The most common question I receive about my work is, “Is racism a Public Health issue?” It may not be entirely accurate to say this is the most common question I receive, but it is the question I hear whenever well-meaning Public Health colleagues advise that “racism is not a Public Health issue.”
It is impossible to celebrate Mother’s Day without reflecting on the stark racial/ethnic inequities in maternal mortality that persist in 2018 in the United States. Why do stark racial/ethnic inequities in maternal mortality persist in the United States? A growing body of evidence suggests racism drives the inequities in at least two ways.
Two faced? This question of expressing one view in one space, yet turning around and expressing an opposite view on the same subject in another space remains at the core of the legacy and currency of distrust and suspicion in racial and gendered spaces. The question of trust across identity spaces, whether racial, gender or global, is particularly most revealing and yet pivotal in leadership.
The mission of the Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice and Health is to promote health equity through rigorous research, innovative teaching, and community engagement.
