ThinkProgress: Why Racism Is A Public Health Issue

This is a must-read considering what’s been going on in our country (and our own backyard) lately.

Obviously, deeply ingrained racial inequality has a wide range of consequences here in the United States. Some of them, like issues of criminal justice and voting rights, are perhaps more starkly evident than others. But racial divides also impact other areas that haven’t traditionally been associated with civil rights. Structures of racism and privilege continue to put a serious toll on the African American community’s health — and contribute to the fact that black Americans are still dying younger than white Americans. Here’s why racism is a serious public health issue:

Racial discrimination puts black Americans at risk for long-term health problems.

According to a new study, black teens who experience racial discrimination in adolescence are more likely to develop stress-related health issues that could put them at risk for chronic diseases later in life. Specifically, researchers found that they were more likely to have higher levels of blood pressure, a higher body mass index, and higher levels of stress-related hormones once they turned 20. The psychological toll that racism takes on adults has also been well-documented, and racial discrimination has been repeatedly linked to high blood pressure. Just the fear of racial discrimination can trigger stress-related responses, which means that many people of color who live within a society defined by racism are constantly under increased biological stressors.

The majority of doctors harbor “unconscious racial biases” toward their black patients.

A 2012 study found that about two-thirds of primary care doctors harbor biases toward their African-American patients, leading those doctors to spend less time with their black patients and involve them less in medical decisions. Although doctors typically aren’t aware that they’re treating African-American patients any differently, this ultimately creates an environment in which black people often don’t feel welcome in the medical system — and may start avoiding it. On top of that, black Americans are more likely to lack access to health insurance and less likely to have a regular doctor. This creates a situation in which African-Americans are dying from diseases at higher rates than other racial groups because they don’t get treatment in time.

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2 thoughts on “ThinkProgress: Why Racism Is A Public Health Issue

  1. Thanks Zach, the article is easy for white liberals to understand and though it is important it fails to even hint at the pervasive, persistent and horrible extent of what still is and what has been the truth of historic institutional racism which is denied and ignored by a majority of whites on both sides of the political isle, today.

    For a generation that is younger than mine is this article for some recent (in my lifetime) historic perspective, an story that in itself, unfortunately does not stand alone and is repeated over and over.

    http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/30/an-open-letter-to-the-media/

    In the news today are reports of Ezell Ford’s autopsy, two of three shots that were fatal. Black Lives Matter, the killing needs to stop.

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