North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW)
Statement of Commitment to Anti-Racism
STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT
We believe it is a human right for all people to have access to the resources and choices required to establish a foundation of health and well being. The North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness has prioritized racial and health equity since its inception in 2007, and our mission is to advance health equity across the state (terms in bold defined below). Structural racism is a public health crisis, formed and held in place by racist policies and white supremacy culture. It contributes to negative health conditions and outcomes for people of color and hurts society at large. NCCHW is committed to the ongoing, long-term anti-racist work of understanding this issue, addressing this crisis, and finding sustainable solutions that promote lasting change.
WHAT WE’RE DOING ABOUT IT
The killing of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests across the globe were a reminder of how much work is yet to be done and served as a catalyst to do more, starting with this statement of commitment to anti-racism. Specifically, this tragic event reminded us of the culturally and historically reinforced structural racism that has impacted every layer of society. NCCHW has a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice workgroup that operationalizes NCCHW’s anti-racist commitments into long-term action.
GLOSSARY:
- Anti-racist: actively opposing racism and promoting racial equity; eliminating discrimination to improve equity
- Health Equity: the state in which fair and just opportunities to be as healthy as possible are available to all; this requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty and discrimination and the injustices they cause: hiring and pay inequities, criminal justice sentencing disparities, housing exclusion and segregation, food insecurity and educational inequities
- Racist Policy: any measure (unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people) that produces or sustains racial inequities between racial groups
- Structural Racism: system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial inequities
- White Supremacy: the belief system that rationalizes and reproduces white advantage in the political, social, and cultural institutions of society and holds that white people, white culture, and things associated with whiteness are superior to those of other racial groups
CAMPUS RESOURCES:
University Strategic Plan ; Office of Institutional Equity ; Accessibility Services ; Multicultural Affairs ; Study Abroad