We stand in solidarity with Black Communities and Black leaders in Toronto and across North America, we will not be silent about the continued discrimination, systemic racism and disproportionate harm faced by Black people. White supremacy and the legacies of colonization, slavery, structural inequality and systemic discrimination profoundly impact the lives of Black people. Black people have long talked about disproportionate violence and deaths as a result of policing. In 2018, an Ontario Human Rights Commission study found that Black people are 20 times more likely than other races to face lethal force, and as a result, be injured or die at the hands of Police. Not only are we no longer remaining silent; we are now urging our allies to join us in taking immediate action.
The Toronto Board of Health unanimously voted to declare Anti-Black Racism a public health crisis. Our action plan on beginning to address Anti-Black Racism will include:
- Calling for the defunding the Police and re-prioritizing the City’s budget to address the roots of violence and Anti-Black racism
- Finding training and capacity-building supports to assist individuals and organizations in learning about Anti-Black Racism
- Developing and implementing an anti-bias policy for SRCHC, which will be shared
- Collaborating with partners on communications to help amplify messages and actions
- Collecting race-based health data and identifying health outcomes for Black populations
- Building common accountability measurements for management/boards in support of Black leadership