To fix the health crisis caused by racism Americans need to talk about its history, Northeast Ohio African American leaders say

In 2020, Cleveland is one of many cities across the country to declare racism a public health threat. As local government grapples with the impact of the proclamation, leaders of Northeast Ohio’s African-American community reflect on the history of racism and better understand its impact on the health of the Northeast. We call on residents, health care administrators, civic leaders and public policy professionals to do so. Ohio today.

“With the advent of slavery, especially chattel slavery, what we saw was that race was associated with looks, so we created this cast system where African Americans and dark-skinned people were always underneath. Hall, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition. “If you look at how these systems are built, these systems were built off the backs of slaves. They were great people.”

Racism and white supremacy are so entrenched in American society that people in privileged positions often don’t even realize it, said Mwatabu S. Okantah Kent State University’s interim chair of Africana studies. I’m here.

“Enslaved Africans have been redefined as something other than human. That legacy is still with us…and it’s hard because the country has never really acknowledged it,” he said. Okanta said.

To address the public health crisis caused by racism, entire communities must understand and develop policies that account for the 400 years African Americans have suffered under slavery, oppression, or discrimination. Greg Brown, executive director of Policy, said Bridge is a Cleveland-based think tank that studies public policy issues that affect African Americans.

“Accountability begins when communities begin to understand and develop policy practices and procedures, and hold communities accountable and accountable for how they deal with all and especially those in their communities. It’s very, very important to take measures for color,” he said.

First, Hall of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition said society needs to take a clear look at the issue.

“When we look at inequality and how the African American community is disproportionately affected here, we need to look at the causes of inequality, and the primary cause is racism.” said Hall.

After racism has been formally dubbed a public health crisis, the next step is to address the social determinants of health: access to green space, good schools, and reliable transportation that fuel Cleveland’s racial health disparities. Look to institutions and more, said Alan K. Nevel of MetroHealth’s. Chief Equity Officer.

“If you just look at zip codes across Greater Cleveland, there are areas in our community where four out of 10 people don’t know where dinner is coming from tonight,” he said. “It naturally causes someone to become unhealthy.”

When you think of health as dependent on a person’s economic viability, mobility, housing and environmental conditions, in addition to access to transportation, good schools and healthy food, what you see is It is a large social system, which must also be evaluated. Policy Bridge’s Brown said it was a condition of race.

“When you think about all of this, there are structural barriers based on racism and long-term discrimination that prevent certain people from reaching their goals, not just how communities treat it. We also have to think about whether we are holding back the greatest and ultimate potential,” he said.

So the solution to racism as a public health crisis can be real in nature.

Claude Jones, Ph.D., president and CEO of Care Alliance, a federally accredited medical center in Cleveland, said: “Can we change policy to provide more bus routes to areas that may be short of routes?”

Hall said her group is looking beyond just health outcomes as it seeks to address health disparities.

“Our team has worked hard to make sure we address these issues and many that disproportionately affect our community,” she said. We are looking at, we are looking at the land, we are looking at the water.We are all systems and how they affect our communities, and to educate our communities about those systems. We are looking at how we can work on that.”

That includes understanding how those systems were built.

Redlining was a practice by banks, insurance companies, and federal housing programs to deny black residents access to loans in the mid-1920s.^th century. Today, however, the term has come to be understood as any practice that denies resources to the black community.

Through that lens, Hall said he sees today a continuation of the Red Line that existed in the 1930s and ’40s unfolding in the Northeast Ohio health care system.

“There are hospitals that are closing in cities, and what were once non-African-American suburbs are turning into those communities,” she said. “What we have seen is the hospital system retreating from these areas.”

The epicenter of the Red Line is not only in central cities and urban areas, but also in formerly white suburbs where significant numbers of black people now live, she said.

Perceptions of treatment may also be influenced by race. Some of his Care Alliance patients feel overwhelmed by the large hospital system and underserved, Jones said.

“Many of our patients are of low socioeconomic status and have low levels of education, so going to a major hospital can be overwhelming,” he said. were placed because they may have been in chronic pain and were treated differently because of their insurance status, were uninsured, or were deemed to be seeking medication It felt like it automatically fell into categories.”

MetroHealth’s Nevel said his system has reviewed policies to ensure it treats people of all races and ethnicities with respect.

“You don’t have to wear a badge to go to one of our facilities to be treated with some level of dignity and respect,” said Nevel, who is black. “You don’t have to wear a suit and tie.”

Nevel also emphasized the importance of working with organizations outside the healthcare sector and engaging in community discussions to better serve the most vulnerable.

Occantor in Kent has another recommendation.

“This historic moment, this calculation, that’s what’s happening in this post-George Floyd-Breona-Taylor world. We had them,” he said.

Hall of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition said it was important to remember that while racism and the public health crisis it has caused affect people’s well-being, it is unacceptable. .

“Racism shouldn’t follow us in clinics, in schools, in jobs, everywhere, because racism shouldn’t exist.”