
Across the country, local and state leaders in more than 16 states are declaring racism a public health crisis or emergency. These declarations are an important first step in the movement to advance racial equity and justice and must be followed by allocation of resources and strategic action.
For these reasons Community Teamwork is in support of the efforts of the
Merrimack Valley and Lowell Diversity Equity and Inclusion Consortium
and is urging the city of Lowell to also take this first step and declare racism as a public health crisis.
If you would like to join the more than 100 businesses and 1500 individuals who support these efforts, please Call/Email/Contact your elected officials
before Tuesday, July 14th
with the following message:
LETTER
Thank you,
