A 400 YEAR HISTORY OF COURAGE, LEGISLATIVE UPDATE BRAVERY, OLBC INTRODUCES RESOLUTION DECLARING RACISM A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS LEADERSHIP AND SACRIFICE - OUR MILITARY SERVICE By Tim Senator Charleta B. Anderson Tavares (Ret.) I am the son of a career The militaryOhio parent. Legislative My father Black Caucus on Tuesday, served in the United States June 2, 2020 held a years press Airforce for thirty conference to announce the aintroduction c h i e v i n g of t h eresolutions highest rank for a noncommissioned officer, Chief in the Ohio House and Senate to declare Master Sargent. His father, my grandfather, “racism” as a public health crisis. The members offered statistics that show James D. Anderson Sr. (1915-2010) from disparities in African/Black women, infants Ruleville, Mississippi attended Jackson State and later menattended dying the disproportionately and Tuskegee Army from Pilot hypertension, cardio-obstructive pulmonary Training Center, where he became a pilot disorders (COPD), diabetes, infant and as a Tuskegee Airman during WWII. maternal mortality, COVID-19 and atAfter the the warofhepolice. would resettle in the Los Angeles hands area and fly eleven years for the California Civil Patrol. My served The Air resolutions, callbrothers on thehave governor, state agencies asand lawmakers to in the military well;state one serving fifteen undertake a number of strategies including years in the United States Air Force and the askingserving Gov. inMike DeWine to establish other the Ohio Air National Guard.a working group to promote racial equality. Finally, my oldest son John, served four One of the recommendations calls on years in the United Statesthe Army, he state agencies to review Ohiowhere Revised was in South Korea theunfairly missile Codestationed for individual laws that in may defense deployment unit. impact people of color andFour lawsgenerations that place of black burdens men from family have unequal onmy communities ofserved color. In addition, include during war and recommendations peace time with honor and creating workplace bias training, developing distinction. educational materials that address racism andour designing “racially equitable workforce In four-hundred-year history military development and promotion” policies and service was not initially a part of our practices. experience. Although prior to August 1619, Africans wereincluded among earlier expeditions Other actions in the resolution to counter in Ohio: to Northracism and South America, primarily as • Establishing glossary vessels. of termsThese and laborers on boarda European definitions concerning racism and health expeditions were by and large, military equity; expansions of colonial European monarch • Assert that racism is a public health crisis nations. Those included Spain, affecting our entirenations community; England, France, Portugal and efforts the Dutch • Incorporating educational to empires which were all racism, heavily and involved in address and dismantle expand the slave trade and the colonization North understanding of racism and howofracism affects individual andand population health; The and South America the Caribbean. • Promoting community engagement, first Africans not of an expedition, who came actively engaging citizens on issues of to colonized north American were from racism, and providing tools to engage Angola. They were aboard a Portuguese slave actively and authentically with communities ship which was pirated by other slave traders of color; and sold to the to British. these • Committing reviewEventually all portions of enslaved Africans with would find themselves codified ordinances a racial equity lens; in Jamestown,toVirginia in human Augustresources, of 1619. • Committing conduct all vendor selection and grant management Jamestown would become the epicenter for activitiesmigrating with a racial equitytrade lens along including slavery, the slave the reviewing all internal policies and practices eastern seaboard colonies from Georgia to such as hiring, promotions, leadership Massachusetts. appointments and funding; The slave traders, the European Monarchs along with their military brought slavery into what is commonly referred as the Middle Passage. In 1770, the descendant of an enslaved African and a former slave, Crispus Attucks would die at the hands of a British soldier at the Boston Massacre Rebellion in Boston Massachusetts. His death would be recognized as the first blood shed for America’s independence from England.
Howse, “racism is real and it is the biggest public health threat citizens of color face.” The death of Floyd, a black man who died in Minnesota after a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck for nine minutes, has galvanized protesters across the country and called attention to issues of systemic racism. The caucus says the resolution will officially acknowledge racism in Ohio for the first time.
OLBC President, Stephanie Howse
• Promoting racially equitable economic and workforce development practices; • Promoting and encouraging all policies that prioritize the health of people of color, and support local, state, regional, and federal initiatives that advance efforts to dismantle systematic racism and mitigating exposure to adverse childhood experience and trauma Training of all elected officials, staff, funders and grantees on workplace biases and how to mitigate them; • Partnering and building alliances with local organizations that have a legacy and track record of confronting racism; • Encouraging community partners and stakeholders in the education, employment, housing, and criminal justice and safety arenas to recognize racism as a public health crisis and to activate the above items; and • Securing adequate resources to successfully accomplish the outlined activities.
The largest county in the state, Franklin’s Board of Health and County Commissioners adopt a resolution last month declaring racism as a public health crisis which was followed by the Columbus Mayor, City Council and Columbus Board of Health on Monday, June 1, 2020. The Columbus Medical Association also adopted a similar resolution on Tuesday, June 2, and were quoted as stating, “Simply put, science tells us stress from racism worsens health. As physicians we are obligated to speak out.” *OLBC member There are currently eighteen (18) members including one Asian American member participating in OLBC. For additional information on the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, contact info@ ohiolegislativeblackcaucus.org or visit ohiolegislativeblackcaucus.org. If you are interested in testifying on any of the bills introduced in either the House or Senate, please contact the chair of the committee who can be found at www. ohiosenate.gov or www.ohr.gov. Additional Contacts
“These are not new things,” said OLBC president, Rep. Stephanie Howse, (D-Cleveland). “These are things that are vital to ensuring that African Americans, Hispanics, Indigenous people and people of color here in Ohio can live the American dream.”
UPDATE: The Ohio General Assembly sessions and the House and Senate Committees are televised live on WOSU/ WPBO and replays can be viewed at www. ohiochannel.org (specific House and Senate sessions and committee hearings can be searched in the video archives).
According to members of OLBC, when passed, the resolution would be the first of its kind at the state level. However, in the wake of the protests, counties and cities across Ohio and America are considering similar declarations. One has also been proposed in at least one other state.
Former Sen. Charleta B. Tavares, D-Columbus, is the 1st Democrat and African American woman to serve in the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate from Franklin County. She is also the first African American woman to serve in leadership in the history of Ohio and the 1st Democrat woman to serve in leadership in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate (House Minority Whip and Senate Assistant Minority Leader). Proclamation set forth by Lincoln which abolished slavery in all states, established the foundation for the recruitment of free blacks and enslaved blacks to become soldiers in the Union Army. The 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment would be the first all-black regiment, the second all black regiment would be the FiftyFourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, known as the Massachusetts 54th (and made known in the 1989 film, Glory). Both regimens were commanded by white officers, blacks could not become
“What we are witnessing around the country is a community simply begging to be seen and heard,” said OLBC President, Rep. owners would allow their slaves to enlist in the military during the Revolutionary War. With the promise that at the end of their enlistment, they would earn their freedom. However, this was a promised not kept. Many of these black militiamen were killed in battle and those who survived were often placed back into slavery. Not until the American Civil War and at the urging of Fredrick Douglas would black serve in the military.
Both colonial states and the British military Douglas, pressured and persuaded President offered slaves their freedom if they chose Lincoln to allow the formation of an allto serve in their respective military. Slave black military regiment. The Emancipation The Columbus African American News Journal • February 2015
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The Columbus & Dayton African American • June 2020
