We’ve seen how your race can impact your earnings, but did you know that your race can also have a direct impact on your health?
Medical racism encompasses discriminatory and targeted medical practices and misrepresentations in medical teachings driven by biases based on characteristics of patients' race and ethnicity. Your race can dictate the quality of medical care you receive, your treatment by medical staff, and how likely you are to receive adequate care to address your symptoms.
Environmental racism is the disproportionate impact that that environmental hazards have on minority groups due to discrimination. Black and Brown people in America are more likely to live in areas with high pollution and environmental hazards, and hazardous projects such as waste treatment plants are more likely to be built in lower-income, majority Black and Brown communities. This translates to communities being sicker and having a higher incidence of issues like asthma and cancer.
Both of these issues combined contribute to communities of color being sicker and less likely to receive adequate medical care, diagnosis, and pain management.
Did you know?
- Several studies show that doctors were less likely to believe Black patients’ self-reported pain than white patients and subsequently prescribed weaker medication to mitigate symptoms. (Hoffman, Trawalter, etc. Al)
- Native American and Black mothers are 2-3x likelier to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white mothers. (CDC)
