LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville’s mayor, weathering heavy criticism in the wake of the Breonna Taylor shooting, has outlined a series of steps to improve racial disparities in Kentucky’s largest city.
Mayor Greg Fischer signed an executive order Tuesday declaring racism a public health crisis. He said officials “need to do everything we can to repair distrust through action.”
Taylor’s death “made our city a focal point for America’s reckoning on racial justice,” Fischer said.
The order outlines seven areas for city government to address, including public safety, Black employment, housing and voting.
Protesters have highlighted racial injustices since Taylor’s shooting earlier this year and have called on Fischer to fire the officers involved in the Taylor shooting. One officer was fired in June. Fischer is in his third term as mayor. His term expires in 2022.
Taylor, a Black medical worker, was fatally shot by police during a drug raid at her apartment on March 13.