Racism

Racism and its associated injustices have created barriers for people of color since the beginnings of our nation. We see its effects in all of our systems, from unequal medical care to discrimination in housing , employment, education, and the justice system—and beyond. How does racism affect health? Research shows that this history of individual and structural racism spanning generations denies opportunity to people of color and robs them of their physical and mental health. The life...

A spike in assaults against Asian Americans nationwide converging with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has further exposed health inequities and simmering sentiments of racism over the past year. In a report released last week, the group Stop AAPI Hate said it had received nearly 3,800 reports of hate incidents , including verbal harassment, shunning and physical assault, over the past year. With few concrete legislative answers to the problem, health experts and patients alike are left...

From the time the first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived as laborers in the U.S. in the 1850s, Asian Americans have always been subject to racist violence . As a source of cheap labor to build railroads, Asian immigrants came to be seen as threats to white jobs and scapegoated as dirty and disease-ridden. The “yellow peril” ultimately led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first time the U.S. had ever barred a specific ethnic group from the country. The brutality runs through more...

San Diego County supervisors last week formally defined racism as a public health crisis, acknowledging for the first time that a broad and baked-in prejudice underpins virtually every aspect of public policy. The unanimous declaration came days ahead of the national holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and after a majority of Democrats was elected to the county board. Among other actions, the vote directed county officials to begin collecting data that will help them...

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to declare “racism a public health crisis,” passing policies to combat racism locally and create equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chair Nathan Fletcher and Vice Chair Nora Vargas introduced the resolution to address systemic racism last week. "In declaring racism as a public health crisis, we are acknowledging that racism underpins the health inequities throughout the region," said Fletcher. According to the supervisors,...