Racism is now officially considered a “public health crisis” in the state of Oregon.
This week, both the Oregon House of Representatives and Senate voted to pass HB 4052, which declares “racism” as a “public health crisis” and will allocate millions of dollars in taxpayer funding to specific populations based solely on their race.
In other words, the bill aims to combat health inequities by, effectively, enshrining racism into state law. It explicitly excludes whites from the program entirely.
From the Oregon state website’s overview of the bill:
“[HB 4052] Requires Oregon Health Authority, guided by advisory committee to be convened by authority, to provide grants to operate two culturally and linguistically specific mobile health units, as pilot program, to improve health outcomes of Oregonians impacted by racism…
…to develop recommendations on how to fund robust culturally and linguistically specific intervention programs designed to prevent or intervene in health conditions that result in inequitable and negative outcomes for individuals who are Black or indigenous,
