The New York City Board of Health declared racism a “public health crisis” this week, citing the U.S.’s history of slavery and the coronavirus pandemic.
The resolution, demanding that the city Health Department implement new policies to address racism, including a “racially just recovery from COVID-19, as well as other actions to address this public health crisis in the short and long term,” was approved by the 11-member board.
“To build a healthier New York City, we must confront racism as a public health crisis,” Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic magnified inequities, leading to suffering disproportionately borne by communities of color in our City and across our nation,” he continued. “But these inequities are not inevitable. Today is an historic day for the country’s oldest Board of Health to officially recognize this crisis and demand action.”
As evidence of this “structural racism,” the board cited “racial inequities” in rates of various diseases, including COVID-19, HIV and tuberculosis.
The board also claimed increased “involvement with law enforcement” was proof that racism still exists.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recently declared “structural racism” a “public health threat.”
“Racism is a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky claimed in May.
“As a result, it affects the health of our entire nation,” she continued. “Racism is not just the discrimination against one group based on the color of their skin or their race or ethnicity, but the structural barriers that impact racial and ethnic groups differently to influence where a person lives, where they work, where their children play, and where they gather in community.”
The concept of structural racism is derived largely from Marxist Critical Theory that describes a constant struggle between the “haves” and “have nots.”
However, privileged elites in America—in order to avoid scrutiny of their own status—have shifted the focus from wealth and class in traditional Marxism to claiming blacks and other minorities are inately inferior and oppressed by virtue of their skin color.
According to the American Public Health Association, more than 170 other local and state leaders have declared racism a public health crisis or emergency.
