Present to Past
Medical Racism
![A color photograph of a portion of a Stop Aids graffiti mural in New York City. The mural is painted on a light tan wall. The bottom half of the image features a depiction of a white brick wall with cracks running through many of the bricks, running the full length of the image. A light and dark blue cloud features prominently on the left side of the image with the words [STOP / AIDS] spray painted in yellow letters outlined in red. The middle of the image features an illustration two men standing in profile, facing each other, on either side of a tombstone. The front of the tombstone has the text [USE YOUR / HEAD BEFORE / YOU END UP / DEAD.] written in black text. The word [DEAD] is underlined and the letters have drip lines giving it a bloody text effect. The man on the left is featured wearing a yellow shirt, yellow pants, and black shoes with yellow laces. He has three black thought bubbles above, and to the right of his head. He is holding his proper left hand splayed out, reaching for a syringe with a bloody hypodermic needle in the proper right hand of the man depicted on the right of the tombstone. The man on the right is depicted with red spikey hair, a green shirt, green pants and black shoes with white laces. On the far right of the image is the text [THE LAW] written in red block letters, outlined in black, above a depiction of scrolled paper with the text [I. DON’T “SHOOT” / DRUGS. / II. USE CONDOM. / III. HAVE SEX WITH FAiTHFUL / PARTNER.] written in black text. There are no inscriptions on the recto. On the verso the image is signed in blue ink by the photographer.](/static/bc247fe92533cf2c8170cc1ed60d5da9/40176/2015_132_262_001.webp)
TodayCOVID-19 Pandemic
African Americans wearing masks to protect themselves and their community
Systemic Health Inequalities
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated systemic inequalities impacting African American communities, including access to healthcare and economic disparities.
Poverty, mass incarceration, limited healthcare access, and comorbidities including heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses disproportionally impact African Americans. Studies have drawn a direct link between racist policies like housing segregation, lack of public transportation, limited economic opportunities, environmental racism and little access to healthy food, to incidences of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death.
Racism within the healthcare system exacerbates inequalities. A 2016 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that medical students believed Black people feel less pain than white people and many other racist inaccuracies. The study also observed that those espousing these false beliefs were more likely to give inaccurate medical advice to Black patients. The negative impact has occasionally resulted in the death of Black patients and contributes to mistrust in the the healthcare system.
African American physicians and medical professionals have long combatted the persistence of medical racism while remaining at the forefront of medical advancement. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a research fellow and scientific lead at the National Institutes of Health, led a team of scientists that developed the Moderna vaccine, which has been proven effective.