Eliminating Racism In The Medical Field

Presented By White Coats For Black Lives UMN Chapter

Opening Statement:

What brought us together today was the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police. This is far from an isolated event. Police killings have happened for hundreds of years. In fact, many police departments originated as Black slave patrols. When we in the medical field hear the three words “I. Can’t. Breath”, we rush to the patient’s side yet systemic racism, structural oppression, and white supremacy continues to suffocate our Black communities - we must ask ourselves why has the medical community been silent about this.

Our chapter along with institutions across the country are coming together with their community and colleagues to mobilize against police brutality, antiBlackness, and white supremacy. White Coats 4 Black Lives is not just a tagline or hashtag. Our organization has a “vision, and our actions are grounded on the politics of police and prison abolition, anti-capitalism, and antiimperialism. We explicitly name racism and white supremacy as the root causes of disparities seen in our country. We urge you to familiarize yourself with our common vision to safeguard the lives and well-being of our patients through the elimination of racism.” As such, all White Coats for Black Lives chapters are united in declaring and enacting these three goals.

Goal number 1: End racial discrimination in medicine. Acknowledge the racist roots of the medical field and call out racism. There has never been any period in American history where the health of Black Americans was equal to that of White Americans. Health disparities are due to racism, not race. Look around you. The signs people are holding up highlight some of the devastating statistics of health inequities - in our home state of Minnesota and nationally. Ask yourself: Is this a status quo I can accept? If you answered no, consider these next steps: “Demand that medical centers serve the healthcare needs of their local communities, particularly the needs of [Black] patients… - Promote the allocation of funding for

interventions that dismantle racism and remove barriers to equitable medical care. - Vote & organize to ensure quality, equal access to medical care by advocating for the establishment of a single-payer national health insurance program.”

Goal number 2: Prepare future health providers to be advocates for racial justice. Faculty and students in Minnesota have called for mandatory content on the “history and current manifestations of racism in medicine, the principles of antiracism,” the establishment and strengthening of ties with Black communities in Minnesota, and the denouncement and removal of race-based medicine from our medical curriculum.2 “We must also improve the recruitment, support and hiring of Black, LatinX, and Native American” students and providers into leadership positions.

Goal number 3:

Foster dialogue on racism, including police brutality, as a public health crisisWe demand the reallocation of funding from the Minneapolis Police Department to communities; our medical institution must partner with our community to lead health and safety strategies. Most importantly, we must listen to the needs of the Black community and allow them to guide us in the change we advocate for. Ensuring that we are walking hand in hand with

our Black patients, and not in front of them. We must call on our peers, Minnesota Department of Health, and all Minnesota medical institutions to publicly recognize racism as a public health crisis and demand that they take actions to address it.

Closing Statement

We would like to recognize physicians in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at HCMC for initiating this event. We also thank you all for coming today. But, our actions cannot stop here. Medicine is political, so stop weighing the loss of career opportunities over Black lives. “We must move beyond performative protests and hold our health institutions accountable” for their complicity in sanctioning white supremacy and violence against Black bodies.

To the hospital and medical school administrators here today, to the white health care workers here today, to Brown people who benefit from proximity to whiteness I ask you - How have you helped or hindered the work already being done by Black students or workers in your organization? How can you use the power of your voice and your vote to impact police and prison abolition efforts in your community? What can you do to make sure that George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and David McAtee (I could go on…) did not die in vain? The change we seek is built on their backs and on all the backs of Black people killed by white supremacy in the past 400 years.

What would our community look like if the healthcare leaders amongst us who hold the most power and privilege were making these demands? Reflect on your implicit biases, behaviors, and actions and how they contribute to health care inequities. We will now take the next hour in silence, to honor Mr. Floyd, and countless other Black lives lost to police brutality before him.