Global Health Blogs with Professor Swahn

Racism, in simpler terms, is any kind of prejudice or discrimination against anyone based on their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, mostly a group that is marginalized.

As defined by Camara Phyllis Jones, past-president of American Public Health Association, “Racism is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretations of how one looks (race), that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities, unfairly advantages other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through a waste of human resources”.

This brings me to another essential term, systemic racism, or institutional racism. Systemic racism is a form of racism that rooted in society as normal practice. Systemic racism, unlike individual or personally mediated racism, is often subtle and hidden, making it far less perceivable. Persistent negative stereotypes further aggravate institutional racism. An article by NCBI “STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HEALTH INEQUITIES” makes a noteworthy comparison between racism and an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg is the most obvious acts of racism which are in most cases personally mediated and easily perceivable. However, the part of the iceberg that is below the surface of the water, not visible to the naked eye, is systemic racism. It is dangerous, pervasive, and harder to eliminate. An obvious example of systemic racism is racial profiling by police or residential segregation.

The presence of racism in the healthcare sector, unfortunately, leads to health disparities. Like the right to freedom of speech and expression, freedom from torture and cruelty, the right to lead a healthy life, and make use of healthcare resources to reach their full potential is a basic human right. Denying this right to healthcare resources is the biggest barrier to achieving health equity. When we think of the prevailing health disparities, we immediately think of mediating policies pertaining to medical, dental, and mental health. However, we underestimate the risk posed by non-medical factors such as social segregation, be it residential segregation, segregation within schools, or at workplaces. Public schools in different neighborhoods are the perfect example of this. Typically, white neighborhoods are considered ‘rich neighborhoods’ and have better public schooling systems than poorer neighborhoods. Studies have found correlations between public school curriculum, lack of qualified teachers, and the resulting decreased educational aspirations between kids of color and health disparities. Similarly, segregation of workers at workplaces with greater health risks such as nuclear power plants, or mines constantly exposes African American workers and immigrants to dangerous environments. These actions not only are health hazards but stressors that are associated with innumerable health problems, heart disease being the most important of all.

A recent news article published in Colorado Politics “Denver Health joins hospital systems in declaring racism a publish health crisis” further strengthens the fact that factors like unemployment, poverty, substandard housing, and mass incarcerations are a threat to health equity. A similar article in U.S.News ” Experts: Tackling Poverty and Racism as Public Health Crises Requires Rapid Action” affirms the belief that zip code is more important than genetic code in life expectancy, thus stressing the fact that structural segregation on the basis of race is a public health crisis. People of color overall have been subjected to a lack of resources, additional stressors, and external constraints that strengthen the existing health disparities.

Maternal and child health have largely suffered owing to these inequalities. The infant mortality rate for African American babies is more than twice the rate of white babies. Black babies are more than three times as likely to die from complications related to low birth weight as compared to white babies in the U.S. U.S. maternal mortality rate for African American women are three to four times higher than rates for white women. Such health inequities owing to unequal access to resources dates to 1935 when the Social Security Act was passed. The act promised the welfare benefits of unemployment and social security. However, the act then was flawed because it excluded people who worked on farms, or as nurses or teachers or held menial jobs such as house-helps, jobs mostly held by women, and African Americans in the 1930s. This encouraged a government system that predominantly aided white babies. Of course, the act and the government system have evolved over the years, but the ripple effects are experienced in the present day.

Furthermore, beginning in the 1930s, the government started redlining neighborhoods based on investment security. Most of these neighborhoods were occupied by minorities. This led to the depletion of resources in redlined communities, with the closure of hospitals, the disappearance of grocery stores, the absence of physical activity areas, and substandard housing and schools. Though the practice was shunned 50 years ago, 3 out of 4 once redlined neighborhoods still struggle economically.

What else does systemic racism lead to? Chronic diseases. Science has proved time and again that simple environmental interventions can, if not cure or prevent, at the very least decrease the disabilities caused due to chronic diseases. The presence of sidewalks, safe neighborhoods, access to health-promoting foods, affordable fruits and vegetables, and decreased stressors are just some of these environmental interventions. The absence of such a health-promoting environment or community amenities leads to innumerable problems such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, heart diseases, and diabetes. African Americans and minorities have a higher proportion of chronic diseases as compared to whites. COVID-19, for instance, has affected minorities and people of color more than whites. Is there not an obvious connection?

To curb the effects of systemic racism in public health requires efforts from all sectors, not just healthcare. As said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Moral arc of the universe doesn’t bend towards justice because of gravity; it bends towards justice because we force it there.”

I live in a country that proclaims itself as “free.” I live in a country that people consider to be “one of the greatest.” I live in a country that attracts people from all over who are seeking equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. I live in a country that claims to be united, but is severely divided. I live in a country that is struggling to come together to become a place where people can gather in peace regardless of the color of their skin. I live in the United States, where the pot of racial injustices, discrimination, and disparities in heath and other aspects has finally boiled to the surface. Now that the contents have spilled over, what can we do to make up for hundreds of years of suffering?

Racism, racial injustices, discrimination, racial disparities, and inequalities have been present in our country for hundreds of years. Systemic racism involves the discrimination by an institution in which they offer white persons more opportunities and access over colored people, causing large discrepancies and disadvantages in their system. In many ways, our country has evolved from the segregated land we once were, however, if you dig deeper, it is easy to see the issues that lie just beneath the surface in regards to racial injustices in our country. There are many areas that can be analyzed for the presence of racist implications, however one of the most important ones that has been rapidly grasping the attention of the general population, involves the public health arena.

Public health is known to be the “science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities” (CDC Foundation, 2020). It helps to educate our population about how to promote healthy lifestyles, the environmental aspects that contribute to health outcomes, different research studies on communicable and non-communicable diseases, and preventative strategies proven to decrease the risk of developing certain chronic diseases. When people think of public health, they think of doctors, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and policy makers that are trusted with the responsibility of their care. These professionals are given the duty of providing equitable opportunities for sustainable and healthy lifestyles for all people living in this country. More importantly, they are heavily relied upon in the event that a person is found to have developed a chronic disease. We put our trust in these people with the hopes that they will honor the commitments they made to every single person under their care. Now, imagine if some of those people who are in charge of caring for you decide to judge you based on something you cannot control. Imagine that you are not getting the same care that everyone else is getting because of the color of your skin. Well, for far too many people in our country, they do not have to imagine the consequences of these scenarios. For far too many people of ethnic and racial diversity, they do not have to imagine these consequences because they have witnessed them. This, unfortunately, is the reality of the world we have been living in for far too many years and people are finally speaking out to claim the rights they deserve.

Before recent public health events can be mentioned, I believe it is important to point out scenarios in which racial injustices have occurred in the past within the public health realm. One of the most notable injustices against colored men occurred in 1932 is known to be the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In this study, researchers had told 600 black men that they were being treated for “bad blood,” without fully informing the participants of the exact procedures they would be consenting to. This study prolonged for 40 years before the Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs called for a review of the study, ultimately discovering that these men were not given treatment for their syphilis, even after a vaccine was created, and it was proven that there was a lack of informed consent given by these participants. This study was proven to be largely unethical and remains to be a point of contention for African Americans seeking healthcare today. As the presence of distrust is already prevalent in the African American community when it comes to healthcare, these notions have only grown in conviction as more evidence portraying discrimination in other areas of public health have continuously been brought to the surface. Many different research studies have been conducted evaluating the prevalence of different diseases, many in which it was found that those who identified as a racial or ethnic minority were more at risk for developing a chronic disease than those who identified as white. It has been proven time and time again that African American people are more susceptible to developing and dying from chronic diseases. These facts raise a lot of questions about how our healthcare system is treating patients of color. According to the graph below created by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it was discovered that African Americans have the highest death rates from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes in the United States. In addition to previous research on chronic diseases, it has also been brought to attention that the majority of lives lost or effected by the COVID-19 pandemic have consisted of racial and ethnic minorities. Although many argue that genetics play a large role in the outcome of these diseases, it is difficult to fully point the finger at genetic predispositions to these diseases.  It is difficult to blame the high mortality rates of these diseases in ethnic and racial minorities on “losing the genetic lottery.” 

Today, these populations have finally had enough. Many people in the United States and other countries are fed up with the long history of discrimination and are starting to fight back. These people who have been beat down and have been suffering in silence for years are finally getting the opportunity to fight for the rights that they deserve. It is unacceptable that the majority of people who live in poverty consist of racial and ethnic minorities. It is unacceptable that people of color of dying from acts of violence and brutality because of the color of their skin. It is unacceptable that there is a level of distrust in the hands of those meant to care for all when they are at their weakest. It is unacceptable that people of color of all ages are afraid to leave their homes for fear that they may not get to come back to it. Movements such as Black Lives Matter have taken the forefront of public attention, creating awareness for these populations, and asking for others to join them in the fight for their rights. They are taking back their power from a system of corruption, racial injustices, and discrimination. It is imperative now more than ever to join these populations in fighting for equality, so that we can live in a country that is truly united, right, and just. 

#BlackLivesMatter was founded in the United States in 2013 and has since expanded to Canada and the UK. BLM continues to inspire people all over the world to not become complacent with the way things are. It challenges people to constantly think and evaluate the way they do things, think about things, and how the world thinks and does things. The goal of the BLM movement is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes” (BLM, 2020). Another more broad goal of BLM is to end the suppression of colored people in all areas of the world. If you would like to know more about the #BLM movement, visit their website here and see some of the recent work that is being accomplished.

There are major differences between growing up in a predominately white neighborhood vs. a predominately African-American neighborhood. School systems are very different, for example there is historically underfunding in African-American majority schools – which will have limiting effects on skills and social/economic mobility for these children (Shambaugh et al., 2019). When schools are underfunded that not only puts the children at risk for bad outcomes, but it also puts the teachers, school staff, and community as a whole at risk. Teachers and staff will not be able to be paid as much as they should in these communities and let’s be honest – teachers are already severely underpaid as it is. After school, the disparities don’t stop there. There are employment discriminations, which make it “difficult for black families to escape from poverty or build wealth in their community” (Shambaugh et al., 2019). Shown below is a map of the United States showing percentages of individuals who are living under the poverty level.

Now, compare the map above to the map shown below. The map below shows the distribution of the black population in the United States. See how they overlap?

When you ask the general public about their views on inequality in America, “more than four-in-ten Americans say the country still has work to do to give black people equal rights with whites” (Horowitz et al., 2019). Shown below is a graph of survey results of a study published by Horowitz, et al. in 2019 titled “Race in America 2019”.

Employment opportunities and underfunded schools are not the only problem that people of color face living in poor communities. There are systemic disparities in the healthcare system that greatly affect people of color. The ability to even have and use healthcare is a problem. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped to narrow the gap of uninsured African-Americans, but it did not completely eliminate it. “As of 2018, the uninsured rate among African Americans was 9.7 percent, while it was just 5.4 percent among whites” (Taylor, 2020). According to Taylor in 2020, the annual average cost for health care premiums is almost 20% of the average household income for African American families. African-American mothers also face inequalities in maternal and child care that is unparalleled in other developed nations. Women of color’s maternal and child care is a major area that needs focus on in the healthcare world. Having a child is natural and shouldn’t be life threatening in the United States, but it is. If you add being uninsured and the high cost of medical bills to a historical distrust of medical practitioners, you have a recipe for disasters, especially for chronic diseases that people in America face. 

People across the globe have come together to support the Black Lives Matter movement. There have been protests held in many different countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, and many others. The world is seeing the United States not taking a significant stand on the issue of systemic racism. This further sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Systemic racism does not only exist in the United States by any definition. But when protests are occurring and citizens are calling for change due to recent events, the way the United States answered is what sets us drastically apart from the rest of the word. The rest of the world is even standing up and calling for their own countries to stop supporting the United States because of the horrible recent events and the lack of change.

What does this mean for the future of public health? What does is mean for the future of the United States? The BLM movement is definitely a public health issue. It highlights systemic racism throughout all areas of healthcare and the associated fields. We (as citizens and public health officials especially) need to learn to identify our own flaws and learn to do better and fix these flaws. We also need to advocate for change in areas such as healthcare, fair housing, fair job opportunities, etc. Things will never change if we become complacent. We owe it to ourselves and especially others to keep moving forward and make the United States and wonderful place for everyone, especially people of color.

References:

• About – Black Lives Matter. (2020, October 16). Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/
• Horowitz, J., Brown, A., & Cox, K. (2019, December 31). Views of racial inequality in America. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/04/09/views-of-racial-inequality/
• Shambaugh, J., Nunn, R., & Anderson, S. (2019, February 19). How racial and regional inequality affect economic opportunity. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/02/15/how-racial-and-regional-inequality-affect-economic-opportunity/
• Taylor, J. (2020, May 07). Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/?agreed=1

Accomplishments of Black Lives Matter

Many cities across the nation have begun steps to defund the police force. The police force has always been over funded with the intention of purchasing leftover unnecessary weapons from the military. These funds have not been utilized in a way that provides the services needed for communities. Police are untrained in many situations that they may face creating a need for more specialized professionals and services. The cities that have agreed to divert funds include New York, Baltimore, Portland, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. This huge accomplishment can start a change in policing worldwide. There is currently a movement against SARS (anti robbery squad) who take advantage of position and power to rob the citizens of Nigeria. With the right pressures and awareness, we can shut programs like this. Unfortunately, it is not a quick process. For example, in June of 2019, 22 countries condemned China”s Uyghur camps where Muslims are being imprisoned, tortured and killed yet it is still happening in increasing numbers today. Schools are also taking a stand by increasing diversity into the curriculum and ending their contracts with local police forces. A lot of the movements generated were statements of solidarity from big companies. Unless backed by active efforts in the company policies and practices, these messages only serve to gain misleading trust from potential consumers.

Global phenomenon

Technology has allowed the movement to reach incredible numbers. Many other countries have also shown solidarity making it a global movement. It has also inspired protests against other injustices in various countries. Awareness of these worldwide issues is creating momentum for serious significant changes. These injustices include equal rights for lgbtq+ community in countries like Thailand.

Systematic racism in health

The systematic racism rampant throughout America has not been resolved as much as we would like to think. It has only been 50+ years since African Americans weren’t even allowed to eat in certain places. In order to correct these injustices, it will require drastic changes in government laws and policies. The previous ones still have the lingering effects on African American health. Redlining for example has placed African American in areas that have not been invested in and remain underfunded today. This creates a myriad of negative determinants of health that contribute to many diseases like the high diabetes cases among the African American community. This is just one of the many reasons behind the Black Lives Matter movement.

Racist Backlash

There has been backlash to these calls for justice. Blue lives matter and All lives matter has attempted to discredit the work being done. Both of these ideas are invalid because of the simple fact that their lives are not at stake or being threatened by something they can’t change. Some have claimed that the livelihood of these policemen are being threatened but what is their livelihood compared to the countless deaths of African Americans each year by the hands of these policemen. It is very important to create responsibilities and consequences for these egregious actions. If not, it will continue like it has for years. It is also important to realize the source of the police system. Historically it has evolved and stemmed from the slavery and has always disproportionately targeted minority groups. Since it has never been equal  and just since its inception then the system clearly needs to be changed. All lives matter and Blue Lives Matter disregard the problems that are being called to attention for a specific group. It is a form of gas lighting that distracts and attempts to undermine the severity of these crimes. 

Voting

Due to the constant oppression of minority groups and a sort of disregard for the black agenda, there is a low voter turnout in the African American community. This is sort of an ironic truth as to see the changes we want we need to be more civically engaged and politically literate. There is a common misconception that our vote doesn’t matter but our collective vote could easily tip the scales. Only 60% of African Americans turned out for the 2016 election. This means 4.4 million African Americans did not vote in the 2016 Primary let alone the general and local elections for state and congressional officers like senators and sheriffs. This is known by people in power and is a strategy of voter suppression. Many schools that serve primarily African American or other minority groups are underfunded and education is not at the level it should be. This makes the importance of voting unknown to a significant part of the population. Voting and civic engagement will be crucial in reaching the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Why now?

Technology has also helped in raising awareness of all of the unjust shootings and killings of African Americans by the police. It also happens quickly with shocking visuals across social media platforms. This creates a wide group reaction as African Americans bond and mourn over their group trauma. This along with the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate effect on African Americans due to healthcare disparities as well as COVID-19 natural disproportionate effect on African Americans in general created the circumstances to start these consistent protests nationally and worldwide. I believe with the pandemic causing more people to be home it allowed for time and space to create organized efforts we see in the news and media. This has the potential of being a momentous place in history and advancement of equality among African Americans but we still have a long way to go.

Health Disparity: “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage.” 

Powerful, complex relationships exist between health and biology, genetics, and individual behavior, and between health and health services, socioeconomic status, the physical environment, discrimination, racism, literacy levels, and legislative policies. These factors, which influence an individual’s or population’s health, are known as determinants of health.

Kim Anderson is a successful Atlanta executive and lawyer. She is African American and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1984. Ms. Anderson enjoys high socio-economic status, eats well, exercises regularly, and has never smoked. She has all the social determinants in her favor, and still she gave birth to a premature baby.

So, what did it go wrong?

According to Kaiser Family Foundation: “Black and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) individuals continue to fare worse compared to White individuals across most examined measures of health status, including physical and mental health status; birth risks; infant mortality rates; HIV and AIDS diagnosis and death rates.”

Infant mortality among White American women with a college degree is about 4 deaths per 1,000 live births, but among African American women with the same level of education, infant mortality is 10 deaths per 1,000 live births. In addition to child mortality rates, African American women experience disparities in maternal mortality, which is three times higher than the mortality of white American mothers.

Does genetics explain the differences?

When all the other factors are the same, maybe it is just a matter of genetics. Well, research says this is not the case. Genetic differences do not explain health disparities, and furthermore, there are more genetic differences within race than between races. So race is not a biological construct which reflects health disparity differences, it is a social construct.

All the race-associated differences related to health care access and health care outcomes are in fact due to the effect of racism.

Racism is not just about discrimination and prejudice. Dr. Jones explains racism on three levels; institutionalized, personally mediated, and internalized. 

Institutionalized racism is defined as differences in access to the goods, services, and opportunities of society by race. It includes differential access to education, employment, medical care and information. 

Mediated racism is about prejudice which is differential assumptions about the abilities and motives of others according to their race, and discrimination which is differential actions towards others according to their race. 

Internalized racism is when members of the stigmatized races accept the negative messages towards them. It means accepting the not-true “limitations” and also not believing others who look like them. Internalized racism is what black medical doctors face from black patients, which are usually sceptical towards their doctor’s abilities.   

How is racism manifesting itself in other health related conditions:

Well, health disparities related to race and ethnicity are widespread in different health conditions. According to CDC: a higher percentage of black women (37.9%) than white women (19.4%) died before age 75 as a result of CHD, as did black men (61.5%) compared with white men (41.5%). 

Black females have a higher obesity prevalence.

And lastly, what does it mean on a global level ?

Health disparities are not just within the country, they are also among the countries.  According to WHO, children in the sub-Saharan Africa are 14 times more likely to die before the age of five than children in other parts of the world. Developing countries account for 99% of maternal deaths in the world and around 95% of tuberculosis deaths come from developing countries.

Health inequalities slow development and are a huge burden to the economic, costing each year around 1.4% of gross domestic product.

In times like these, the BLM Movement gives hope that people are becoming more aware that racism is beyond what we knew.

What is gaslighting?

Many have heard this term but may not understand exactly what it means. Gaslighting is a form of manipulation as to control the narrative of victims to gain power. Through deliberately and systematically feeding victims and those around the victim false information, gas lighting is used to make people question what they know to be true, leading to doubts of their perception of reality. Gaslighting usually targets one’s sense of identity and self-worth. Read more about gaslighting here.

In the United States politicians, officials, and the media have been gaslighting both black and white Americans about the traumas and tribulations of black people and the reality of racism in the country as a means to delegitimize the truths of systemic racism and anti-racist movements.

Racial gaslighting: “the political, economic, and cultural process that perpetuates and normalizes a white supremacist reality through pathologizing those who resist”

Gaslighting Black Americans through History:

Gaslighting tactics have been used since the beginning of slavery over 400 years ago. Early supporters of slavery in the 1800s used riots and rebellions as evidence black people were “inferior barbarians who needed slavery to discipline them, leading to tighter controls to limit their education, movement, and assembly.” White anti-racist activists in the past, as evident from the case of Commonwealth of Kentucky v Braden 1955 where the state of Kentucky declared that black people were satisfied with the racial apartheid, so the white couple who tried to stand up against white supremacy, were labeled as communists and race traitors aiming to pit blacks against whites: ignoring the feelings and voices of black Americans. After the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, a new attempt to use gaslighting to criminalize black people was put into effect: The War on Drugs.

Former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman states: “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black [people], but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities; We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did.” 

The history of gaslighting minorities in the United States is immense, read more here.

Gaslighting examples used against the Black Lives Matter movement:

            Slavery, Systemic racism, and Black Experiences:

                        “Slavery is ancient history, you have the same rights as everyone else,” minimizes the reality of slavery, the fact that the civil rights movement was only 50 years ago, and continued discrimination that occurs today.

                        “Stop playing the race card,” blocks and diverts the conversation, alluding to the idea race is used as an excuse for black issues rather than an actual systemic problem. Its not a card game.    

                        “It is better now, than in the past,” deflects the current problems by comparing the policies of the past and diversity of the current world to show “how far we’ve come” as justification that racism isn’t that big of an issue anymore.

“I don’t think that was racism, you probably misinterpreted it,” calls into question a person’s memory and perception of what they’ve experienced as a means to change their perception of reality.

                        “It was a joke, don’t take things so seriously,” tries to manipulate the person into believing they are being too sensitive, minimizing racist comments as jokes.

                        “Show me proof.” The constant demand of black people to highlight specific material proof of harm and racist language to prove racism actually exists “diminishes the lived reality of blacks.” 

Eerily similar to rhetoric in Kentucky v Braden, anti-BLM proponents have accused and blamed radical white leftists of instigating a race issue where one does not exist. Once again, ignoring black voices.

Police brutality and racial profiling:

            “What about black on black crime?” is used to divert attention from police brutality against black Americans.

“When someone commits an act of terrorism against in the United States, which rightfully leads to anger and sadness, no one asks, “Well what about how many Americans kill other Americans each year?” Because that would crazy, now wouldn’t it?”

            “What about white people shot by police?” trivializes the fact that black people experience significantly more police brutality and killings than whites.

            “It’s just a few bad apples,” makes racism an individual issue rather than a systemic problem within the whole police force.

            “Choke holds and no-knock warrants should be banned!” deflects public outrage to specific practices while not systematically addressing racial profiling and unequal treatment.      

            “The police response was lawful. He should have followed their orders.” Police can deny wrongdoing, hiding behind the guise that their actions were legal. This ignores the fact that even if their actions may have been technically legal under the law, that doesn’t explain the unequal use of such force tactics against blacks compared to whites.

            “Well, he had a criminal background,” diverts the conversation again, to delegitimize the victim, placing blame on their mistakes of the past, which is rarely seen when the criminal is white.

            Protests and riots:      

                        “If black lives matter, why are they burning their own cities?” is an example of using the few instances of rioting to undermine the overwhelming amount of peaceful protests, pushing the narrative that BLM is a violent movement.  

“Commentary shifted from mourning the wrongful death of Floyd to critiquing the method and timing of protests with unsupported claims that Black Civil Rights leaders would somehow disapprove of protests”

                        “All lives matter:” the ultimate modern gaslighting of black America. By saying all lives matter in response to black lives matter disguises the prioritization of white lives by creating a false narrative of colorblindness. It also undermines years of black social justice work, insisting all lives in the U.S. are valued equally and treated equally, erasing centuries of violence and trauma experienced by black Americans. The phrase is also used to deny white supremacy and systemic racism by omitting the specific targeting of black lives by state institutions such as prison and police.            

These are only but a few examples of gaslighting directed at the Black Lives Matter movement and systemic racism in general, the list could go on for pages. The psychological effects of gaslighting on POC leads to a sense of alienation, distrust, and disenfranchisement from the community.

After 400 years of gaslighting black Americans’ feelings and experiences, now with better technology, healthcare, and health outcome statistics, that won’t work anymore. The only way to combat such manipulation is with hard facts, and the public has become fully aware of the abundant evidence of disparities due to systemic racism.  

Racism: a Global Health issue:

The fact that Covid-19 is disproportionately affecting black communities has only brought more attention to how health disparities effect health globally. “What affects the most vulnerable will affect us all.” Also, with over 30 countries and all 50 states participating in Black Lives Matter protests, highlighting the systemic racism in their country as well, its evident the problem is not solely an American one (check out this map).

Global health must find ways to address and combat such disparities—changing it from a “political issue” which it isn’t (that’s been gas-lighted) to a human rights issue. We must hold officials accountable to answer the question of why the disparities exist (though we already know the answer) without allowing the gaslighting blame game to ensue.