Sonoma County supervisors consider resolution declaring racism a public health crisis

The Press Democrat - 3/12/2024

Mar. 12—Sonoma County supervisors on Tuesday are scheduled to discuss and vote on a resolution declaring racism as a public health crisis.

The resolution comes four years after the COVID-19 pandemic revealed how the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities created a fertile and deadly landscape for the virus.

Combined with the a national racial reckoning brought on by the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, health care professionals across the country began examining the role of racism in poor health outcomes.

Sonoma County Health Services Director Tina Rivera said Monday the resolution follows a number of steps that have been taken locally since then, including during the pandemic-era establishment of the county Office of Equity and the Latinx Health Work Group.

A number of other cities and counties have passed similar resolutions.

"So many other counties have already declared racism a public health crisis, so I felt like this very important step really needed to be taken and we hadn't really done anything in this particular area," Rivera said.

Rivera the resolution will solidify the work the Department of Health Services has been doing, including zeroing in on health data that points to health and economic disparities.

For many low-income Sonoma County residents, pre-pandemic normal simply meant less misery

In Sonoma County, those disparities include:

* Black people have a life expectancy at birth that is 10 years shorter than white people (71 years compared to 81.6 years);

* 13.3% of Latino adults and 10.4% of Native American adults living in Sonoma County have at least a bachelor's degree, compared to 41.5% of white adults;

* Black and Latino children are about 2.5 times more likely to live in poverty than white children;

—Black people are 2.3 times more likely to be without health insurance and Latinos are 4.1 times more likely to be without health insurance than white people;

* Native Americans represent 12% of the county's homeless residents and Black people are 8%. Both groups respectively represent only 2% of the county's overall population.

The hearing at the Board of Supervisors is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and can be watched online.

Those wishing to comment must do so in person.

Check today back for updated coverage.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.

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