Dismantling racism in your personal and professional spheres
The death of George Floyd and its aftermath has forced a reckoning in this country, with many reexamining the historical underpinnings of racism and why we have not moved further along in addressing major racial inequities, like health. We challenge you to continue to address anti-Black racism in your practice and surroundings.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a White police officer who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes. Nine and a half minutes. George Floyd was not the first Black person killed by law enforcement. He has not been the last. Much has been written about why Floyd’s murder sparked unprecedented worldwide outrage despite being far from unprecedented itself. We cannot be so naive as to think what happened was new, and we should not ignore the tireless work that so many have been doing to fight racism up to this point. But for many who have been stirred to do something for the first time, especially White people, the question has been,
“What do I do?” The answer is, do the work.
This article is centered on anti-Black racism with a focus on medicine. We recognize that there is racism against other minoritized groups. Each group deserves attention and to have their stories told. We recognize intersectionality and that an individual has multiple identities and that these may compound the marginalization they experience. This too deserves attention.
However, we cannot satisfactorily explore any of these concepts within the confines of a single article. Our intention is to use this forum to promote further conversation, specifically about anti-Black racism in medicine. We hope it compels you to begin learning to recognize and dismantle racism in yourself and your surroundings, both at home and at work.
Being a health care provider requires lifelong learning. If we practiced only what we learned in training, our patients could suffer. So we continually seek out updated research and guidelines to best treat our patients. Understanding how racism impacts your patients, colleagues, family, and friends is your responsibility as much as understanding guidelines for standards of care. We must resist the urge to feel this is someone else’s duty. It is the job of each and every one of us. We must do the work.
Race is real but it’s not biologic
It is imperative to understand that race is not a biologic category. Phenotypic differences between humans do not reliably map to racial categories. Racial categories themselves have morphed over the centuries, and interpretation of race has been litigated in this country since its founding.1 People who identify as a given race do not have inherent biology that is different from those who identify as another race. It may then be tempting to try to erase race from our thinking, and, indeed, the idea of being “color blind” was long worn as a badge of honor signifying a commitment to equality. So this is the tension: if race exists, it must be a biologic trait and with it must go other inherent traits. But if race is not a biologic entity, perhaps it is not real and, therefore, should be ignored. In fact, neither is true. Race is not based on genetic or biologic inheritance, but it is a social and political categorization that is real and has very real ramifications. As we will discuss further, race does have a biologic impact on individuals. The mechanism by which that happens is racism.
Continue to: What is racism, and who is racist?...
