Activists and advocates are calling for Michigan to declare racism a public health pandemic and take the steps needed to end it. We are definitely done dying, Michigan State Conf. In Michigan, COVID-19 rates of Blacks are four times that of Whites, Michigan State Conf. NAACP Health Chair Dr. Pamela Pugh said. The organizations want to see a declaration of racism as a public health pandemic on a state level, along with action and resources to address it.