For the past 44 years, the Health Education Ministry has hosted a Health Fair in August. During the pandemic, we have pivoted to continue this annual tradition by providing access to valuable health resources in a virtual format. For this year’s offering, in addition to addressing those chronic health conditions that plague our community, we are putting forth a framework that will serve as an underpinning for both the health fair and upcoming workshops. The issue is the impact of structural racism on our health and wellbeing. It is our hope that by acknowledging the far-reaching and ever-present damage racism has caused and continues to inflict upon communities of color, we will have a shared understanding of disproportionate health outcomes.
Racism limits people’s ability to attain their highest level of health. As a major cause of health inequity, racism violates a core mission of public health professionals: creating conditions that give all people the opportunity to achieve their best health.
The impact of racism on public health has not always been widely acknowledged or understood, but awareness is growing. The American Medical Association recently described racism as “an urgent threat to public health, the advancement of health equity, and a barrier to excellence in the delivery of medical care.”
Systemic Racism
Systemic racism refers to established institutions and practices that create and maintain racial inequity. Examples of systemic racism that impact the health of Black Americans can be found throughout society:
Residential segregation. Housing policies that discriminate against people of color can limit access to safe neighborhoods.
Police brutality. Violent actions by police disproportionately impact people of color. Black people account for only 12 percent of the population but 22 percent of fatal police shootings, according to the NAACP.
Inequities in the criminal justice system. Inequities make it more likely for a Black person than a white person to be arrested and incarcerated for the same crime.
Food insecurity. Black communities are more likely to lack access to full-service grocery stores and other sources of healthy food than other communities.
Education disparities. Predominantly nonwhite school districts receive significantly less funding than predominantly white school districts. Underfunded schools are more likely to be under-resourced and have hazardous infrastructure, such as outdated HVAC systems or plumbing.
Racial Disparities in Health Outcomes
Racism shapes where and how people live and what resources and opportunities they have. Racism directly affects the physical and mental health of people of color.
Racism endangers the health and well-being of people of color and other marginalized groups and communities. Those effects are starkly apparent in the disparities in health outcomes suffered by Black Americans:
- Black women suffer pregnancy-related deaths at more than three times the rate of white women.
- Compared to white Americans, Black Americans are 2.6 times more likely to contract COVID-19, 4.7 times more likely to be hospitalized for the disease, and 2.1 times more likely to die from it.
- Black men are about 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than are white men, and Black women are about 1.4 times more likely to be killed by police than are white women.
- Compared to white Americans, Black Americans suffer higher rates of heart diseases, stroke, cancer, asthma, influenza and pneumonia, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and homicide.
How Racism Affects Health
Racism takes a direct toll on people of color, causing unhealthy stress levels, feelings of powerlessness, and countless other negative impacts to mental and physical health. The accumulation of daily stressors associated with exposure to racism and discrimination can cause toxic stress beginning at an early age. Such stress affects children’s physical, mental, and behavioral health throughout their lives.
How Racism Affects Social Health Determinants
The correlation between socioeconomic adversities and poorer health outcomes is well documented. Healthy People, a health promotion and disease-prevention initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, groups social determinants of health into five (5) categories.
- Economic stability. Having a low or unstable income affects the ability of individuals and families to afford health care, healthy foods, and housing.
- Education access and quality. Individuals with lower levels of education are generally less healthy and live shorter lives than those with higher levels of education.
- Health care access and quality. Factors including lack of insurance make some individuals less likely to have a primary care provider and to be able to afford treatments and medication.
- Neighborhood and built environment. Individuals who live in neighborhoods with high rates of violence and unsafe air or water, as well as those who work in dangerous work environments, face greater health and safety risks than others.
- Social and community context. A lack of support from family, friends, coworkers, and community negatively impacts health and well-being.
Please join us Saturday, August 20, 10:00am-1:00pm for the 2022 Virtual Health Fair to hear more about this framework, along with outstanding speakers who will address dementia and brain health, heart disease, and stroke.
Source: American Public Health Association, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
