Racism as a public health crisis: Acknowledgement of racism is the first step in a long road, community members say (VIDEO)

In the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in May, communities around the world rallied — those in Lorain County included. Taking to the streets, protesters called for police reforms and systemic changes. And in the weeks that followed, Lorain, Elyria, Oberlin and the county commissioners passed resolutions marking racism as a public health crisis, recognizing longstanding problems in healthcare, education, hiring practices and housing. That acknowledgement is important, but it's just the first step on a long road of work, said Jeanine Donaldson, executive director of the Elyria and Lorain YWCA. "You can't fix a problem until you identify a problem," Donaldson said. "And as long as racism has existed in this country, no one or very few people have acknowledged it to be the problem that it is." Until that reckoning happens, it will be very difficult for communities to begin to move forward, she said. But as organizations and cities begin to go on record declaring racism a public health crisis, Donaldson said they can begin to look at operations through a racial equity lens. Part of acknowledging racism as a public health crisis means addressing disparities, said Community Solutions Public Policy and External Affairs Associate Hope Lane. In health care, a 2016 study showed more than half of 400 medical students surveyed endorsed at least one myth about differences between Black and white people — including that white people have larger brains or Black people have thicker skin, Lane explained. 'Across all facets of life' The city of Lorain was the first to declare racism a public health crisis, with City Council passing a resolution June 15 recognizing inequities in health care surrounding infant mortality, maternal morbidity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Lorain county Commissioners followed suit on June 17, then Elyria on June 24. Oberlin passed its resolution July 6. The Lorain County Chamber of Commerce adopted a similar stance on June 24, along with the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services board on June 25. Avon Lake City Council discussed a resolution, but tabled it until the fall. Lorain County Public Health and Mercy Health Lorain both work with the communities they serve to address physical health disparities. For more than two decades, Catherine Woscobnick has worked with Mercy Health Lorain, now serving as its director of community health. Mercy Health started its Rising Star program 16 years ago, investing in young people of color interested in the medical field to help the professionals at Mercy reflect the communities it serves. Additionally, its Resource Mothers program provides prenatal care, guidance and support for the first year of the child's life in an effort to combat infant mortality. Lorain County Public Health is focusing on similar efforts, partnering with community groups to address heart disease, tobacco use, healthy eating habits and physical activity. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, that work hasn't stopped, Program Manager Erin Murphy said. "When we really look at public health, it does go beyond eating fruits and vegetables and getting in your physical activity and the whole adage about where you grew up, what your early childhood was like, what educational opportunities you had, what economic opportunities you had that all contributes to long-term health outcomes," Murphy said. For Lorain County Magistrate Judge Charlita Anderson-White, this means recognizing how racism affects people of color, and how lonely an experience it can be. For several years, she was the only Black magistrate judge in Lorain County courts. She said she can't go onto Facebook anymore, as it's become too depressing and combative. People will often deny racism still exists, or downplay experiences of racism Black people have had. After Lorain County declared racism a public health crisis in June, Anderson-White said the comments on social media dismayed her. "That affects me," she said. "In terms of it makes me fearful, it's hurtful, some of the comments on the issue of the declaration of public health. Some of those comments were not directed towards me, but they certainly hurt. And they're shocking. They're alarming. The degree of denial and the degree to which people can to which people can ignore other people's pain. It really hurts to see that and to read comments like that." Education is important, Anderson-White said, but what that looks like can be exhausting. "You literally have to reinvent the pencil at least to have a conversation about why people don't have houses," she said. "Or why people live in a certain neighborhood or why, when there's riots, people tear up their own communities. You have to explain, or at least give people kind of a vantage point for where that anger of fear and sadness comes from, and that also requires the other person being able to listen." And when children are in school, even education can be stacked against them. Investments need to be made, Lorain County Urban League board member Sharon Furcron said, but it's important to understand the situation. "We can't do it in a vacuum," she said. "This is impacting the entire city, the entire county, the country, and it has to be acknowledged and worked on in whatever pillar the organization has a specialty in." Lorain School Board president Mark Ballard said the disparity a lot of Black students experience is a lack of generational wealth and support — the cliche of "standing on the shoulders" doesn't mean the same when there is no wealth or businesses to pass down to younger generations, or family connections to fast-track Black students into high-paying jobs. The one thing the Black community owns are its churches, but those are not businesses. Students may have been told they aren't college material, and can only hope for entry-level jobs, so tests become a self-fulfilling prophecy, he said. Others haven't been to save money for college, and will come out the other side $100,000 in debt. "The manifestation is we score poorly, and then we believe the hype that our kids don't test well, our kids are lower-performing than the majority of kids, when we've never prepared them for it," he said. 'Pendulum swing' The United States' "original sin" is nothing new, and the fight to move communities of color forward isn't either. Declaring racism as a public health crisis is a long time coming for Donaldson, who has led the YWCA's Anti-Hate Taskforce for years, who hopes organizations and municipalities recognizing the crisis can make serious strides in combating racism. Success is measured differently, as the issue is often qualitative, not quantitative. Ballard said success, in his opinion, means fair opportunities for employment and economic advancement. "At some point the only way this is going to get back even because for so long we haven't gotten the benefit of the doubt," he said. "People are comfortable with people that look like them and if we're not in the HR room saying w'e're going to look like the community' -- there's got to be an off-balance pendulum swing." In terms of health outcomes, Mercy Health noted success includes infants at a healthy birth weight, and lowered instances of cardiovascular-related deaths — but now is the time to listen and prop up communities' needs through existing programs, or new responses. There's been strides recently, including an effort to address Black youth suicides by the Lorain County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services board, and the declarations themselves are a long time coming, Imam Paul Hasan said, but the mental impacts of slavery can still be felt in the Black community. The true test will be if the resolutions are more than just symbolic — if there are actions, and funding, tied to increasing equity in individual cities and the county as a whole. Hasan has been an activist for more than 30 years, working to bring together gangs in cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Cleveland together in a summit that culminated in the Million Man March in 1995. "Now you have a different reality, you talk about 25 years later," he said. "It's a different reality and with the uprising, and the Black Lives Matter and other youth got involved — Asians, European Americans, everyone was involved, which I think was wonderful. But now it's time that we have to move forward systemically and begin the challenges of the government of 'are you going to do what you say you do, or this is just some symbolism, but there's no substance.'" Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.