Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) denounces and calls for the immediate rescindment of the Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping issued by President Trump on September 22, 2020 and a corresponding memo issued on September 4, 2020 by Russell Vought, Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget.

These documents prohibit federal agencies from conducting and/or funding anti-racism trainings that address the existence and impact of systemic racism and white privilege. They also initiate a review of federal grant programs to identify subcontractors funded to provide this training. The memo specifically calls out Critical Race Theory, an approach to the study of race and racism that explores how systemic racism and cultural perceptions of race impact individuals. The memo describes these trainings and the anti-racist work of federal agencies and their subcontractors as “divisive and anti-American propaganda.”

There has long been consensus in the public health community that entrenched and systemic racism is a driving force behind the majority of America’s public health crises. This was made clear in May of 2020 when the American Public Health Association, National Network of Public Health Institutes, and many other local and national organizations including PHIMC raised a unified voice identifying racism as a public health crisis and calling out our nation’s failures to provide conditions in which all people can thrive. Everywhere we look, we see the impact of bigotry in opportunities denied, communities neglected, potential unrealized, and lives lost.

Teaching people not only to understand the impact of institutionalized racism and oppression, but also how to combat it is not anti-American. It is, in fact, one of the most pro-American things we can do. It is a way to move us ever closer to the American promise of freedom and opportunity for all people while recognizing the truth told by Martin Luther King Jr. that “no one is free until we are all free.” It is one of the best uses of federal funds imaginable.

I know we are living in an exhausting time — a moment in history when the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racism are very visibly taking their toll. It is easy to feel overwhelmed or helpless in the face of what seems to be the year of endless adversity, particularly this week after a Kentucky grand jury failed to indict police for killing Breonna Taylor. But we are not helpless. You are not helpless. Now, more than ever, we must work together for the nation we want. We invite you to join PHIMC in this effort by choosing any or all of the strategies below to fight for justice.

• Use your Mind: Learn more about the impact of racism by reading any of the books found here.
• Use your Resources: Donate to these local organizations fighting oppression in Chicago.
• Use your Voice: Call or write the people elected to represent you at the local, state, and national levels and encourage them to champion policies and fund projects that seek to undo the impact of racism in America. Find out who represents you here.
• Use your Heart: Look for opportunities in your neighborhood to get involved in efforts that help people — there are so many ways to make the world better. The easiest, perhaps, is to practice kindness always.

We hope you will tell us your stories of action by emailing info@phimc.org.