Board committee forwards amended resolution declaring anti-Black racism a human-rights and public-health crisis

The Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee on July 23 voted unanimously to forward an amended resolution to the full Board of Supervisors declaring anti-Black racism a human-rights and public-health crisis.

Supervisor Shmaulin Walton, the item author, told the committee the resolution "calls attention to this crisis and provides a path for us to address anti black racism." Walton identified a slate of cosponsors in the record and introduced presenters from the Human Rights Commission and the Department of Public Health.

Britney Chiquata, acting chief of staff at the Human Rights Commission and a founding member of MegaBLACK SF, told supervisors Black San Franciscans make up "only about 5% of the city, yet are 10 percent of all COVID related deaths," and urged the board to adopt measures that create visibility, sovereignty and accountability for Black residents. Nysha Underwood of the Department of Public Health emphasized that the resolution is intended to spur concrete departmental accountability rather than rhetoric.

Supervisor Walton read a series of amendments into the record. They included textual edits, numeric adjustments (for example, a change from 4.9% to 5% in one public-health statistic and replacing a 31% figure with 23%), and a substitution of the San Francisco Health Commission for ‘‘San Francisco Department of Public Health’’ in one clause. Walton also added a new whereas noting that the San Francisco Health Commission had unanimously passed a related resolution on July 21, 2020.

After reopening the record to allow callers who had been missed earlier in the meeting to speak, the committee voted to forward the amended resolution with a positive recommendation to the full Board of Supervisors. Clerk roll call recorded Vice Chair Catherine Stephanie, Member Shmaulin Walton and Chair Rafael Mandelmann voting "Aye." The measure will next be considered by the full board on the agenda published for August 11, 2020.

Supporters who called in urged the supervisors to adopt the declaration and to use it to guide funding and program decisions. Some callers asked for stronger wording to ensure racial equity is enforced across city programs; others urged the board to attach specific accountability measures. The committee’s action preserves the full public record and sends the amended resolution to the full Board for consideration.

The committee’s recommendation does not itself change law; it moves the item to the full Board for final action and any possible ordinance or resolution adoption.

The Board is scheduled to receive the item on its special agenda on August 11, 2020.