City of Riverside Declares Racism Health Crisis

Temecula, Ca - “Reducing racial health disparity requires acknowledging the effects structural racism has on health status and then working towards transformative change in our community as a whole,” said Riverside City Council member Gabby Plascencia, who proposed the declaration.

In a meeting that stretched over 9 ½ hours, starting Tuesday, the Riverside City council decided to declare racism a health crisis. Chuck Conder did not participate in the meeting. The city of Riverside joins San Bernardino, whom declared racism a health crisis on June 23rd.

“This resolution isn’t about pointing the finger,” said Councilwoman Plascencia. “This is about bringing our community together. This is truly working towards making Riverside inclusive and diverse.”

While the resolution is mostly symbolic, the council is pursuing several previsions provided by the declaration:

• The council is committed to identify goals and objectives to measure the progress in improving racial equity.
• In addition, the city will start mandatory racial equity training and training to recognize implicit bias, with a goal of training all staff, “in a timely manner.”

The opinions expressed to the council were split. One side said, “I don’t think there’s any systemic racism in Riverside and I think there’s very little evidence of racism that should rise to the level that we should make it a public health issue,” said William R. Bailey II, a former judge and Mayor Rusty Bailey’s father.

Alternatively, Council Member Andy Melendrez highlighted issues that happened in Riverside within the past year, which include King High School posing with a Confederate flag and swastika – to students at Amelia Earhart Middle School chanting a racial slur in a video.

“When we discuss racism, it can make people uncomfortable. They even get angry about even saying the word for a variety of reasons,” said Melendrez. “We can pretend it doesn’t exist or we can put it on the table and start talking about it.”

The importance of establishing racism a health issue spotlights an unseen disparity. It exposes to non-people of color that racism harms more than justice alone, it imbeds into the mental states of communities of color and can denigrate their health in a myriad of ways that restrict personal growth.

“Thousands of people took to the streets this week, knowing the risks of COVID-19, because their fear of dying due to systemic racism is greater than their fear of dying in a global pandemic,” said council member Erin Edwards.

The NAACP and other local groups called for the city of Riverside to act on racism in the county. How much further will it go and how much further is needed to mend the wounds of the past?

My blog is called TheBullMedia.org. I report and analyze the news in Riverside, California and the Nation. I have a new journal publication coming out called, "The American Apocalypse." More information and where to find it will be coming out soon.