Racial Disparity and Healthcare

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"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane."  - Martin Luther King, Jr. at a convention for the Medical Committee for Human Rights held in Chicago in March of 1966

DINET has always been grounded by the principle of support.  In alignment with our mission of support, we believe Black Lives Matter and support organizations, movements and people working to reduce racism, discrimination, prejudice, violence and systemic injustice in our country and throughout the world.

And, as an organization that believes wholeheartedly in advancing healthcare for our members who live with dysautonomia, we must acknowledge that we have not done a good job recognizing the inequities in healthcare experienced by Black Americans day in and day out, including those who live with dysautonomia. 

We are sorry to our Black members, brothers, and sisters for not joining the conversation sooner.  We are listening.  We will keep educating ourselves.  And, as we continue to work toward our goal of a more equitable healthcare system, we will be conscientious about recognizing the particular healthcare inequities faced by Black Americans. 

Sincerely,
DINET Board of Directors and Administrators

*Thanks to Chelsea Goldstein for the compilation of resources and research contained in this article.

Below is a list of resources we are using to further our education on racial disparities in healthcare:

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington

Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine

Rare Diseases and African Americans by Black Health Matters

The Overlooked History of Black Disabled People by Vilissa Thompson

Understanding and Addressing Racial Disparities in Healthcare by David Williams and Toni Rucker

African American Health by the CDC

The Burdens of Race and History on Black People’s Health 400 Years After Jamestown by Stephen B. Thomas and Erica Casper

The Tuskegee Timeline by the CDC

Race, History, and the Science of Health Inequities by Sandro Galea

COVID-19 & Racial Disparities:

COVID-19 United States Breakdown by Black Ladies in Public Health 

Racism and Inequality in the Face of COVID-19: Viruses Don’t Discriminate, But We Do a webinar moderated by Jamila Taylor

Coronavirus in African Americans and Other People of Color by Sherita Hill Golden

Spotlight on COVID-19 and Health Disparities: Opportunities to Achieve Better Understanding and Equality for Vulnerable Populations by Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable

COVID-19 and Racial/Ethnic Disparities by Monica Webb Hooper, Anna María Nápoles, and Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable

Organizations that work toward health equity:

Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues 

Black Ladies in Public Health 

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities 

Healthy African American Families 

Black Women’s Health Imperative 

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“Racial and ethnic minorities and other under-served populations are likely to experience even greater barriers to screening, diagnosis, and treatment of rare diseases than for common conditions due to a variety of cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors.” – Annual Report on the Rare Diseases and Conditions Research Activities of the National Institutes of Health in 2000