May 20, 2020
Page 9
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O PINION
New Urgency in Our Calls for Health Justice
COVID-19 from
the front lines
l eSlie d. g regory
Some of us in the
frontlines of health care
have been trying to con-
vince the Centers for
Disease Control and Pre-
vention (CDC) to declare
racism as a threat to pub-
lic health. We think our proofs are
strong.
Nearly five years ago, when
we started the Racism is a Public
Health Threat campaign in Port-
land, at Race Talks PDX, hosted
by long-time community justice
activist Donna Maxey, a consis-
tent response from both fabricated
“sides” of the racial divide in this
country was, “What then?” as if the
rightness of it were contingent upon
that response. And my answer was
the same: They do their job, we do
our job, the CDC criteria for decla-
ration and protocols for remedy are
already established.
Race has always been a frighten-
ing topic for much of America and
what we see now, as white America
is on the cusp of being just another
minority in the USA, is near hyste-
ria from the White House on down.
The unknown, the fear of loss
of unearned and largely unrecog-
nized privilege, looms large, es-
pecially in the setting of the most
divisive and labile political climate
in memory. Our voice, the call for
health justice, has been suppressed,
ignored and rejected.
The mental health aspects of
threats to cultural power (or one
might say “cult of personality”)
darken our days now—witness
the orchestrated demonstrations in
battleground states demanding an
end to social distancing, as if tem-
porary loss of business is far more
threatening than a pandemic rag-
ing worse here than in any country
on Earth, killing more than 2,000
Americans every day—and yes,
African Americans at far higher
rates by the CDC’s own figures.
“It isn’t what you say, it’s how
you say it,” I’ve been told. And my
response, as a black woman and as
a primary health care provider, has
been the same: “It’s been said ev-
ery other way, and yet perceived
and proven racism continues to
result in death, illness, or injury
to the bearer,” so it is the message
that America just doesn’t want to
hear and never has.
While we revere the memory of
peace makers like Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa
and Mandela, we fail to learn their
lessons and walk in their footsteps.
Their teachings include rising
above our privilege or lack thereof,
and seeking equality for all.
I have been black a long time—I
by
am a child of the Civil Rights era.
I confess to discouragement. We
Americans are like ignorant and
immature children peering incred-
ulously through a window
removed from the dangers
of the adult world, as if the
stories of pain and loss are
made for Netflix, not real.
That luxury is over, as
we face dire losses of life
and our economy. As Bruce
Lee said: “Knowing is not enough,
we must apply. Willing is not
enough, we must do”; his brilliance
just another example of the im-
portance of a diverse nation. “We
don’t have a soul to waste,” cannot
have more meaning than right now.
With
the
emergence
of
COVID19, we see all hands on
deck, mobilized and motivated to
halt its spread, and most of us are
appreciative of those working to
defeat it. Public health campaigns
bring light and awareness to it and
funding is found locally if not na-
tionally for those treating it. Lives
are lost, love is expressed and our
best selves are called to rise to this
frightening challenge in unity and
compassion. What has not changed
is the disproportionate impact of
this disease on African Americans.
We are approximately 13 percent of
the US population, we are approxi-
mately 33 percent of the COVID19
mortalities.
And even before all this, the
Harvard Business Review found
that racial health disparities are
associated with substantial annual
economic losses nationally, includ-
ing an estimated $35 billion in ex-
cess health care expenditures, $10
billion in illness-related lost pro-
ductivity, and nearly $200 billion
in premature deaths. Concerted
efforts to reduce health disparities
could thus have immense economic
and social value.
What has also been consistent is
the callous gaslighting and large-
ly falsifying approach of an enti-
tled economic elite at the highest
levels that continues to cost lives.
This accompanies vitriol and lack
of leadership clearly prolonging
the misery. Our national health ser-
vices appear woefully inadequate
to the challenge and behind the ef-
forts of our global neighbors.
We announce the threat, initi-
ate containment measures, screen
the most vulnerable, support the
front line fighters and then wait
to evaluate those efforts and al-
low our observations to guide next
steps. This is part of the protocol
of which so many have been afraid
and thus reluctant to support our
campaign. This is the job of our
national health leadership -- and
they know it.
In primary care, which is what
I do, just as in national health pre-
vention, it is hard to prove a neg-
ative, what would have happened,
what has been saved. But we see
“flattening the curve” as just that
during the pandemic. When will
we see that in our efforts against
health disparities if we never call
out the issue? If we never actually
make the diagnosis, how will we
ever flatten the curve and see the
$billions in savings associated with
racial health care disparities?
We get it. Change is frightening.
Illness is scary, especially when
mixed messages about medical
approaches increases confusion
around action steps. But what
we’re seeing is at least a light to
bear on the intersection of greed
and racism in this moment and
many are crying for equity and
justice, recognizing what commu-
nities of color have been experi-
encing for generations. Now is the
time, America, to begin the process
of healing from one virus to learn
those lessons and apply them to
another and more persistent one,
more virulent, costly, unjust and
long, long overdue, the virus of
racism.
Join our campaign to force the
CDC and National Institutes of
Health to admit that racism is the
true public health target impact-
ing outcomes for all Americans.
Cure the infection and not just
the fever. Visit sign.moveon.org/
petitions/racism-meets-criteria?r_
by=16228964&source=c.fb./
Leslie D. Gregory is a certified
physician’s assistant focusing on
preventive cardiology and is Exec-
utive Director of Right to Health.