State and Local Efforts to Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis – Southeastern Region Update

Overview

Last summer, as the disparities in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continued to worsen and amid racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, cities, counties, states, and other agencies and organizations increasingly issued formal resolutions declaring racism a public health crisis. These resolutions and formal statements are an important first step in calling attention to racism in a way that can drive resource allocation and changes to law and policy. Each of the Network’s five Region Offices have assessed the resolutions issued in jurisdictions in their region. This issue brief is the first in this series.