“Racism is a serious public health threat because racism — both interpersonal and structural — is proven to have harmful impacts to the mental and physical health of communities of colour,” said the resolution, adding racism is declared a public health crisis that directly impacts residents in the city “resulting in health disparities that are both measurable and preventable”.
The resolution pointed out that racism impacts where a person lives, learns, works, worships and plays, creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits, such as housing, education, wealth and employment, often referred to as social determinants of health.
“This nation and the states and municipalities within have been designed to systematically disadvantage underrepresented racial and ethnic groups thereby creating health disparities that have persisted even after the Civil Rights Movement following the abolition of slavery,” the resolution said, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown how pre-existing structural inequities created heavier burdens of disease, death and social consequences in communities of color in Utah.
Citing data from the Utah Department of Health, the resolution said odds of infection were three times more likely in areas where there are high percentages of Latino and non-white residents.
