So What Do We Do?
When it comes to the public health interventions, Chae says the clear implication is that society needs to address systemic discrimination. “There needs to be greater enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation,” in areas like housing and employment he says. Furthermore, policies like stop-and-frisk, even those which are facially neutral, “can negatively impact health.”
It might be tempting to prescribe black people who have anti-black biases some kind of racial identity bolstering treatment, but says Chae, telling people to address their internalized oppression “is not my first line of treatment because it puts the burden on those who are victimized.” Racism may manifest itself on the individual level, but that doesn’t make it the right place to focus.
“It’s quite right that we should be concerned with individuals but we will not change the dynamic, that unconscious thumbprint of society, until we change the broader social structure in our systems and understandings of difference and how we value different groups,” Smedley says. “Race and racism are not limited to internal, individual dynamics.”
Article Appeared @http://blackstarjournal.org/?p=4023