The Southern California Association of Governments has declared racism a public health crisis, the six-county, cities-based planning organization has announced.
The declaration includes providing $1 million in funding to advance equitable economic recovery, including adjusting local government housing plans to emphasize access to affordable housing and economic recovery funds for Black and other marginalized populations.
“All the issues with respect to racial equity, the protests in the street, are related to a substandard policy that doesn’t allow a large population of people of color to grow and thrive,” SCAG President Rex Richardson, a Long Beach City Council member, said Thursday, July 9.
The planning organization, made up of 191 cities with a combined 19 million residents, has partnered with the California Community Foundation, which has agreed to match the funding, bringing the total grant money available to $2 million, Richardson said.
SCAG and the CCF, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit working toward eradicating deep racial inequities, will provide grants to other organizations that can bring people of color to the table to develop what the agencies say will be more equitable housing plans and economic recovery strategies.
SCAG’s action comes as cities are navigating three crises simultaneously: the coronavirus pandemic, a fiscal emergency due to historic job loss, and an uprising in response to the death of George Floyd – underscoring the impacts of structural racism, Richardson said.
Despite the efforts of many to be inclusive, he noted, structural racism remains in Southern California, embedded in the distribution of program funding, employment opportunities, education, housing and transportation.
“The events of recent months have revealed uncomfortable truths about the systemic racism in our society. As a regional planning organization, understanding the disparities that result from geography and the built environment are central to our work to plan for a more racially just, equitable future,” SCAG Executive Director Kome Ajise said in a prepared statement.
SCAG’s Regional Council approved the public health crisis declaration on July 2 in an attempt to partner with grassroots nonprofits to advance justice, bring equity and “close the gap of racial injustice,” the organization’s website said.
This new approach is an attempt to shake up city planning and housing plans, Richardson said. He envisions minority groups adding new voices to the discussion about how housing is built, both at city halls and at the offices of powerful developers.
“This moment that we are in — involving issues around equity and housing and opportunities for disadvantaged communities — calls on us to think differently,” Richardson said.
For example, cities need to adjust housing plans to include more affordable housing, thereby breaking barriers “between what is affordable and what is not,” he said. Community organizations funded by the grants could add to low-cost housing subsidies or simply educate those in power about the need, he added.
The median price for a house in Southern California reached $549,000 in November 2019, a record high.