Background: Social justice is a communal effort dedicated to creating and sustaining a fair and equal society in which all people are valued, affirmed, and have equal rights and opportunities. While social justice has been a hallmark of the field of public health for decades, stark inequities in health persist based on the social construction of race and racism. Dr. Camara Jones defines racism as a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks that unfairly disadvantages or advantages some individuals and communities and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources.

Racism functionally manifests via policies, practices, and norms of systems and structures that govern how individuals and communities navigate society. Historically and contemporarily, decision-makers in those systems and structures have either intentionally or unintentionally constructed these racist mechanisms. Regardless, all racist mechanisms must be eradicated.

The Center for Antiracism Research and Health Equity (CARHE) at the University of Minnesota strives for healthy communities through antiracist health research and advocacy. Structural racism is a public health crisis, but it is also a fixable problem. CARHE was founded to explore, understand, and ultimately dismantle structural racism as well as improve the lives of Black birthing people and their families.

Objectives: The purpose of this presentation is to: 1) share the creation story of an academic center focused on addressing racism and discrimination in community health; 2) contribute to building a roadmap for establishing other anti-racism centers; and 3) share best practices for anti-racist institutional leadership in the academy and beyond to catalyze these efforts.

Methods: We ground our work in relationships and lived experiences of communities directly affected by structural racism. We deploy an array of strategies including: developing anti-racist research, fostering authentic community engagement, and developing education and training to change the narrative about race and racism and shift policy.

Results: As a center, we have been awarded several large project grants from federal and foundation funders, published multiple peer-reviewed publications, led and/or participated in many community engagements, and contributed to local and national health and social policy initiatives.

Conclusions and Public Health Implications: The murder of George Floyd, Jr. in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the midst of a global pandemic that continues to compound health inequities has driven public demands for transformation. Academic anti-racism centers grounded in activism and praxis are poised to drive that change.