MASON, Mich. — The Ingham County Board of Commissioners has voted unanimously to approve a resolution Tuesday that would declare racism a public health crisis.
Ingham County Commissioner Derrell Slaughter introduced the resolution and said it was long overdue.
"It's unfortunate that it took the deaths of these black folks to get to this point," Slaughter said. "Whether we're trying to buy a house or interacting with law enforcement, racism rears its ugly head in all forms of society and our lives."
Slaughter says now that the resolution has passed, he plans to form an advisory committee made of county leaders to create solutions.
"We want to make sure that our black Ingham County residents have the best quality of life and we're going to try to do better by them."
Doctor Ronald Hall studies race relations at Michigan State University's School of Social Work.
He suggests looking at racism not as an issue of morality but as a psychiatric ailment.
"This is something that impairs the ability of a person to function normally in a society," Hall said. "It was maybe 40, 50 years ago that someone who drank to much or was an alcoholic was considered a person who was defined as immoral."
He says instead of criticizing people that might have racist tendencies, we should work on finding a way to treat them.
"I think we're much further along with treating alcoholism versus counting it as a moral issue and I think we can do the exact same thing with racism."
Hall says he's encouraged by worldwide protesting after the death of George Floyd and hopes the resolution can keep the fight against racism relevant.
"It keeps us constantly focused, and until we can resolve it or cure it, we're going to be constantly focused and have the motivation to try to do something about it."
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