Sac County supervisors urged to honor pledge to fight racism as a public health crisis

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By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff Writer Social Justice Politicorps for Sac County Founder Kula Koenig addresses the Board of Supervisors at their July 11 meeting. Robert J. Hansen, OBSERVER

Public health advocates and Decarcerate Sacramento called on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors at its July 11 meeting to honor its commitment to addressing racism as a public health crisis.

County supervisors in 2020 passed a resolution recognizing racism as a public health crisis. They are committed to identifying and implementing solutions to eliminate systemic racial inequities in all community services provided by the county, such as protective services, homelessness and housing, economic development, criminal justice and law enforcement.

April Jean of Public Health Advocates said the county has made a series of missteps that have moved it away from addressing racism as a public health crisis. Instead, it has focused its efforts and investments on a diversity, equity and inclusion approach that is outdated and ignores community needs.

If systemic racism is a problem, we need to pursue approaches that explicitly name race as the root cause and aim to specifically address that problem, Jean said. However, we find that the county has taken a misstep by centering diversity, equity and inclusion instead of naming and centering racism as a key and primary issue.

The county contracted with an out-of-state consultant who is not connected to community needs and neglected to meaningfully include affected communities in the process, according to Jean.

Health advocates said a legitimate racial equity policy cabinet would be made up of community members who would discuss policy changes, the county budget and how to make systems work for everyone. The city of Sacramento formed a racial equity council and does that kind of work much more effectively than the county, advocates said.

This type of group could make progress toward solving the public health crisis of racism, Hewins said.

Liz Blum, co-founder of Decarcerate Sacramento, told supervisors that the promises they made in 2020 have yet to be fulfilled.

Asked to center race in the solution to mass incarceration in Sacramento County, Blum said, noting that blacks make up about 39% of Sacramentos’ prison population while they make up just 11% of the county’s population.

Black people are the most represented group in our local prison system, Blum said. The Sacramento County Jail Reduction Plan does not once mention race. The success metrics are simply the number of people served.

Local psychologist Corrine McIntosh-Sako said Indigenous, Black and other people of color experience disproportionate levels of trauma as structural and systemic racism continue to challenge their ability to thrive in their environment.

Black adults in the United States were more likely than white adults to report persistent emotional distress, McIntosh-Sako said, noting that her work in anti-racism has taught her that everyone has blind spots to racism that they are unable to identify.

By definition, it’s impossible to be aware of our blind spots without help from others, McIntosh-Sako said. County leaders have neglected to engage the experts right here in our community who can help Sacramento County develop a community-driven racial equity strategy focused on system change.

Kula Koenig, founder of Social Justice Politicorps for Sac County, said she has been fighting the county since 2020.

I was fighting people I helped get elected; I was fighting friends I knew, Koenig said. I was at home and I heard [Supervisor] Sue Frost says America is not a racist country.

Koenig said she fought supervisor Phil Serna, who is a friend, over how to spend federal Covid-19 funding.

I’m back here today saying the same things I’ve always said and asking the same things I’ve been asking for so long and I don’t think you even hear me, Koenig said. Racism is a public health crisis and you can see it because the people asking for more money are the black and brown people who are taking care of our people.

Public health advocates suggested the county open a new request for proposals and find a local consultant who understands racial equity and public health; that it creates a plan to engage the community on racial equity and include affected groups and county commissions excluded from this process; and assess racial equity impacts in county budgets and contract decisions.

No supervisor responded to public comments from public health advocates.

However, Supervisor Rich Desmond asked county staff to create a report on county and agency efforts to address racism as a public health crisis near the end of the public comment period.

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