How Racism Kills
A conversation with Harvard social epidemiologist Nancy Krieger
Racism is deadly.
This is apparent when police kill unarmed people of color such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. But the lethality of systemic racism is also evident in the Covid-19 pandemic, which is killing African Americans at a staggering three times the rate of white people.
Nancy Krieger has been shining a light on the health impacts of racism and inequality since she was in college. I first met Krieger when she was a teaching assistant in a groundbreaking college class I took that explored the interplay between sexism, racism, and science. The class, taught by Harvard biologist Ruth Hubbard, was transformative for me and many of my classmates, as it connected the dots between science, politics, and activism. Krieger is now a professor of social epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a leading authority on the health impacts of inequality.
This story is adapted from a live discussion that Krieger and I had on The Vermont Conversation, a public affairs radio show that I host.
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