Anti-Racism
Racism permeates the two systems central to the Council’s work: health care and housing. The crisis of homelessness would not exist but for the history of slavery, genocide, and white supremacist public policy.
That 40% of the homeless population is Black/African American, though just 13% of the general US population, is no accident; it is the legacy and design of oppression. Moreover, research continues to substantiate what people of color have already known, that systemic and interpersonal racism in the health care industry leads to disparate health outcomes for people of color. If we are serious about ending homelessness and achieving health equity, we must center on racial justice.
The Council has much to do to back our verbal commitment with action, but we are beginning to confront the reality that if we (and our members) do not actively resist racism in our work, we are complicit in racial inequity.
Our external work on this includes learning collaboratives on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (code for Racial and Social Justice), which collected the following resources that span from historical housing segregation to countering bias in hiring. They focus on institutional and systemic issues, rather than interpersonal racism and individual privilege.
The list is far from comprehensive, but even so, you could spend all day just at racialequitytools.org. If you have any questions or suggestions about these materials, therefore, please contact us.
Note: for related COVID-specific materials, see the Equity section of the Coronavirus Resource Page.
