The State of Anti-Black
Racism in the United
States
Reflections and Solutions from
the Roundtable on Black Men and
Black Women in Science, Engineering,
and Medicine
Lynne M. Holden and
Camara P. Jones, Rapporteurs
Cato T. Laurencin, Editor
Roundtable on Black Men and
Black Women in Science,
Engineering, and Medicine
Policy and Global Affairs
Health and Medicine Division
Proceedings of a Workshop
NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and Aetna Foundation (#18-8876), Johnson & Johnson, the National Institutes of Health (HHSN263201800029I/75N98021F00006), the National Research Council President’s Circle Fund, the University of Pittsburgh, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-69289-2
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-69289-X
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26692
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. The State of Anti-Black Racism in the United States: Reflections and Solutions from the Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26692.
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THE STATE OF ANTI-BLACK RACISM IN THE UNITED STATES ACTION GROUP PLANNING COMMITTEE
LYNNE M. HOLDEN (Co-Chair), Montefiore Medical Center
CAMARA P. JONES (Co-Chair), Harvard University
THEODORE CORBIN, Drexel University College of Medicine
GEORGE Q. DALEY, Harvard Medical School
KAFUI DZIRASA, Duke University
MACALUS V. HOGAN, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
CORA BAGLEY MARRETT, National Science Foundation
ALTHA STEWART, American Psychiatric Association Foundation
Project Staff
MARIA LUND DAHLBERG, Senior Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
LYNNETTE LUSENAKA, Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
REGINALD HAYES, Associate Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
MARQUITA WHITING, Senior Program Assistant, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
TOM ARRISON, Program Director, Policy and Global Affairs (until May 2021)
PAULA W. WHITACRE, Consultant Writer
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ROUNDTABLE ON BLACK MEN AND BLACK WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
CATO T. LAURENCIN (NAS/NAE/NAM) (Chair), University of Connecticut Health
OLUJIMI AJIJOLA, UCLA Medical Center
GILDA A. BARABINO (NAE/NAM), Olin College of Engineering
CHARLES R. BRIDGES, JR., Janssen Research & Development, LLC
CEDRIC M. BRIGHT, East Carolina University
L. D. BRITT (NAM), Eastern Virginia Medical School
ANDRÉ L. CHURCHWELL, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
THEODORE CORBIN, Drexel University
GEORGE Q. DALEY (NAM), Harvard Medical School
WAYNE A. I. FREDERICK, Howard University
PAULA T. HAMMOND (NAS/NAE/NAM), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
EVELYNN M. HAMMONDS (NAM), Harvard University
LYNNE M. HOLDEN, Montefiore Medical Center
CAMARA P. JONES, Morehouse School of Medicine
CORA BAGLEY MARRETT, University of Wisconsin–Madison
VALERIE MONTGOMERY RICE (NAM), Morehouse School of Medicine
RANDALL C. MORGAN, JR., W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute
ELIZABETH O. OFILI (NAM), Morehouse School of Medicine
VIVIAN W. PINN (NAM), National Institutes of Health (Retired)
JOAN Y. REEDE (NAM), Harvard Medical School
LOUIS W. SULLIVAN (NAM), Morehouse School of Medicine
HANNAH VALANTINE (NAM), Stanford University
CLYDE W. YANCY (NAM), Northwestern University
MARK ALEXANDER (Ex Officio Member), 100 Black Men of America, Inc.
MARIE A. BERNARD (Ex Officio Member), National Institutes of Health
KIMBERLY BRYANT (Ex Officio Member), Black Girls CODE
IVORY DEAN (Ex Officio Member), Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
GARTH N. GRAHAM (NAM) (Ex Officio Member), Google, Inc.
IAN HENRY (Ex Officio Member), Procter & Gamble Company
ORLANDO KIRTON (Ex Officio Member), Society of Black Academic Surgeons
JOHN R. LUMPKIN (NAM) (Ex Officio Member), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
SHIRLEY MALCOM (NAS) (Ex Officio Member), American Association for the Advancement of Science
ALFRED MAYS (Ex Officio Member), Burroughs Wellcome Fund
LAMONT R. TERRELL (Ex Officio Member), GlaxoSmithKline
Project Staff
MARIA LUND DAHLBERG, Senior Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
LYNNETTE LUSENAKA, Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
REGINALD HAYES, Associate Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
MARQUITA WHITING, Senior Program Assistant, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
TOM ARRISON, Program Director, Policy and Global Affairs (until May 2021)
Preface
It is an honor for me to serve as chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and serve as the editor of the series of proceedings publications from the Roundtable. Our work began in 2015 when I and leaders of the W. Montague Cobb/National Medical Association Health Institute recognized the growing absence of Black men in medical schools. In fact, levels of Black men entering medical school reached a historic low in the 2015 and 2016 years. Starting in 2016, and with financial support from important partners such as the Aetna Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Connecticut Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, we began planning a National Academies workshop on issues surrounding the absence of Black men in medicine. The joint workshop, entitled “The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science,” took place in 2017. It was historic in that, to my knowledge, it was the first National Academies activity specifically focused on issues involving Black people. The proceedings of that workshop is entitled An American Crisis: The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science. It was released in May 2018, and corresponded to a briefing on the subject of Black men and medicine with the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. Many of the ideas that emerged from the workshop have been embraced by academia, industry, and philanthropy. More needs to be done.
Our next steps have involved the development of a more permanent presence in the National Academies to discuss issues surrounding Black men and Black women in science, engineering, and medicine. With support from our anchor partners named above, along with the Johnson & Johnson, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the University of Pittsburg, and with the continued leadership and commitment from Dr. Victor J. Dzau, the president of the National Academy of Medicine, the Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine was launched late in 2018. I am grateful to the steering committee members for the Roundtable: Drs. L. D. Britt, Cedric M. Bright, George Q. Daley, Randall C. Morgan Jr., Elizabeth O. Ofili, Vivian W. Pinn, and Louis W. Sullivan.
The Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine has garnered considerable support and recognition. Funding for the Roundtable comes from public sector entities such as the National Institutes of Health, private companies such as Johnson & Johnson, and private foundations including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. It is gratifying to see the hard work and expertise of the Roundtable membership and Roundtable National Academies staff being so acknowledged.
In December 2021, the Roundtable organized a workshop aimed at addressing issues around anti-Black racism in the United States. The introduction to the proceedings perhaps said it best. “While fighting to end racism has gone on for centuries and will need to continue into the future, current efforts against anti-Black racism carry a sense of urgency.” Members of the roundtable, organized in action groups have addressed a broad variety of topics. What has been clear is that anti-Black racism and its effects can be found to be centrally important to all the issues facing Black people in science, engineering, and medicine.
And so, this workshop was planned as a “capstone workshop,” with each of the action groups that usually run individual workshops coming together to create one comprehensive workshop and proceedings on the topic of anti-Black racism. The perspectives and ideas—from education to mentoring to financial considerations and beyond—provide a thoughtful and comprehensive blueprint for not only scholarly reflection but for action and change. It is important to note that the work of the Roundtable in addressing issues of racism began with the Roundtable founding in 2018, and its first meeting in 2019, long before the publicized murder of George Floyd and other public atrocities. The work of the Roundtable has as its goal to be proactive on issues, and this capstone workshop follows in those tenets and traditions.
I am grateful to the co-chairs of the workshop, Dr. Lynne M. Holden of Montefiore Medical Center and Dr. Camara P. Jones of Harvard University, for organizing this first-of-its-kind National Academies workshop. I want to also thank the steering committee, largely made up of the leadership of the action groups of the Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, for their considerable expenditures of time and talent. Together this special group, called “The State of Anti-Black Racism in the United States Planning Committee,” delivered an outstanding workshop that produced landmark proceedings.
Like our previous proceedings, this proceedings is meant to move us to action.
Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. (NAS/NAE/NAM)
Chair, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
University Professor, University of Connecticut
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Acknowledgments
This Proceedings of a Workshop was prepared by the workshop rapporteurs as a factual summary of what was presented and discussed at the workshop. The planning committee’s role was limited to planning and convening the workshop. The statements made are those of the rapporteurs and do not necessarily represent positions of the workshop participants as a whole, the planning committee, or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. We wish to extend sincere thanks to all the members of the planning committee for their contributions in scoping, developing, and carrying out this project.
This proceedings has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments to assist the institution in making its published proceedings as sound as possible and ensure the document meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings: Amani M. Allen, University of California, Berkeley; Eraka Bath, University of California, Los Angeles; Steven O. Roberts, Stanford University; and Altha Stewart, University of Tennessee. Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not
asked to endorse the content of the proceedings, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by Cora B. Marrett, University of Wisconsin–Madison (retired), who was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this proceedings rests entirely with the rapporteurs and the National Academies.
Contents
Context from the Roundtable Chair
Imperatives of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Introduction from the Workshop Co-Chairs and Organization of This Proceedings
2 ANTI-RACISM PLANS IN ACADEMIC MEDICINE
Racism, Anti-Racism, and Action
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Addressing Anti-Black Racism: Action and Reflective Practice
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
3 SYSTEMIC ANTI-BLACK RACISM IN THE FINANCING OF EDUCATION
4 INCREASING AWARENESS OF ANTI-BLACK RACISM IN SEM RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Tackling Racism in Medical Education
The Implications of Racial Bias in Research
5 THE IMPACTS OF ANTI-BLACK RACISM IN MENTORSHIP
Panelists’ Recommendations to Move Forward
6 ANTI-BLACK RACISM AND HOW IT AFFECTS K–GRADUATE STUDENTS
Two Studies on Eighth-Grade Algebra
Confidence and Interest in STEM
“PTSD”: Poor Teaching and STEM Disorder
7 THE BATTLE OF THE PANDEMICS: RACISM EXPOSED BY COVID-19
Neighborhood and Physical Environment
8 ANTI-BLACK RACISM AND THE MENTAL HEALTH OF BLACK MEN AND BLACK WOMEN IN STEM
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