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TOWARD A GREAT CLEVELAND:

Mayor Frank G.  Jackson

Eliminating Inequity,Disparity and Racism

In the midst and aftermath of thecoronavirus and the recent civil unrest, wehave demonstrated proof of institutionalizedinequities, disparities, and racism. Theseinequities, disparities and racism are evidentin all aspects of our society – our criminaljustice system, healthcare delivery, who getsto accumulate wealth, who gets a goodeducation, where political power resides,and so much more. In terms of criminaljustice systems, African-Americans are morelikely to be arrested, face more aggressivecharging and more severe sentencing. The disparities in health outcomes areequally stark – evident by thedisproportionate number of infections anddeath from the coronavirus and chronicillness including asthma, diabetes, andhypertension, and lower life expectancy.Similarly, at the other end of the life cycle,African-American babies aredisproportionately impacted by low birthweight and premature delivery placing themat higher risk to die. African-Americans facedisparity and inequity in terms of incomeand wealth as can be seen in lowerhousehold incomes and an inability to tapinto the growth, prosperity and wealthothers have experienced.

E L I M I N A T I N G I N E Q U I T Y , D I S P A R I T Y AND R A C I S M

INTRODUCTIONInequity, Disparity and Racism in the City of Cleveland

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African-Americans have lowerlevels of educational attainment –not because of ability – but ratherdue to a host of factors includingaccess and affordability. And, thelong established suppression ofAfrican-Americans voters and theinstitutionalized practice ofgerrymandering has dilutedAfrican-American political powerand has left many feeling that thereis little government is able, orwilling, to do to change things. Allof this is a recipe for economic,social and political disaster, and weare seeing this play out in front ofus right now. If we fail to take action – and use allof the tools available to us toeliminate institutional inequity,disparity and racism – this will onlyget worse. We can no longer besatisfied with just words, theidentification of the problem, or thepromise of something better.

Everything we have done that hasbeen successful, we have done as awhole community. Transformativechange that is substantive andsustainable has to be based onconcrete and focused steps toeliminate institutionalized inequities,disparities and racism. The socialunrest, protest and demonstrationsare indicators of an underlying senseof injustice. It represents a reality formany people that this system doesn’twork to their benefit, and so they haveno stake in it. It is the outcry of peoplefor justice and that we take immediateaction to eliminate institutionalinequity, disparity and racism. Hereare just some of the things that need tobe done:

Inequities, disparitiesand racism are evident in all aspects of our society.

Instead, there has to be substantiveand sustainable change in order tocreate communities where all peoplecan thrive and share in quality of lifeand prosperity. Government,however, cannot do this alone.

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Recruitment so that we have a police force that isreflective of the community;Training that includes use of force, crisis intervention,proper search and seizure, and bias free policing; andAccountability.

The reform of the entire criminal justice system is key to theelimination of institutionalized inequity, disparity and racism.The initial contact people have with our criminal justicesystem is the police. Incremental police reform does not work –instead there must be systemic and institutional reform. TheConsent Decree helps us and provides a blueprint to create anew culture and behaviors. Real reform will include:

This will enable us to get the right people into the police force,provide them with the training necessary to change the cultureof the organization, and hold them accountable when they failto follow the new procedures and practices that are alignedwith the new organizational culture. In preparing thesefinancial statements, the Directors are required to work thesereports. The second contact with the criminal justice system is whensomeone is charged. This reform involves changesin the way Prosecutors charge people. There has to be equalityin charging people who are arrested based on the facts of thecase NOT on who they are, where they live, or their ethnic andracial background. The third contact is with the Courts. Just as we must eliminateinequities, disparities and racism in how people are charged,our Court systems must also eliminate them from how peopleare sentenced.

CRIMINAL JUSTICEREFORM

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Wealth creation; andJob and career opportunities.

Expand business opportunities;Create and sustain jobs; andCreate wealth among those who have been

The color of your skin and/or economic status should not determineyour guilt or innocence and whether you receive a harsher sentence.Ensuring a jury of peers is an essential step. Juries have to berepresentative of the community at large – and need to understandthe people that appear before them. This has critical implications forhow people are sentenced. Crime is just a symptom of the larger underlying problem of a lackof social and economic justice. It is the symptom manifested by theinstitutionalized inequity, disparity and racism that we see across allaspects of our society. In order to truly solve the criminal justiceproblems, we must also identify solutions to eliminate inequity,disparity and racism through:

Creating an economic system that builds wealth and eliminatesinequities, disparities and racism will have a significant impact oncrime reduction. One key to doing this is to keep more of ourspending in our local economy. A Self-Help Procurement initiativewill have a significant impact on building wealth locally. By taking aportion of the billions of dollars that the public and private sectorspends and redirecting them into our local economy, we can

traditionally left out. In addition, we must ensure all residents are prepared to capitalizeon this expanded investment through enhancedworkforce development opportunities to all people, includingformer felons, and opening up career and business opportunitiesthat has an equitable outcome.

CRIMINAL JUSTICEREFORM

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They learn by;That is the way they retain what they learn; and Demonstrate their comprehension

For many, a quality education is the key to changing their social and economiccondition. The traditional way we educate children doesn’t work – in fact it boresthem. We have to reorient our education system to allow all of our children to competeby giving them the tools that:

Education is becoming increasingly technology driven. And the way in which youngpeople learn, retain information and demonstrate comprehension is through the toolsof technology. Interactive learning, virtual reality, and new ways of measuringperformance are needed. But, substantial portions of our population do not have high-speed internet access. Those without access tend to be concentrated in poorer communities ofcolor, which puts children at a disadvantage, creating and reinforcing inequity,disparity and racism. This can be solved in several ways – such as working with serviceproviders to expand access, making the internet a public utility, or building our ownhigh-speed internet utility.

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EDUCATION

ELIMINATING HEALTHDISPARITIES

Institutionalized inequities, disparities and racism are also reflected in our healthcaresystem and eliminating them is essential to creating communities where all people canthrive. Just as we cannot truly reform our criminal justice system without alsoaddressing the underlying causes of crime, we have to approach health from aperspective that recognizes the importance of social determinants of health.

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Racism is a public health issue;Violence is a public health issue;Health delivery models should bebased on mission – not a corporatemodel;Quality health is based not only ontreatment, but also prevention andaccess to quality treatment;The commercialization of badeating habits is a public healthissue; andA public health model that focuseson reducing the prevalence ofchronic disease whichdisproportionately impactsAfrican-Americans.

This means not just treating theimmediate ailment. But, acceptingthat:

People’s mental, physical andemotional health are a result of howsociety functions as a whole. Again,this will involve a coordinated andintentional approach that addressesthe underlying inequities, disparitiesand racism that have led to theincreased prevalence of any numberof chronic illnesses.

All of this is not possible unless wemake a deliberate effort to create ahealthcare system and workforce thatis responsive to and representative ofthe community and increase thenumber of doctors, nurses and otherhealthcare workers who serve andreflect their communities. This willrequire both medical providers andeducational institutions to developmodels that support the success ofstudents from early in their academiccareer into their professional career.In addition to improving healthoutcomes, this will have the addedbenefit of creating job and careeropportunities.

Racism is a publichealth issue;Violence is apublic health issue.

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ELIMINATING HEALTHDISPARITIES

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From the founding or the country when African-Americans were considered only 3/5ths of aperson with no rights, political power has beensuppressed through institutionalized inequity,disparity and racism. From that point until today,attempts to suppress the African-American voteand dilute political power are still very real. As a result, we have elected bodies andindividuals that are not always representative ofthose burdened with institutionalized inequity,disparity and racism. And, the institutionalizedpractice of gerrymandering dilutes their voice,resulting in less input on policy and outcomes.

POLITICAL POWER

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CONCLUSION

I’ve often said that Cleveland is a successful city,as measured by traditional means, but Clevelandis not a great city. A great city is measured bywhat we, as a society, do for the least of us – notthrough welfare, charity, or social programs, butby ensuring that everyone can participate in theprosperity and quality of life our societyproduces. The coronavirus and the recent civil unrest havedemonstrated that the greatest impediment tothat greatness is institutionalized inequities,disparities and racism. 7

Criminal justice systems that are fair and equitable;Economic systems that provide opportunity and create wealth for all people; Education systems that meetstudent’s needs and prepare them to succeed in the future;Healthcare systems that recognize and remedy the social determinants that drivequality health outcomes; andPolitical systems that provide a voice and access to power for all people…

The social unrest, protest and demonstrations are indicators of an underlying senseof injustice. Injustice based on the reality that our social, economic and politicalsystems maintain power and wealth through the exploitation of individuals,resources and opportunities, and places enormous burden on those who suffer frominequity, disparity and racism. If we don’t provide:

Things will not get better – In fact, things will get worse. If we are going to eliminateinequity, disparity and racism – and the injustices that produce them – then we mustas a community take action. So the question is, who are we as individuals?  Who are we as a community? As acity?  What is our character and personality? When we see injustice will we standagainst it? When we see justice, will we stand up for it? We have the opportunity to make Cleveland a great city. The only question thatremains, is do we have the will? I ask people to resist the temptation of believing thatthis is just a function of government. That only if we pass legislation; Or, if only westart initiatives and programs; Or if only we say the right thing. Everything that wehave done and we have been successful at, we have done as a community. One city. One people. Operating in the way that changes our culture that dictates our behavior;that dictates an outcome. An outcome that will produce justice and will eliminateinequities and disparities, and where racism will just be a thing of the past.

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CONCLUSION

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