SANTA ANA, Calif.—The Orange County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Dec. 6 with a 4–0 vote, declaring racism and inequity a public health crisis. Supervisor Don Wagner was absent.
Chairman of the Board Doug Chaffee, who introduced the item with Supervisor Andrew Do, said during the meeting that racism has been associated with chronic physical and mental health conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, asthma, stroke, and Alzheimer’s.
“These health disparities underscore the urgent need to address systemic racism as a root cause of racial and ethnic health inequities,” he said.
Supervisor Do said the resolution will promote awareness of racial discrimination and ensure equity and diversity in county policies, practices, and services.
Do also said he experienced racism growing up in Huntington Beach.
“I cannot tell you how many times as I was running marathons—so I had to run a long distance—how many batteries were thrown at me. How many bottles narrowly missed my head,” he said.
Prior to the vote, over a dozen members of the public spoke against the item before it was passed, with only one person speaking in favor.
“Racism has not been on our minds for a long time until [critical race theory] came around, and now it’s in our face,” one public commenter said. “This is creating the very thing we don’t want, why are we even considering this?”
According to Orange County Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau, with the passing of the resolution, Orange County joins over 200 jurisdictions in 32 states declaring racism and inequity as a public health crisis.
“I want to congratulate you and thank you for passing this resolution,” Chau said.
