SPECIAL REPORT
Holding Them Accountable: Organizational Commitments to Ending Systemic Anti-Black Racism in Medicine and Public Health
Abstract: In this essay, I detail commitments that some of the major health organizations—the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—have made to addressing anti-Black racism and discuss their policies meant to curtail racism’s effects on health equity. Although these organizations’ historical lack of action has contributed to a culture of anti-Black racism in health care and public health and many Black people have suffered because of it, progress has to begin somewhere, and outlining their future actions is a good start. Now, bioethicists, with our expertise in how historic policies connect to contemporary disparate health outcomes and access to health care, are in a position to hold these organizations accountable for fulfilling their commitments.
