Michigan To Begin Addressing Racism As A Public Health Crisis

MICHIGAN — Michigan will begin addressing racism as a public health crisis, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday in a news conference.

The governor also announced that the state was creating the Black Leadership Advisory Council, which will act in an advisory capacity to the governor and develop, review, and recommend policies and actions designed to eradicate and prevent discrimination and racial inequity in Michigan.

"The pandemic has revealed, confirmed and highlighted the deadly nature of these preexisting inequities caused by systematic racism," Whitmer said Wednesday. "COVID-19 is more than four times as likely to take the life of a Black Michigander than a white one."

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The governor cited cases where race and ethnicity is known, explaining that the rate of reported coronavirus cases for Black Michigan residents is 14,703 per 1,000,000, compared with 4,160 per 1,000,000 for white residents, more than three times higher.

The rate of reported coronavirus deaths for Black Michigan residents is 1,624 per 1,000,000 compared with 399 per 1,000,000 for White residents, more than four times higher, according to a news release.

The Black Leadership Advisory Council will be included among a set of diverse ethnic commissions within the state of Michigan, the state announced. Although African Americans are the largest racial minority in the state, this council is the first of its kind in Michigan to elevate Black leaders and representatives, the state said.

One of those issues is related to healthcare, where issues have been highlighted by the pandemic, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said.

"If you're a Black person in Michigan, or if you're a person of color in our state, the pandemic has been even more difficult," he said. "In all of these cases you see, we know that coronavirus itself doesn't discriminate. But it literally feeds upon the discriminatory inequities that exist in our system."

Housed within the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, the Black Leadership Advisory Council will consist of 16 voting members representing Black leadership with widespread backgrounds.

Go here to apply to the Black Leadership Advisory Council and click “Black Leaders Advisory Council” from the drop menu of the application. Applications are due by Aug. 19.

"We have full and complete representation. We have policies and programs that can address people's full and complete concerns," Gilchrist said. "We're one of the first states, and still, unfortunately, to this day one of just a few states, who are actually tracking and reporting our cases of coronavirus and COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity."