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Representation in Medicine: Racism in Medicine Resources

Racism and Anti-Racism

The Black Lives Matter movement has brought to light the reality that racism is still alive and well, and systemic racism is rampant in many services. Racism within medicine and healthcare has been documented and studied for years, though incomplete progress has been made to address these issues. 

Racism is the belief that some races or ethnic groups are superior to others. Systemic or institutional racism happens when racial discrimination or disparity becomes ingrained within a society or organization, normalizing the inequality. Racism is a personal belief, but systemic racism is an action.

Current events have brought to light the need for more than simply being non-racist. Not being racist means you don't hold a belief that people are less than because of race or ethnicity. Anti-racism is the practice of actively opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance. Being not racist is not enough to correct the injustices done because it does not actively try to fix systemic racism as a whole. Like racism and systemic racism, the difference between non-racist and anti-racist is belief versus action. Believing that racism is wrong is not the same as addressing the wrongs, which is why experts in the field push for anti-racism over non-racism.

This guide contains resources from the KCU Libraries catalog, as well as other highly recommended books and resources from experts in the field of racism, social inequality, and anti-racism. 

Books in the KCU Collection

Some of these titles are specifically on racism and racial inequality in medicine; others contain chapters focusing on these issues. 


 

Racism in Healthcare Articles

We've compiled a few articles on racism in healthcare through PubMed. Please make sure you're accessing them through the KCU Proxy. For help finding more articles or adding to this list, please reach out to your KCU librarians.


 

More Online Resources

Free and open educational webinars:

Resources from the New England Journal of Medicine:

Other Resources

These titles are not available in our KCU Libraries. They may be available through inter-library loan from other institutions or at your local public library. The links provided are to Amazon for reviews and summaries of the books.