​Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the depths and reach of racism on the health of children, families, and individuals, with communities of color in California experiencing higher rates of illness, death, and overall hardship due to the virus. This devastation must be the catalyst for California policymakers to acknowledge that racism has caused lasting and negative impacts on communities of color. While some local policymakers in California have declared racism as a public health crisis, there has not been a declaration at the state level. This report provides a high-level overview on how health inequities are a direct consequence of historic and ongoing racism.

Findings: The integration of racist policies and practices in various systems — specifically housing, environment, employment, health care, justice system, and education — prevents many communities the opportunity to be healthy and thrive. Only by first declaring racism a public health crisis can we then begin to minimize, neutralize, and dismantle the systems of racism that create inequalities in health for Californians.

This paper references information from the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander COVID-19 Data Policy Lab and research from "Racial and Ethnic Health Coverage Inequities in California Would Widen if ACA Is Overturned" by UC Berkeley Labor Center and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, October 15, 2020.