Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution supports the Wisconsin Public Health Association's Campaign Against Racism, recognizes that racism is a public health crisis, and supports a number of statements to advocate for equitable policies and inform public discourse on racism in the City of Madison. The Board of Health for Madison and Dane County passed a similar resolution in December 2018 (Legistar file 54062).
This resolution reinforces Public Health’s health and racial equity framework to organizational transformation. Staff time and resources are already allocated to this effort. There are no new projects or programming identified with this resolution. Public Health anticipate that resources might be identified to support initiatives and programming in the future. No appropriation is required at this time.
Title
SUBSTITUTE - Supporting the Wisconsin Public Health Association's Campaign Against Racism and Recognizing Racism as a Public Health Crisis.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Madison recognizes that race is a social construct and long-standing institutional and structural bias have resulted in racial inequities that impact individual and population health, social, economic and educational outcomes; and,
WHEREAS, in October 2013 the City of Madison of Madison declared by Resolution 13-00828 - Declaring the City of Madison’s intention to adopt an Equity Impact Model which acknowledged the role of government in working to create more equitable access to opportunities so that all Madison residents can thrive, and which served as a catalyst in the development of the City’s Racial Equity and Social Justice (RESJI) initiative; and,
WHEREAS, in January 2014, the City of Madison approved Resolution 14-00919- Recognizing the role of the Common Council in addressing institutionalized bias and proactively advancing racial equity to recognize the City’s understanding that government needs to work to actively undo institutional and structural racism; and,
WHEREAS, in July 2014, via Resolution 14-0546, Establishing the City of Madison Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative (RESJI), the City of Madison made further commitment to its goal of creating a just Madison by supporting the Mission of the RESJI team: “to establish racial equity and social justice as core principles in all decisions, policies and functions of the City of Madison” and approved the RESJI Strategic Plan “A Strategic Vision for the Future: City of Madison Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative Baseline Report and Initial Recommendations”. This work recognizes that government needs to be intentional in its commitment to addressing institutional racism within the City’s institutional structure and move beyond the focus on efforts targeted at undoing individual racism; and,
WHEREAS, in December of 2018 the Board of Health for Madison and Dane County via Resolution 2018-30 <https://madison.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=6816066&GUID=7B7C57FA-0D3F-4ECD-8299-862385BBE485> signed on to the Wisconsin Public Health Association Declaration that Racism is a Public Health Crisis, in support of the work of Public Health-Madison Dane County (PHMDC) to create an equity- and justice-oriented organization and focus on internal efforts and in partnership in incorporating educational efforts to address and dismantle racism, expand understanding of racism, and acknowledge that racism is a public health crisis affecting our entire society; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Madison via the participation of PHMDC as a member of the Dane County Health Council which recently signed onto the ’’Wisconsin Public Health Associations (WPHAs) resolution that Racism is a Public Health Crisis <https://uwphi.pophealth.wisc.edu/match/match-wisconsin-healthiest-state-initiative/racism-is-a-public-health-crisis-in-wisconsin/> and;
WHEREAS, the City of Madison is committed to continuing to: using racial equity and social justice tools to assess new policies, procedures and projects; partner with racial equity education organizations; review hiring practices with a racial equity lens; and include community voice in city planning process as our commitment undoing institutional structural racism,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council acknowledges that racism is a public health crisis and, as a commitment to our past and future efforts, agrees to sign on to the WPHA Declaration that Racism is a Public Health Crisis.
WHEREAS, race is a social construction with no biologic basis 1 ; and,
WHEREAS, racism is a social system with multiple dimensions: individual racism is internalized or interpersonal; and systemic racism is institutional or structural, and is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks, 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 2,3 ; and,
WHEREAS, racism causes persistent racial discrimination in housing, education, employment and criminal justice; and an emerging body of research demonstrates that racism is a social determinant of health 1,4; and,
WHEREAS, more than 100 studies have linked racism to worse health outcomes 5; and,
WHEREAS, in Wisconsin, the highest excess death rates exist for African American and Native Americans, at every stage in the life course 6,7, and our infant mortality rate for infants of non- Hispanic black women is the highest in the nation 8; and,
WHEREAS, the American Public Health Association (APHA) launched a National Campaign Against Racism 3; and,
WHEREAS, Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 states that, “Wisconsin must address persistent disparities in health outcomes, and the social, economic, educational and environmental inequities that contribute to them” 9; and,
WHEREAS, the Wisconsin Public Health Association has adopted in 2010 the resolution “Achieving Health Equity” and in 2014 the resolution “Promoting a Health in all Policies (HIAP) Framework to Guide Policymaking” and in 2017 convened a Racial Equity Workgroup; and,
WHEREAS, public health’s responsibilities to address racism include reshaping our discourse and agenda so that we all actively engage in racial justice work; and,
WHEREAS, while there is no epidemiologic definition of “crisis”, the health impact of racism clearly rises to the definition proposed by Galea: “The problem must affect large numbers of people, it must threaten health over the long-term, and it must require the adoption of largescale solutions”.10,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council acknowledges that racism is a public health crisis and supports the following statements to advocate for equitable policies and inform our public discourse on racism in the City of Madison:
1. Assert that racism is a public health crisis affecting our entire society.
2. Conduct an assessment of internal policy and procedures to ensure racial equity is a core element of Madison-Dane County Public Health Department, led by the Board in collaboration with the Racial Equity Workgroup and other relevant parties, communicate results of assessment, and determine appropriate interval for reassessment.
3. Work to create an equity and justice oriented organization,11 with the Board and Committees identifying specific activities to increase diversity and to incorporate antiracism principles across leadership, staffing and contracting.
4. Incorporate into the organizational workplan educational efforts to address and dismantle racism, expand understanding of racism, and how racism affects individual and population health and provide tools to assist members to engage actively and authentically with communities of color.
5. Advocate for relevant policies that improve health in communities of color, and supports local, state, and federal initiatives that advance social justice, while also encouraging individual member advocacy to dismantle systemic racism.
6. Work to build alliances and partnerships with other organizations that are confronting racism and encourages other local, state and national entities to recognize racism as a public health crisis.
Sources:
Adopted at the WPHA Business Meeting on May 22, 2018.
References:
1. García JJ, Sharif MZ. Black Lives Matter: A Commentary on Race and Racism. AmJ
Public Health. 2015;105: e27-e30. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302706)
2. Jones CP. Confronting Institutionalized Racism. Phylon. 2002;50(1/2):7---22.
3. American Public Health Association. Racism and Health. Available at:
https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/health-equity/racism-and-health. Accessed
February 20, 2018.
4. Flynn, A., Holmberg, S., Warren, D., and Wong, F. REWRITE the Racial Rules: Building
an Inclusive American Economy. Roosevelt Institute, 2016.
5. Institute of Medicine. Unequal Treatment. https://www.nap.edu/read/10260/chapter/2#7.
Accessed 3/2/2018.
6. Hatchell K, Handrick L, Pollock EA and Timberlake K. Health of Wisconsin
Report Card-2016. University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, 2016.
7. Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 Baseline and Health Disparities Report.
http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/hw2020/. Accessed 2/23/2018.
8. Mathews,TJ., Ely,D., and Driscoll, A. State Variations in Infant Mortality by Race and
Hispanic Origin of Mother, 2013-2015. NCHS Data Brief. No. 295, January 2018
9. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, Office of Policy
and Practice Alignment. Healthiest Wisconsin 2020: Everyone Living Better, Longer.
A State Health Plan to Improve Health Across the Life Span, and Eliminate Health
Disparities and Achieve Health Equity. P-00187. July 2010.
10. Galea, Sandro. Crying “Crisis”. Dean’s Note. Boston University School of Public Health.
https://www.bu.edu.sph/2017/04/23/crying-crisis/. Accessed 4.13.2018.
11. Jackson, B. W (2006). Theory and practice of multicultural organization development. In
Jones, B. B. & Brazzel, M. (Eds.), The NTL Handbook of Organization Development and
Change (pps. 139-154). San Francisco, CA, Pfeiffer.