There was a football game yesterday that I had little to no interest in except for the inclusion of Amanda Gorman, the first poet to read for an NFL game (once again she's making history!). But the football story really on my mind is the lawsuit against the NFL regarding their concussion settlement of 2013. According to the lawsuit, the NFL has been using something called “race-norming,” which makes an assumption that members of certain communities, based on their race, have received less or inadequate education. When they file for a concussion compensation, the black players are considered to have started the NFL with lower cognitive function and therefore have to reach a much lower standard to receive compensation. Now while the NFL and its clinicians say the use of this standard isn’t mandatory and was allowed for at the practitioner’s discretion, systemic racism and implicit bias in health care has been demonstrated through research and countless personal accounts throughout our history so you can bet it was been included in at least some cases.
Whether this race norming was actually used is almost inconsequential because implicit bias is proven to exist in the most well-meaning physicians even if they claim to have no bias and weren’t given permission to treat patients with prejudice (as NFL clinician were). A study in 2017, found that the participating physicians, who self-reported no preference for patients of a specific race, showed a clear preference for white patients when given an implicit bias test. Yet another study in 2016, found that a large percentage for health care workers falsely believe that black patients have a higher tolerance for pain than white patients. With that assumption, one can only assume that black patients did not receive adequate treatment of their pain. There is study after study and data point after data point that point to bias and inadequate health care for communities of color. Looking at the higher rate of mortality among the black community from COVID-19, one has to wonder about the root cause. One study I read, looked at the higher rate of hospitalization for white patients vs. black patients even though it is widely known of the disparaging mortality rate.
Earlier this month, a black man died in a parking lot of a hospital after three trips to the ER with chest pain and not being adequately diagnosed, treated, or admitted. Three trips! The idea of dismantling systemic racism can seem daunting. I feel like I can barely move a brick. As a society we have focused a lot on policing and the oath to “protect and serve” but we must not forget the other systems meant to help or at least “do no harm” that are also fraught with bias and racism right from the start of a black life -childbirth. This work seems overwhelming at times but no matter our sector, no matter our place in life, every white person holds a responsibility to dismantle systemic racism even if it is crumb by crumb and that is the best we can do - it is something.
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