Racism and COVID-19 in the Hopkins-Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
Dr. Lisa Cooper, who is the Director of both the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Equity and the Urban Health Institute, has been discussing—and seeking to reduce--inequalities in health outcomes for disadvantaged populations her entire career. In the COVID-19 Special Edition of the Hopkins-Bloomberg Public Health Magazine, Dr. Cooper explains why minorities are being hit the hardest by the pandemic, and why she holds some hope that the pandemic may trigger changes in the US health care system, and in the broader society at large.
For people who are not white, many of the inequities that exist in their health outcomes are the result of much broader and insidious disparities that have become institutionalized in policies and practices. As Dr. Cooper says:
“These health inequities result from the financial stresses of being poor and the social stresses of being from a marginalized group with a history of institutionalized, sanctioned mistreatment by law enforcement and other societal institutions.”
The legacy of American racism, which enforced residential segregation and denied minorities access to economic opportunity, good housing, good education and good health care is being highlighted right now by the pandemic.
For Dr. Cooper, the light that the pandemic is casting on the inequalities in American culture holds out some promise of change:
“The pandemic could bring a shift in thinking toward valuing all people regardless of background, economics, or what’s on the surface. We know now more than ever that every member of our society is important. It may force us to come up with new ways, including technology, to connect everyone with the things they need.”
Perhaps this is the silver lining to be found in this public health crisis.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Read the full article from Johns Hopkins Magazine here.