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"[Racism remains a] prime cause of the
unequal and racially discriminatory provision of funds for health
services; of the over-crowding of the ill- equipped black
hospitals and the underutilization of white hospitals; of
miserable housing, gross pollution, poor sanitation, and lack of
health care . . . . [Racism] in consequence, is the underlying
structure causing the dreadful burden of excess morbidity and
mortality, much of it preventable, that is borne by the black
population. These health-specific effects are superimposed on the
more general consequences of [racism] which bars the majority of
[African-american] citizens from participating in decisions on
the allocation of resources for health or other needs. We
believe that the . . . [American] health care system is, in
consequence, fundamentally flawed. Fragmentation and duplication
of services . . . . is costly and inefficient. . . . For
the majority of the black population, the whole spectrum of
health services (but most urgently, primary care) is inadequate.
Entire generations suffer through much of their life-times. . . .
Even if. . . [racism] ended tomorrow, their effects on health
would persist for [generations], in part because of the health
consequences of the profound poverty . . . that [racism] itself
has engendered and in part because widespread attitudes that
encourage racism, elitism, sexism, a colonialist mentality, and
prejudice against the poor take time and commitment to change. .
. Clearly, . . . [America] has the ability to reduce markedly, if
not eliminate, the serious health problems that exist among the
black population. It can, if it chooses, eliminate the
institutionalized system of racism and discrimination that have
made the country, for decades, a symbol of human rights
violations. The task facing. . . [us] is to continue to extend
the process that [civil rights reforms] have begun, until
profound and lasting improvements in health care . . . are a
reality." Elena Nightingale, et al., Apartheid
Medicine: Health and Human Rights in South Africa, 264
J.A.M.A. 2097, 2102 (1990). This quote is taken from an
article about South Africa with merely name changes from South
Africa to the U.S. and Apartheid to Racism, it is equally true
about the United States of America. |
