Health and Housing Equity Connection
Gilvar Consulting Services Newsletter
June 2020
This month’s topic: How Did We Become White and Other Questions for White Leaders Seeking Real Change for Racial Equity
During the current groundswell of anti-racism advocacy precipitated by George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police officers, my day-to-day work has mostly involved providing technical assistance to homeless services systems around the country. This work has included guidance related to combating the vast over-representation of black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) within the homeless population in every state in the union. It has also entailed discussions of the systemic causes behind the much higher BIPOC mortality rate from COVID-19. Considering the intersection of the heightened risk of BIPOC for a wide array of the chronic diseases that can lead to dangerous COVID complications and the greater vulnerability of BIPOC to living doubled up or homeless provides a vantage point from which the impact of systemic racism comes into clearer focus.
While this work has been satisfying, it has also left me wanting to dive more deeply into exploring the potential for white leaders to step up to the plate at this unique juncture in our national history. While I respect and support statements of solidarity, I’m more interested in how white communities can put their full weight behind efforts to bring about deep and wide policy reform for greater racial equity and justice. This month’s Gilvar Consulting Services newsletter is devoted to an essay on that topic.