LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Racism is being declared a public health crisis in Louisville.
Mayor Greg Fischer signed an executive order on Tuesday outlining a plan to advance racial equity for Black residents of the city.
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This comes after months of protests.
"The protests we've seen are about people's absence of those things in their lives and for generations past," Fischer said. "We must always strive to understand the long standing and justifiable grievances behind the protest."
The executive order outlines seven key areas for city government to address the city's racial equity challenges: public safety; children and families; Black employment; Black wealth; housing and neighborhood investment; health; and voting.
Fischer said 2020 gives Louisville an opportunity to transform after a year of challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic downturn, an increase in gun violence and the protests over racial justice and the death of Breonna Taylor.
The mayor said the "tragic death" of Taylor made Louisville a focal point for the nation's painful "reckoning on racial justice." He said the goal in declaring the crisis is to address the issue and the causes of racism, acknowledge its impact and repair the community.
"For too many Louisvillians, racism is a fact of daily life, a fact that was created and documented in our country's laws and institutional policies like segregation, redlining, and urban renewal," Fischer said in a statement. "Laws and policies that restrict the freedom of all Americans to exercise their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Laws and policies that can restrict where people live, what schools they attend and what jobs they can get. And laws and policies that effectively limit the wealth they can earn and pass on to their children."
"Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome one day," Councilman Keisha Dorsey said. "Those words 'we' are not relegated to Black. They are not relegated to white, female or male, it's a unity."
Fischer said the executive order lays out the societal, economic, physical and mental health impacts of racism on all city residents and not just on Black Louisville. He cited four of what he called injustices taking place in the city.
The Black poverty rate in Louisville is nearly 3 times the white poverty rate.
Black residents make up 22.4 percent of the population but own only 2.4 percent of our businesses.
The percentage of Black residents who own their own homes is half the percentage of White residents.
Among college graduates, the average Black graduate earns almost $10,000 less per year than a white colleague.
Life expectancy can vary by as much as 12 years between some majority-Black and majority-White neighborhoods.
Fischer said eliminating racism in Louisville "strengthens our workforce, improves our tax base and increases the spending power of our residents."
The plan includes addressing the Black pay gap and lack of Black talent in professional/managerial and technical jobs and making sure Metro government employees reflect the city's demographics.
It also includes a top to bottom review of LMPD, recruiting a police chief, and hiring a more diverse police force. Part of the plan came from reforms as part of the Breonna Taylor family settlement.
"Of course, we can't change America by ourselves," he said. "But we can show America how a city can change itself. We can channel the energy from the pain we've experienced to take ourselves from tragedy to transformation."
