By Sara Gottfried, Dr. Sara Gottfried MD, July 13, 2020
I take respectful care of my patients regardless of skin color, but in the past few years, I’ve realized that is not enough. There are many sources of information that have influenced me. Conversations, particularly a recent interview with integrative physician Andrea Pennington MD. Books, mentioned in this article, including How to Be an Antiracist by Boston University Professor Ibram X. Kendi and founder of the Antiracism Center for Research,1 and rigorous articles, such as a provocative editorial by my colleague Deborah Cohan MD in the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Racist Like Me: A Call to Self Refection and Action for White Physicians.”2
Becoming Antiracist
The book’s central message is that the opposite of “racist” isn’t “not racist.” Professor Kendi brilliantly argues that the true opposite of “racist” is antiracist. “The good news,” Kendi writes, “is that racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be racist one minute and an antiracist the next.”
As a recent guest on Dr. Andrea Pennington’s podcast, we discussed what issues are behind the racial disparities and what physicians need to know in order to deliver antiracist healthcare.
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