What’s been done to combat racism as a public health crisis in Columbus? – By Zaria Johnson (The Columbus Dispatch) / Aug 4, 2022
Two years ago, the nation was rocked by hospitalizations and deaths brought on by COVID-19, and civil unrest following the deaths of George Floyd in May and others in the months that followed.
Those instances revealed racial disparities in Ohio, and Gov. Mike DeWine declared racism a public health crisis in August 2020.
Even before the pandemic, “we perceived racism as a known and an unaddressed epidemic,” said Stephanie Hightower, president and CEO of the Columbus Urban League. “So, all COVID did for entities like ours is that it just revealed what we already knew.”
Racism can affect all aspects of people’s lives, including access to safe and affordable housing; employment and financial security; education; incarceration and health and mental health, Hightower said.
