PoliticsSalt Lake CitycovidAmerican Public Health Association

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall Declares Racism A Public Health Crisis

The mayor and the Salt Lake City Council acknowledged on Tuesday that racism harmfully impacts the mental and physical health of communities of color.
AP
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Salt Lake City’s mayor has adopted a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis and committing to dismantling racist policies.

Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the Salt Lake City Council adopted a joint resolution on Tuesday acknowledging that racism has harmful impacts on the mental and physical health of communities of color. Salt Lake City joins at least 70 other cities that have declared racism a public health crisis since 2019, according to the American Public Health Association.

“This is an important declaration for us to make as a city,” Mendenhall said in a statement. “Not only are we publicly acknowledging the existence of a grave inequity that many in our community have known and experienced for so long, we are also committing ourselves to the creation of policies and ordinances that are anti-racist.”

The resolution says the impacts of preexisting inequalities were further heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic and put a greater burden of “disease, death and social consequences” on people of color in Utah.

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Before You Go

Books To Read About Anti-Racism And Activism, According To Academics
"Citizen: An American Lyric" by Claudia Rankine(01 of12)
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This book was recommended by Jennifer Williams, an English professor at Howard University.

Williams has taught "Citizen" in a Black Lives Matter course for freshmen, as "it allows us to talk about racial perception and profiling in really interesting ways."

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"From Here to Equality" by William A. Darity and A. Kristen Mullen(02 of12)
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This book from Smith's own reading list explains the racial wealth gap in the U.S. and guides readers through "actionable policies that could be implemented to produce a more equitable society."

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"The Broken Heart of America" by Walter Johnson(03 of12)
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Cohen recommended this book, which he called "the one-volume, complete history of the violent United States that we all need right now."

"The Broken Heart of America" focuses on the history of St. Louis, recounting how racial violence in the city shaped the U.S., Cohen said.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin(04 of12)
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"The Fire Next Time" is one of the recommendations from Rich Blint, a literature professor at The New School.

"In its eloquence, compassion and insight into the workings of American power, Baldwin’s 1963 classic speaks pointedly to white Americans concerning the racial emergency that has haunted the nation for centuries in powerful and bracing prose," Blint said.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"The Color of Law" by Richard Rothstein (05 of12)
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"The Color of Law," which Williams recommended, focuses on the history of how the U.S. government enforced segregation with policies like racial zoning.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation" by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor(06 of12)
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This book is another of Cohen's recommendations, all of which he has taught to his students over the years.

It traces where the Black Lives Matter movement came from and how it emerged during President Barack Obama's time in office, Cohen said.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"Race for Profit" by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (07 of12)
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"Race for Profit" was another of Williams' recommendations.

In the book, author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor covers how Black homeowners were exploited by the real estate industry in the decades after housing discrimination was banned in the late '60s.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"The Alchemy of Race and Rights: Diary of a Law Professor" by Patricia J. Williams(08 of12)
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This book is another one of Blint's recommendations.

He said the three books he chose "dismantle the myth and fable of white supremacy and force the reader to examine one’s place in the social order and how it directly impacts the lives and life outcomes of fellow citizens."

"The Alchemy of Race and Rights" is autobiographical and focuses on how everyday racism occurs and how race, gender and class intersect.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" by James Weldon Johnson(09 of12)
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This novel was also on our expert-recommended list of the classic books by Black authors everyone should read.

Cohen, who also recommended it, said the novel is "a very brief (just over 100 pages) yet brilliantly comprehensive portrait of Black life in the Jim Crow era."

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America" by Kiese Laymon(10 of12)
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This collection of essays was recommended by Williams, as it "really captures racism in an intimate way."

The collection focuses on author Kiese Laymon's own story, including covering subjects like race and growing up in Mississippi.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower" by Brittney Cooper(11 of12)
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Blint recommended "Eloquent Rage," in which author Brittney Cooper explores how Black women's anger has been mocked and how that rage has made women like Serena Williams and Beyoncé so powerful.

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
"Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880" by W.E.B. Du Bois (12 of12)
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"Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880" explains the Civil War and Reconstruction from the perspective of Black people fighting to abolish slavery, Cohen said, and is "the single most important work of history ever written about the United States."

Find it on Amazon. (credit:Amazon)
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