New Narratives of Hope This Black History Month–And Beyond

More than 50 years after the civil rights movement we still have a lot to do to reduce discrimination and increase health equity. Dwayne Proctor reflects on the role of stories in the search for solutions.

Author’s note, February 2021: My post below was first published in February 2018. Over the past harrowing year, the issues it explores have become even more urgent, as the murder of George Floyd triggered a racial reckoning during a global pandemic that has hit communities of color hardest. In the midst of it all, systemic racism continues to take a brutal toll. The death of Dr. Susan Moore, who called out the racism she was experiencing as a patient, is just one example. Moore’s death, and those of Clyde Murphy and Shalon Irving, which I wrote about in my blog, are painful reminders of the cost of letting such racism continue. In the words of RWJF Trustee Dr. David Williams: “The first thing we have to do is acknowledge that the everyday racial discrimination embedded in our culture is sickening and killing African-Americans, and make a new commitment to make America a healthier place for all.”

One of my earliest and most vivid childhood memories is watching from my bedroom window as my city burned in the riots that erupted after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination 50 years ago.

The next afternoon, my mother brought me to the playground at my school in Southeast Washington, D.C., which somehow was untouched. As she pushed me in a swing, she asked if I understood what had happened the day before and who Dr. King was.

“Yes,” I said. “He was working to make things better for Negroes like you.”

My mother, whose skin is several tones darker than mine, stared at me in surprise. Somehow, even at four years old, I had learned to observe differences in complexion.

That is particularly interesting to me now, as I eventually came to believe that “race” is a social construct.

Of course racism and discrimination exist. They are deeply embedded in America’s history and culture—but so too is the struggle against them.

Over 50 Years After the Civil Rights Act, Discrimination Persists

We are now more than 50 years beyond the civil rights movement, yet change has been excruciatingly slow. For example, despite passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, housing discrimination persists. Forty-five percent of black people surveyed in a 2017 NPR/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health/RWJF poll say they have faced discrimination when trying to rent a room or apartment or buy a house.

While racial discrimination in hospitals nominally ended in 1964 with the signing of the Civil Rights Act, racial health gaps not only continue; in some cases, they have gotten worse. As recently as 2015, black babies are more than twice as likely as white babies to die before their first birthdays. And death rates from breast cancer are 42 percent higher among black women than white women, even though the prevalence is about the same.

The numbers themselves are startling. But they take on added meaning when you consider the stories—millions of them—of real people, who face discrimination every day of their lives.

Sharing Your Story With the World

I’m reminded of the words of Carter Woodson, the black historian and educator who established Negro History Week, the precursor of Black History Month, which we are in the midst of celebrating.  “You must give your own story to the world,” Woodson declared.

How true that is.

Through our stories we call attention to racism and discrimination and assert our fundamental human dignity.

And by telling our stories, we demand solutions.

I see storytelling as essential to building a Culture of Health, where everyone—no matter where they live, how much money they make, or who they are—has the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible. By acknowledging each other’s stories, we recognize that racism and discrimination are monumental barriers to our goal of achieving health equity. We simply can’t have a Culture of Health without health equity. Dr. King himself noted that “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

Everyday Discrimination Measurably Diminishes Health

Take the tragic story of Shalon Irving, a brilliant epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shalon was working to understand how structural inequality, trauma and violence made people sick. She asserted her commitment on her Twitter bio, noting “I see inequity wherever it exists, call it by name, and work to eliminate it.” In a tragic irony, Shalon’s life was abruptly cut short at the age of 36 when she collapsed and died three weeks after giving birth. In the weeks leading up to her death, Shalon’s futile attempts to bring attention to concerning postpartum symptoms were dismissed by medical professionals according to Shalon’s mother. Shalon’s socioeconomic advantages and expertise in health inequity could not protect her from the reality that black mothers in the United States die at 3 to 4 times the rate of white mothers.

Higher educational attainment—which can lead to higher incomes and the ability to live in healthier neighborhoods and to access high-quality health care—can’t protect African-Americans from the disparities leading to higher mortality rates. This was also the case for Clyde Murphy, a renowned civil-rights attorney who died of a blood clot in his lungs 41 years after graduating from Yale University. Soon after Clyde’s death, his African-American classmates Ron Norwood and Jeff Palmer each succumbed to cancer. In fact, it turned out that more than 10 percent of African-Americans in the Yale class of 1970 had died—a mortality more than 3 times higher than that of their white classmates.

Clyde and Shalon’s disturbing stories and the stories of too many others force us to confront the injustice of discrimination—how the toll of incessant stress and implicit bias within the health care system can progressively erode one’s health.

Research shows how discrimination influences and determines how long and healthy our lives are. Experiencing discrimination day after day creates physiological responses that lead to premature aging (meaning that people are biologically older than their chronological age), as well as poorer health compared to other groups, and even premature death.

Through the 2017 NPR/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health/RWJF poll we sought to gain a deeper understanding of daily personal experiences with discrimination from members of different ethnic, racial, and LGBTQ groups. As Woodson has suggested, this can help us better understand the reality of everyday discrimination that people face when looking for housing, interacting with police, seeking medical care, and getting a job.

Specific findings from the survey include:

These poll findings—along with stories of Clyde and Shalon—underscore an urgent need to join in working harder than ever to shape solutions—solutions that spawn new stories where everyone enjoys an equal opportunity to live longer, healthier, and happier lives without the constant fear of discrimination

Shaping New Stories of Hope

Through our work to understand everyday discrimination and its impact on health, we’re also learning about efforts to shape these new stories of hope.

In one such story more than 60 community- and faith-based organizations are collaborating with the Campaign for Black Male Achievement to create better futures for young African-American men and boys. This coalition has created an initiative called “Zones of Hope” designed to restore a sense of place and connection for marginalized neighborhoods, families, and young people. The idea is to reduce violence among young black men and boys (ages 16–27 years old) by increasing high school graduation rates, improving access to after-school programs, and expanding job opportunities. As community leader Rashaad Abdur-Rahman noted at an RWJF-sponsored event examining discrimination’s effect on health, this project has transformed relationships; built new partnerships; and rallied the education, government, and justice systems—to invest in supporting boys and young men of color so they can achieve their full potential.    

This is the kind of comprehensive, community-based approach that fills me with hope for better, brighter stories in the future.

Not believing in race means believing in love—and love means acknowledging and respecting the pain of others. When people do that, they can focus on how to heal and move forward, together.

Take the time to listen to these stories of how communities are coming together to root out Discrimination in America.