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. Others turned the work over to task forces and consultants to look at internal work environments or make action plans and recommendations.Years after the declarations, community organizers and public health advocates in Milwaukee and Sacramento County say not much has changed. Officials counter that it’ll take more than a few years to undo centuries of structural and institutional racism.

But experts, officials and advocates all agreed on one thing: The declarations were an important first step toward creating a racially equitable society. Extensive research shows racism can have detrimental health impacts on people of color, including chronic stress and anxiety and higher rates of heart disease and asthma.AP correspondent Kenya Hunter reports on how communities responded to racism being declared a public health issue.“If we’re not going to name racism in the first place, then we’re not going to start to develop solutions to address it,” said Dara Mendez, who teaches epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh and studied the early declarations. “... Then the next step is (asking) what are the actions behind it? ... Are there resources? Is there community action?”

Lilliann Paine wanted to see everyday public health work focus on the intersection of racism and public health, and in 2018 brought the idea to the Wisconsin Public Health Association. Milwaukee, where Black people are thebecame one of the first cities in the country to adopt a declaration in 2019.

“If racism as a public health crisis was truly operationalized, we would have more people graduating from high school. If it was truly operationalized, people could live to their full potential and not worry about being mistaken by a police officer for having a gun,” said Paine, who was the chief of staff at the city’s health department from late 2019 to March 2021. “And those aren’t changes you can speak to overnight.”

Wisconsin’s biggest city now has aGraduating students walk through Harvard Yard during commencement ceremonies at Harvard University, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Among the Trump administration’s latest salvos was asking federal agencieswith the university. The government already canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants, moved to cut off Harvard’s

Visa interviews for international students admitted to schools nationwide, and Trump said Wednesday that Harvard should reduce its international enrollment from 25% to about 15%.