Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Sisolak, Nevada Senate declare racism a public health crisis

Legislative Building

John Sadler

The Legislative Building in Carson City is the seat of Nevada state government.

Updated Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020 | 7:10 p.m.

CARSON CITY — Gov. Steve Sisolak has declared racism a public health crisis to ensure the state does not “perpetuate poor health outcomes due to systemic racism during and after the pandemic.”

The governor’s proclamation came during a Senate hearing on a resolution that acknowledges COVID-19’s disproportionate impacts on people of color.

“Institutional and systemic racism has gone on far too long in this country and in this state,” Sisolak said in a statement. “Based on research, we are taking a proactive approach in joining fellow leaders around the country to declare racism as a public health crisis.”

State Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, discussed her experiences with racism in an emotional floor testimony, detailing the often-ignored medical needs of people of color.

Disparities in health care experiences between white patients and people of color have been well-documented over the years, including by Harvard University, the Annals of Family Medicine and the nonprofit National Academy of Medicine.

“When I think about structural racism it’s not the dictionary definition, it’s my life, and it’s the lives of my family members, and it’s the lives of a lot of people in my community,” Spearman said.

The measure also reaffirms support for federal, state or regional measures to “understand, address and dismantle systemic racism.”

People of color have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Black Americans have accounted for 20% of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite making up 13.4% of the country’s population. Similarly, Hispanic Americans comprise 31.6% of virus cases, even though they make up 18.5% of the population. 

According to the CDC, the increasing evidence for this disparity is interrelated with other issues, such as poverty and health care access, affecting communities of color.

The resolution and Sisolak’s declaration comes about 10 hours after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared racism a public health crisis in her state.

The Senate’s resolution, which passed unanimously and now heads to the Assembly, urges lawmakers in the next regular legislative session to address the “subjects of systemic racism and structures of racial discrimination.”

Sen. Yvanna Cancela, D-Las Vegas, along with other lawmakers, said that the declaration is a commitment by lawmakers to be cognizant of racial issues in lawmaking. She said that she realizes the measure is a “starting point.”

“It is an official declaration that we as a body want to be thoughtful and inclusive and ensure that in policymaking we address the history of institutional racism, that we address that some of our most vulnerable communities are confronted not only with unnamable challenges but are also affected by policies that have historically left communities of color behind,” Cancela said.