Advancing Racial Equity in Cook County: Closing the gap through policy and practice
Below are my prepared remarks from this morning — September 16, 2019 — at the City Club of Chicago where I delivered a speech on advancing racial equity in Cook County.
Good morning. I want to thank you for joining me today, and I want to thank Jay Doherty and the City Club of Chicago for this opportunity. I would like to acknowledge my great staff, some of who are here today — I could not do this work without them. I ask my staff to please stand so that we can recognize you for your hard work.
Today is the first day of an inaugural Racial Equity Week, a week of learning, listening and engagement, that we will hold each year in September, to emphasize the importance of this initiative.
This morning I want to talk about racial equity, why it matters to me — and why it should matter to all of us.
Let me start with a few stark facts.
Chicago has the biggest life expectancy gap of the 50 largest U.S. cities in this country.
In Washington Park on the south side of Chicago, the average life expectancy is 69.
In Wilmette in the northern suburbs, it is 82.
In West Garfield Park on the west side, it is 65.
In Schaumburg in the northwest suburbs, it’s 85.
In Englewood on the south side of Chicago, it’s 60, and in Streeterville — downtown — it’s 90. A difference of 30 years.
Your zip code should not determine your life expectancy, and your race should not determine your access to opportunity.
But far too often it does.
WHY?
To begin this conversation, we need to understand the difference between equality and equity, and how that difference can result in unintended consequences.
As you can see from this illustration, equality and equity have vastly different consequences. Government has been operating under the assumption that everyone deserves fairness, and that an equal distribution of resources will lead to equal outcomes. On paper, that makes sense.
But let’s talk about reality.
In reality, equal distribution of resources, and policies that seem fair on the surface, do not lead to equal outcomes.
Why?
Because the playing field is not level.
In America, the playing field has never — been — level.
If you are a woman, if you are Black, if you are Latinx, if you have a disability, if you speak another language, if you were born in another country — in other words, if you are most of the population of Cook County — the playing field has never been level.
So instead of using the principle of equality, government must instead focus on equity.
Equity ensures that the playing field is made level, by providing resources according to need, by finding root causes of unequal outcomes, and by carefully examining and understanding, that seemingly sensible policies and operations, oftentimes have unintended consequences.
The Policy Roadmap, the five-year strategic plan that I released in my City Club speech last November, centers on equity.
It makes equity a foundational value, and mandates that an equity lens be used in all of our strategies, as a policy and practice, from employee training to funding formulas.
Using an equity lens is not only the responsibility of government. To be truly effective, equity must permeate the practices of corporations, not-for-profit agencies, and educational institutions. Everyone, those in this room and those who are not, has a responsibility to ensure that we promote equity, diversity, and inclusion, and that we instill that into everything that we do.
Today, we will focus on government, because government is not merely reacting to a need that exists: we must acknowledge that government has been responsible for much of the inequity we see today.
The Metropolitan Planning Council put out a report, The Cost of Segregation, that outlines many of the consequences of the government policies of the past several decades and how these policies have hurt us economically as an entire region.
We know about the history of redlining in Chicago, and the racist loan practices that made black homeownership all but an impossibility. We know about panic-peddling, block-busting and how government policies led to the segregation, disinvestment, over-policing, and lack of economic opportunity we see today in communities across Cook County.
Chicago was lucky enough to benefit from the Great Migration. A thriving mosaic of communities of color, from Bronzeville to Rogers Park, Berwyn to Cicero, Homewood to Maywood, coalesced in that wake. But lately, we’ve seen the opposite occur. We’ve seen a great out-migration, as Black families leave the region to find prosperity elsewhere. And we already know why.
The result of these decades of racist policies is that in health, wealth, education and life expectancy, Black and Latinx communities have far worse outcomes than White communities. The result of these policies is that you can drive through large swaths of Cook County and see nothing but empty storefronts.
You can have a two-hour commute to work, because the only home you can afford is in Roseland and the only job you can get is in Rosemont.
You and your family might give up the struggle and move elsewhere, because it’s become too hard to live here.
As an elected official, I believe we have a moral and fiscal responsibility to change that. Policy makers and leaders can change that narrative, and close the opportunity gap, the wealth gap, the health gap — and we start by calling it what it really is: the race gap.
Earlier this year, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx stood before you to talk about the importance of criminal justice reform and how we are addressing the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Funded by the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge, all of the criminal justice stakeholders are working together to address those disparities and end excessive and unjust detention.
My office has made significant investments in violence reduction. I believe we must elevate the voices of justice-involved people as we address the inequities in Cook County’s criminal justice system.
The Bond Court reforms we have put in place have been successful and are making the County safer. Period. Before bond reform, it was possible for defendants who posed a higher risk to the community to be out on bond if they had enough money, while poor, nonviolent defendants were kept behind bars, often for weeks and months.
Despite what you’ve heard, reducing our reliance on monetary bond has not hurt public safety. Since bond reform, less than 1% of those released were charged with a new violent offense. These are the facts.
Criminal justice reform has been a top priority of my administration from the beginning because it is unacceptable for the largest single-site jail in the country to have a population that is 86% black and brown. Our jail was a modern-day poorhouse. We have worked hard to change that.
So, today I would like to focus on three other areas that typically receive less attention but truly show how racial equity can be advanced by using an equity lens. Those three areas are transportation, public health and digital access.
Connecting Cook County, the first long-range transportation plan in 75 years, was adopted in 2016 and shaped with the input of many agencies and residents — perhaps from some of you in this room. It has since become the blueprint that guides all of our transportation work.
Equity is a priority of that plan, and it shows in how our Department of Transportation and Highways conducts studies, awards grants and designs public infrastructure. Because equity is a priority in the plan, engineers and designers consider who will benefit, and who will be burdened, when planning new projects.
So far I’ve talked about racial equity in broad strokes, and it’s a big concept, but when it comes to public infrastructure, and specifically transportation, it’s a matter of access.
How did you get to work today? Did you drive? How are the roads leading from your neighborhood to your office? Did you take public transit? How long was your walk to the train or bus stop? How long was your wait? Are there job opportunities in your neighborhood? If so, why? If not, why not?
There are many factors a business ponders when choosing a location for its manufacturing plant or office. And one of the most pressing is the ability for goods and personnel to move to and from the site with ease. If the infrastructure is crumbling and public transit is inadequate, the jobs go elsewhere.
For too long we have seen neighborhoods on the South and West sides of our County stall while areas to the north and in the heart of the City have thrived. We applaud the neighborhoods that do well. We want them to continue to grow and prosper. But we are one County, and the whole region suffers when communities don’t have the opportunity to thrive.
As the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone famously said, “We all do better when we all do better.”
I’ve walked in these neighborhoods. I’ve lived on the south side of Chicago for over 50 years. I’ve seen this struggle all over the south and west sides of Cook County.
That’s why I have made our transportation infrastructure — from rail to roads, from mass transit to bike and pedestrian paths — a top priority. When it comes to infrastructure, I have made it my mission to ensure that our traditionally underserved communities receive the attention they need.
We must acknowledge that equity doesn’t arrive when we say we are equal. It comes when we show it. Simply put, our policies must align with our professed values.
We’ve committed to a transportation plan that considers the needs of all of Cook County by empowering our communities to address their greatest needs. Three years ago, Cook County created Invest in Cook, a transportation grant program to implement the priorities of Connecting Cook County.
I am proud to say that we’ve awarded $23 million to advance almost 100 projects. And I’m also proud to say that half of the Invest in Cook grants have gone to projects in low- and moderate-income communities, especially African-American communities in the south suburbs.
As we move forward with these and other vital projects, we always approach new proposals through an equity lens. Our efforts are guided by the greatest need. It all goes back to that big picture — who needs to be uplifted to level the playing field?
I knew from talking to residents in the South Suburbs that they struggled when it came to transit and infrastructure. That’s why my Department of Transportation and Highways commissioned the South Cook County Mobility Study in 2018. The study took a hard look at the challenges faced by commuters in the Southland.
Armed with real data, we are now working closely with our regional transit partners on a concrete pilot plan to assist residents in the southern portion of our county with more frequent, affordable and accessible transportation options. Our goal is to ensure that residents on the south side of Chicago and the south suburbs have better access to transit.
Now, no agreements have been signed just yet, but we are looking to:
— Reduce fares on the Metra Electric and Rock Island lines.
— And increase frequency of service to and from South Cook County.
— And we’re committed to making the initial investment to make this three-year pilot plan happen. I’m confident we’ll get there.
This…is what investing in equity looks like.
But transportation is only a part of what we do at Cook County. Healthcare has an enormous impact on our residents.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
And we can see that health disparities are prevalent in Cook County.
Tackling these injustices head-on, Cook County Health serves more than 300,000 patients through CountyCare, its Medicaid managed care plan. With only two of the 70 hospitals in the county, Stroger and Provident, Cook County Health provides half of all the charity care.
Cook County Health is a health system with a 180-year legacy of providing service to all, regardless of race, immigration status, or ability to pay. For many African American residents, the old Cook County Hospital was the only place they could go to receive treatment, even though the wait would sometimes take 24 hours.
To address that great need, in 1991 Cook County acquired Provident, a privately-run hospital in Washington Park that opened in 1891 and closed its doors in 1987. Provident Hospital opened as an African-American hospital and was the first nursing school for Black women in Chicago. Provident was also the setting for the nation’s first open-heart surgery, performed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a prominent African-American physician.
But Provident, like many aging facilities, requires significant investment for repairs and maintenance — more than $100 million. Two years ago, Cook County acquired vacant land adjacent to the hospital and intended to build a new Regional Outpatient Center, while maintaining the existing hospital.
While the plan made perfect sense on paper, Cook County Health did not make the decision to move forward.
Why?
Because they used an equity lens.
Cook County Health assessed the needs of the surrounding community and determined that the needs of the community would not be met by a new regional outpatient center. There was still a great need for access to specialty care and inpatient services.
Evaluating who would benefit and who would be burdened through an equity lens allowed us to reshape the vision for Provident Hospital.
Instead, we will build a brand-new hospital that will include existing inpatient services, as well as expanded, comprehensive outpatient services.
Provident will provide that care because we find it unacceptable that in Washington Park, the average life expectancy is more than 10 years lower than in more affluent neighborhoods. We know that Cook County Health can raise that number. It’s an ambitious goal, but it’s a goal that we have to set.
Because we know that so much of the difference in outcomes for people of color has to do with access, the last area I want to focus on today is digital access.
We all know about “the digital divide,” the gap between those with and those without home access to the internet. A Pew national survey published in August found that 79 percent of White respondents reported having home access to high-speed internet, compared to only 66 percent of African Americans and 61 percent of the Latinx community.
Black and Latinx respondents were also more dependent on smart phones than Whites. Black and Latinx individuals were more likely than White respondents to depend on smart phones when seeking health information or looking for work.
While a smartphone can help you find job postings, it’s difficult to format a resume or complete a job application without using a keyboard and mouse. And, as parents of every school-age child today know, having a computer at home with a high-speed connection gives students a tremendous advantage over their peers who cannot do homework online.
In Cook County, 76 percent of households have broadband access, according to the Census. That means one of every four of our residents is without such access.
We have made some steps to close this gap, but there is much more to be done.
Following the 2008 recession, Cook County partnered with the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and Northeastern Illinois University to make a $10 million investment in expanding broadband throughout the County and into the south suburbs. This expansion allowed the County to provide the public with free Wi-Fi access at 54 County buildings located throughout the region.
This broadband expansion created the Chicago Southland Fiber Network. Through this network, businesses, towns, schools, libraries and courthouses in the south suburbs along I-57 can use our public-private partnership to purchase affordable broadband.
But, despite these efforts, too many Southland households, many with school-age children, do not have broadband. While internet service providers do have programs to serve lower-income areas, we need more focused public efforts to bring these residents greater access to fundamental digital services.
Looking ahead, we would like to work with statewide elected leaders and other stakeholders to expand the Chicago Southland Fiber Network.
Expanding the network would impact residents’ access to health care resources and government services.
Expanding the network would help us prepare for new technologies and improve connections between existing systems for law enforcement, emergency management, and schools.
In 2016, about a quarter of the public schools in Illinois were unable to meet minimum broadband speeds for online standardized tests. Over 200 of those schools were located in the Chicago Southland region.
We have taken initial steps to address what we believe is needed to overcome a history of inequity.
We are expanding access and opportunity by using an equity lens. Bringing that lens to every policy and practice will advance racial equity in Cook County.
Community voice and engagement is essential to this work. Consistent, two-way dialogue is a piece that has been missing in Cook County for too long.
That’s why the second foundational value of the Policy Roadmap is engagement. Cook County residents must have a say in the decisions that affect their lives.
We are deeply invested in this work.
This year, my administration joined the Government Alliance on Race and Equity. As a member, we can connect with our peers across the country who are also deeply engaged in advancing racial equity.
Engaging with our peers will allow us to work together to affect change on a larger scale.
Additionally, I am proud to say that we have established a Racial Equity Leadership Council to oversee this work in my administration. The Council includes staff from all offices and levels of leadership, and is overseen directly by my office.
And it’s not just my administration that is committed to the work — I am joined today by the co-chairs of the Committee on Addressing Bias, Equity, and Cultural Competency:
Cook County Commissioners —
Alma Anaya
Dennis Deer
Stanley Moore
and Kevin Morrison.
I look forward to aligning our work with the Committee, to ensure that equity is addressed in structural and lasting ways throughout Cook County government.
This isn’t work that can be achieved in a day, or a year, or even a decade.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of 1619, the year that the first enslaved Africans were kidnapped and brought to the American colonies.
Those 400 years have weighed heavily on the black and brown people who built this country.
While I believe deeply in our democratic ideals, I know those ideals will not become a reality unless we fight for them.
As I’ve said many times, I’m a former history teacher. I look to our history for the lessons it can teach us about how to shape our future.
As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
But it doesn’t bend of its own volition.
The abolitionists fought to end slavery for more than two centuries. Most did not live to see the 13th Amendment pass in 1865. The suffragists — including women of color like Ida B. Wells and Sojourner Truth — fought for many decades before the 19th Amendment giving the women the right to vote finally passed in 1920.
Mexican-American activist Dolores Huerta said, “Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”
I hope you will join me in making that change.
I hope you will help me level the playing field.
I hope you will stand with me and commit to making Cook County an equitable place where everyone can thrive.
Thank you.
