Latinos had twice the infection rates of Whites in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
Black people make up 31.7% of Los Angeles County’s unhoused population, even though they represent 7.5% of the county’s general population.
Among the county’s 10 million people, 14% of Hispanic/Latino residents have bachelor’s degrees, and 28% of Blacks do, compared to 53% of Whites and 54% of Asians, according to a county survey from 2019.
These are just some of the statistics that demonstrate racial disparities among the county’s 10 million people in the areas of healthcare, housing and education. The racial markers are evidence that prompted the Board of Supervisors earlier this month to adopt a countywide Racial Equity Strategic Plan.
“The disparity between White and Black residents, as well as Indigenous, Latinx and Asian is not an accident. There have been intentional policies,” said Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell who introduced the successful motion authorizing the plan, which received unanimous support on July 11.
Mitchell spoke about redlining, in which racially discriminatory policies prevented sales or blocked investment for minorities in residential real estate. The deed to her own property had racial restrictions, she said. “We continue to have redlining, where banks and governments intentionally divested from communities where people of color were allowed to live,” she said.
The board’s plan is an equity framework aimed at eliminating structural racism and bias within the county. The framework is being incorporated into each of the county’s 29 departments and will become practice during the next 10 years. The equity plan codifies the passage of the Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative back in July 2020, that became part of the county Chief Executive Office and declared racism a public health threat.
“Race should not determine opportunities available to people, nor their outcomes,” said Third…
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