Amidst the noise of the national political landscape, it is important to remind ourselves that February is Black History Month. While this month serves to celebrate the accomplishments of black people in America, it is also a reminder of how inequality has, and continues to, plague many black communities. Health inequity constitutes one of the many systemic forces that perpetuate the marginalization of the same community we celebrate for its undeniable contributions to American society. In the words of civil rights playwright and activist James Baldwin, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
The challenge: Why must we act? Disparities persist. 2017 marks 53 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, key legislation that outlawed de jure discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. And yet, half a century later, we still suffer the consequences of de facto discrimination across all axes in health such as disparate health outcomes, and/or access to affordable quality care. In fact, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation brief “disparities in quality of care are not getting smaller. Over time, the health disparities between Whites and African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians/Alaska Natives has either remained unchanged or worsened for most of the core qualities measures of health.” The longstanding weight and trauma of racism has long-term consequences across the lifespan for people of color.
[For more of this story, written by Nana Yaa Misa, go to http://www.communitycatalyst.o...reening#.WLYp-W8rKOX]
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