Just down the street from the cluster of tents abutting City Hall, King County Executive Ron Sims and dozens of local organizations hosted a town hall meeting at the Central Library Thurs., March 13 as part of King County’s new Equity and Social Justice Initiative. King County Councilmember and Board of Health Chair Julia Patterson delineated the initiative’s goal: equal access for all to quality education, basic health care, livable wages, a healthy environment, and safe, affordable housing. She and Sims delivered to the audience jarring
statistics that reveal growing inequalitieswithin the county.
“There’s no reason for Native Americans
to be six times more likely to be put in foster care than any other population,”
Sims told the audience. “There’s no reason to see 50 percent of African Americans in 1970 own homes and today only 32 percent. We’re not just standing still with the rest of the world moving — people are losing ground.”
The estimated 200 town hall attendees
viewed clips from “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” a PBS series that focuses on the social determinants of poor health. Community members responded with observations of inequality in the county which could produce negative effects on health. Factors
mentioned included the glut of junk food at food banks, racism in hospitals, and the dearth of crossing guards near poor public schools. Many people also expressed excitement and gratitude for the initiative.
Neither Sims nor Patterson revealed
any clear, specific plans to combat
the broad social ills the initiative faces. Sims stressed that the battle for equity would take a long-term commitment
from the public, but exactly what sort of resources will be required was a point of contention among members of the panel who spoke that night. Emma Medicine White Crow, vice chair to the governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities, explained, “It’s more than just knowing about an issue;
it’s having the strength to bring change. But that means opening your pocketbooks [as well as] your hearts, and your ears, and your mind.”
Fellow panelist Ben Danielson, medical director of Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, later countered, “I hear talk about how making a change requires such issues with money and time and leadership, and I agree on the last two. But I think we should avoid buying into this lie that making a change always costs more money.”
The King County Equity and Social Justice Initiative will hold another community meeting on March 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Kent Senior Activity Center.
For more information, go to http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/equity |
