Racism Is an Urgent Public Health Crisis
Columbia public health experts call for systemic change
Co-authored with Rachel Nation and Robert E Fullilove
By now we have seen the videos, witnessed the final utterance of “I can’t breathe,” and heard the piercing wails of a whole community shedding tears of grief and anger as another Black man became reduced to a hashtag.
This uncoincidentally parallels a recent New York Times opinion, where sociologist Sabrina Strings, PhD, notes that disproportionate Covid-19-related deaths for Black Americans are largely due to racist policies that date back to slavery. The legacy of slavery prevails. Black bodies are continually treated as if they are congenitally diseased and undeserving of care.
This disregard of Black lives is also woven throughout law enforcement. Police violence is the leading cause of death for young Black men ages 25 to 29 in the United States. Black Americans are nearly three times more likely to be killed by police than their white counterparts, and yet 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed. Even more disturbing is the fact that 99% of the killings by police from 2013–2019 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime.
The legacy of slavery prevails. Black bodies are continually…
