CHICAGO (WLS) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot formally declared racism to be a public health crisis in Chicago Thursday.

Mayor Lightfoot made the announcement at the MLK Exhibit Center in North Lawndale. She’s calling on all Chicagoans to work together to address racial inequities that have resulted from systemic racism.

“We can no longer allow racism our residents to rob the residents of the opportunity to live and lead full, healthy and happy lives and we are working closely with the Chicago Department of Public Health and community organizations to address these inequities once and for all,” Mayor Lightfoot said.

The mayor and Chicago public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady saying the city needs to build on its work to improve anti-racist policies that address the root causes of inequity.

Lightfoot called for improving anti-racism policies by:

-Building capacity for anti-racist leadership,

-Reckoning with the impacts of racism,

-Advancing strategies to operationalize racial equity,

-Empowering transformative community relationships.

CDPH announced that it will be using $9.6 million in COVID-19 relief funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create six Healthy Chicago Equity Zones covering the while city.