Summary
With the backdrop of the protests over police brutality against minorities in 2020, and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic which unveiled marked health disparities, physician Will Ross will talk about the ongoing struggle to achieve inclusivity and diversity in healthcare and its relationship to the goal of health equity for all. Dr. Ross argues that as public health leaders have declared the epidemic of gun violence in America a public health threat, they must similarly call out the root cause of police brutality towards people of color and the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the African American, Latino, and Native American population. Embracing racism as a public health crisis requires affirming racism as a structural determinant of health and developing a strategic plan to unravel and excise it from the fabric of our community.
Objectives
- Explore the dynamic nature of pluralism, cultural diversity, and inclusion as it relates to resolution of health disparities
- Recognize America’s unique social-political history, the social determinants of health and their contribution to health inequities
- Gain a greater appreciation of structural racism as a public health crisis
