FSMB Launches Task Force on Health Equity and Medical Regulation

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has launched the Task Force on Health Equity and Medical Regulation. The Task Force will evaluate education and training programs to assist state medical and osteopathic boards in identifying opportunities for understanding and addressing systemic racism, implicit bias, and health inequity in medical regulation and patient care.

Systemic Racism & Health Care: Building Black Confidence in the COVID-19 Vaccine

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment. The secret sale of Henrietta Lacks cancer research cells. Jim Crow laws affecting African Americans’ ability to receive medical treatment. For weeks, it’s been hard to hear over the clamor of millions of Americans lining up for COVID-19 vaccines. But not everyone has been enthused — namely, large swaths of minority communities, which comprise the populations disproportionately impacted by the virus, but whose hesitance is largely fueled by the country’s racist medical past.

Why So Few Black Skiers and Ballet Dancers?

A new book, The Color of Culture, is the first to show with statistical rigor the much lower participation rates of Black vs. white Americans in a nine recreational and cultural activities, from golf to painting. It uses statistical techniques to show that systemic racism explains the discrepancy.

Paul Torrens Health Forum | “The 2020 Presidential Election: What’s at Stake for Health?”

The outcome of the presidential election will determine our nation’s path forward on numerous health and healthcare fronts. As the nation continues to grapple with COVID-19, systemic racism, climate change and other critical public health issues, there’s much at stake. Join us for an insightful session moderated by Gerald Kominski, professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor and senior fellow at FSPH’s UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The program will feature two health policy experts, Dr. Lanhee Chen of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and Mark Peterson, professor of public policy, political science and law at UCLA, discussing the Democratic and Republican health platforms, their key policy implications, and how each reflects the party’s vision for the nation’s health. An optional small group networking session will follow the webinar.

Study: Why U.S. Black Entrepreneurship Lags & How Banks Can Help Fix It

A steady stream of media reports detailing the deaths of unarmed Black Americans at the hands of police. False 911 calls aimed at bringing harm to African Americans engaged in innocuous, everyday activities. Street protests calling for an end to discrimination and police brutality.  As racial tensions swirled this summer, so did calls on social media for those who support the social justice movement for African American civil rights to amplify Black voices and support Black businesses.

Place doesn’t trump race as predictor of incarceration

Steven Alvarado is the author of “The Complexities of Race and Place: Childhood Neighborhood Disadvantage and Adult Incarceration for Whites, Blacks, and Latinos,” published June 1 in the journal Socius, a study showing that for black Americans growing up in better neighborhoods doesn’t diminish the likelihood of going to prison nearly as much as it does for whites or Latinos.