{"id":31188,"date":"2022-04-28T03:05:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T03:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=31188"},"modified":"2022-04-28T03:05:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T03:05:35","slug":"south-portland-council-embraces-anti-racism-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/28\/south-portland-council-embraces-anti-racism-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"South Portland council embraces anti-racism proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\" id=\"js-post-content\" data-truncate=\"3\">\n<p>SOUTH PORTLAND \u2014 A proposed resolution that would declare racism a public health crisis got a warm reception Tuesday night from the City Council.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2022\/04\/25\/south-portland-targets-racism-as-a-public-health-crisis\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Drafted and presented by<\/a> the city\u2019s Board of Health and Human Rights Commission, the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/go.boarddocs.com\/me\/sport\/Board.nsf\/files\/CDUQQR6A72CA\/$file\/Declaration%20-%20Racism%20as%20a%20Public%20Health%20Crisis%20-%20DRAFT.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">three-page document<\/a> calls for a full review of municipal laws, policies and practices to root out systemic racism wherever it may exist.<\/p>\n<p>Councilors and residents praised the resolution as a necessary, forward-thinking and brave initiative fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement and validated by racial disparities exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a really beautiful document,\u201d said Councilor Susan Henderson. \u201cThis is really big. This affects our entire society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Declaration Racism as a Public Health Crisis pdf\" src=\"https:\/\/cloudup.com\/ifmqhxn2bn0?chromeless=true&amp;autoplay=false\" data-uid=\"ifmqhxn2bn0\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.36986301369863\" width=\"500\" height=\"365\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" mozallowfullscreen=\"true\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"cloudup_iframe_embed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The council reviewed the proposal during a workshop session, making two amendments before forwarding the resolution for adoption at an upcoming regular meeting, likely on May 17.<\/p>\n<p>One amendment removed a line that would compel the council to hire an outside consultant to scour city laws, policies and practices for systemic racism. The resolution retains language calling for the council to \u201cdedicate financial and human resources to explore examining city systems, policies, charters, ordinances and procedures, and make recommendations to address, and commit to responding to, systemic racism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"before-injected-ad ad-notice\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A second amendment removed a specific reference to the Cutler Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University of Southern Maine. Councilors said they didn\u2019t want to disregard other branches of the university that conduct research on racial disparities. The resolution still names USM.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed resolution is part of a national movement targeting historic and contemporary racism as the source of systems that, as the resolution states, \u201cimplicitly and explicitly impact the physical, psycho-social and economic wellbeing of Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These longstanding systems of racial and socioeconomic inequity \u201cimpact education, housing, economic opportunity, health care, criminal justice and other determinants of health,\u201d the resolution states. They also \u201ccause documented disparities in educational outcomes, economic achievement, social status and health among non-White populations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hiring a consultant to review and recommend action on city laws, policies and practices would cost at least $50,000, City Manager Scott Morelli said in a memo to the council.<\/p>\n<p>The resolution also calls on the city to inform residents about the city\u2019s history related to slavery and tribal communities; to include Indigenous voices on municipal boards; and to direct municipal boards to address systemic racism.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"before-injected-ad ad-notice\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"article-prev-btn\">\n<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"prev noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2022\/04\/27\/portland-charter-commission-again-votes-to-support-strengthening-mayors-role\/\"><br \/>\n\u00ab Previous <\/a>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"previous-article\">\n<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"prev noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2022\/04\/27\/portland-charter-commission-again-votes-to-support-strengthening-mayors-role\/\">Portland charter commission again votes to support strengthening mayor\u2019s role<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"art-bottom-links no-print p402_hide print-no\">\n<p>Related Stories<\/p>\n<div class=\"mtm-related-posts\" id=\"js-mtm-related-posts\" data-post-id=\"6541145\">\n<div class=\"ajax-loader\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mainetoday\/assets\/images\/ajax-loader.gif\" alt=\"Loading Related Posts\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2022\/04\/27\/south-portland-council-embraces-anti-racism-proposal\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] SOUTH PORTLAND \u2014 A proposed resolution that would declare racism a public health crisis&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31190,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31188\/revisions\/31190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}