In his agendizing memo for the Jan. 22 City Council meeting, Councilman Richardson writes that the action "acknowledges the work that needs to still be done to bring about sustainable change" and "iterates our commitment to healing the wounds created by racial, ethnic and religious prejudice, to build an equitable and just society, so that everyone can thrive." He notes that the City of Long Beach [by City Council voted action] has created an Office of Equity and aligned citywide programs such as My Brother's Keeper, the Language Access Policy and Safe Long Beach which he says "demonstrate the City's priority for ensuring that every resident, no matter their background, has what they need to thrive."

The "National Day of Racial Hearing" is a project promoted since 2017 by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation whose grants for decades helped underprivileged children receive health care and education and in recent years has focused on racial issues. On its website page titled "What We Do," the organization states:

"We believe that racial healing and racial equity are essential if we are going to accomplish our mission to support children, families and communities in creating and strengthening the conditions in which vulnerable children succeed. We actively support efforts to dismantle racial and structural inequities that limit opportunities and hold some children back."

"Structural racism" (sometimes called "societal racism") is an intellectual viewpoint which holds that institutional, historical, cultural and interpersonal practices within a society more often than not put some social or ethnic groups in a better position to succeed while disadvantaging other groups, creating disparities between the groups over time.