How racism makes us sick
-
0:01 - 0:04An article in the Yale Alumni Magazine
-
0:05 - 0:08told the story of Clyde Murphy,
-
0:08 - 0:12a black man who was a member
of the Class of 1970. -
0:13 - 0:15Clyde was a success story.
-
0:16 - 0:19After Yale and a law degree from Columbia,
-
0:20 - 0:22Clyde spent the next 30 years
-
0:22 - 0:26as one of America's
top civil rights lawyers. -
0:26 - 0:29He was also a great husband and father.
-
0:30 - 0:33But despite his success,
-
0:33 - 0:35personally and professionally,
-
0:36 - 0:38Clyde's story had a sad ending.
-
0:39 - 0:41In 2010,
-
0:42 - 0:43at the age of 62,
-
0:45 - 0:48Clyde died from a blood clot in his lung.
-
0:50 - 0:54Clyde's experience was not unique.
-
0:55 - 0:58Many of his black classmates from Yale
-
0:58 - 0:59also died young.
-
1:00 - 1:03In fact, the magazine article indicated
-
1:04 - 1:08that 41 years after graduation from Yale,
-
1:08 - 1:11the black members of the Class of 1970
-
1:11 - 1:14had a death rate
that was three times higher -
1:15 - 1:17than that of the average class member.
-
1:19 - 1:20It's stunning.
-
1:21 - 1:24America has recently awakened
-
1:25 - 1:27to a steady drumbeat
-
1:27 - 1:31of unarmed black men
being shot by the police. -
1:32 - 1:35What is even a bigger story
-
1:37 - 1:40is that every seven minutes,
-
1:40 - 1:44a black person dies prematurely
in the United States. -
1:44 - 1:48That is over 200 black people
-
1:48 - 1:50die every single day
-
1:50 - 1:55who would not die if the health
of blacks and whites were equal. -
1:58 - 2:00For the last 25 years,
-
2:01 - 2:03I have been on a mission
-
2:03 - 2:06to understand why does race
-
2:06 - 2:08matter so profoundly for health.
-
2:10 - 2:12When I started my career,
-
2:12 - 2:16many believed that it was simply
about racial differences -
2:16 - 2:18in income and education.
-
2:18 - 2:23I discovered that while
economic status matters for health, -
2:24 - 2:26there is more to the story.
-
2:26 - 2:31So for example, if we look
at life expectancy at age 25, -
2:32 - 2:37at age 25 there's a five-year gap
between blacks and whites. -
2:37 - 2:41And the gap by education
for both whites and blacks -
2:41 - 2:44is even larger than the racial gap.
-
2:45 - 2:50At the same time,
at every level of education, -
2:50 - 2:52whites live longer than blacks.
-
2:53 - 2:55So whites who are high school dropouts
-
2:55 - 2:59live 3.4 years longer
than their black counterparts, -
2:59 - 3:01and the gap is even larger
-
3:02 - 3:03among college graduates.
-
3:04 - 3:07Most surprising of all,
-
3:07 - 3:11whites who have graduated from high school
-
3:11 - 3:14live longer than blacks
with a college degree -
3:14 - 3:16or more education.
-
3:17 - 3:20So why does race matter
so profoundly for health? -
3:21 - 3:25What else is it
beyond education and income -
3:25 - 3:27that might matter?
-
3:28 - 3:30In the early 1990s,
-
3:31 - 3:33I was asked to review a new book
-
3:34 - 3:35on the health of black America.
-
3:36 - 3:39I was struck that almost every single one
-
3:39 - 3:42of its 25 chapters
-
3:42 - 3:43said that racism
-
3:43 - 3:46was a factor that was hurting
the health of blacks. -
3:47 - 3:49All of these researchers
-
3:50 - 3:55were stating that racism was a factor
adversely impacting blacks, -
3:56 - 3:58but they provided no evidence.
-
3:59 - 4:01For me, that was not good enough.
-
4:02 - 4:04A few months later,
-
4:04 - 4:07I was speaking at a conference
in Washington, DC, -
4:07 - 4:10and I said that one
of the priorities for research -
4:10 - 4:14was to document the ways
in which racism affected health. -
4:15 - 4:17A white gentleman stood in the audience
-
4:17 - 4:21and said that while he agreed
with me that racism was important, -
4:22 - 4:24we could never measure racism.
-
4:25 - 4:27"We measure self-esteem," I said.
-
4:28 - 4:30"There's no reason
-
4:30 - 4:33why we can't measure racism
if we put our minds to it." -
4:34 - 4:36And so I put my mind to it
-
4:36 - 4:38and developed three scales.
-
4:38 - 4:42The first one captured
major experiences of discrimination, -
4:42 - 4:47like being unfairly fired
or being unfairly stopped by the police. -
4:47 - 4:52But discrimination also occurs
in more minor and subtle experiences, -
4:52 - 4:55and so my second scale,
called the Everyday Discrimination Scale, -
4:56 - 4:58captures nine items
-
4:58 - 4:59that captures experiences
-
4:59 - 5:02like you're treated
with less courtesy than others, -
5:02 - 5:06you receive poorer service
than others in restaurants or stores, -
5:06 - 5:08or people act as if they're afraid of you.
-
5:09 - 5:12This scale captures
-
5:12 - 5:16ways in which the dignity and the respect
-
5:16 - 5:19of people who society does not value
-
5:19 - 5:21is chipped away on a daily basis.
-
5:22 - 5:23Research has found
-
5:25 - 5:28that higher levels of discrimination
-
5:28 - 5:34are associated with an elevated risk
of a broad range of diseases -
5:34 - 5:37from blood pressure to abdominal obesity
-
5:37 - 5:40to breast cancer to heart disease
-
5:40 - 5:42and even premature mortality.
-
5:44 - 5:49Strikingly, some of the effects
are observed at a very young age. -
5:49 - 5:53For example, a study of black teens
-
5:54 - 6:00found that those who reported higher
levels of discrimination as teenagers -
6:01 - 6:04had higher levels of stress hormones,
-
6:06 - 6:07of blood pressure
-
6:07 - 6:10and of weight at age 20.
-
6:12 - 6:14However,
-
6:16 - 6:18the stress of discrimination
-
6:18 - 6:20is only one aspect.
-
6:20 - 6:23Discrimination and racism
-
6:23 - 6:27also matters in other
profound ways for health. -
6:27 - 6:30For example, there's
discrimination in medical care. -
6:31 - 6:35In 1999, the National Academy of Medicine
-
6:35 - 6:37asked me to serve on a committee
-
6:37 - 6:42that found, concluded
based on the scientific evidence, -
6:42 - 6:45that blacks and other minorities
-
6:45 - 6:48receive poorer quality care than whites.
-
6:48 - 6:52This was true for all kinds
of medical treatment, -
6:52 - 6:54from the most simple
-
6:55 - 6:58to the most technologically sophisticated.
-
6:59 - 7:02One explanation for this pattern
-
7:02 - 7:06was a phenomenon
that's called "implicit bias" -
7:06 - 7:08or "unconscious discrimination."
-
7:08 - 7:11Research for decades
by social psychologists -
7:11 - 7:14indicates that if you hold
a negative stereotype -
7:14 - 7:18about a group in your subconscious mind
-
7:18 - 7:20and you meet someone from that group,
-
7:20 - 7:23you will discriminate against that person.
-
7:23 - 7:24You will treat them differently.
-
7:24 - 7:29It's an unconscious process.
It's an automatic process. -
7:29 - 7:32It is a subtle process, but it's normal
-
7:32 - 7:38and it occurs even among
the most well-intentioned individuals. -
7:39 - 7:42But the deeper that I delved
-
7:42 - 7:44into the health impact of racism,
-
7:45 - 7:48the more insidious the effects became.
-
7:49 - 7:52There is institutional discrimination,
-
7:53 - 7:55which refers to discrimination
-
7:55 - 7:59that exists in the processes
of social institutions. -
8:00 - 8:03Residential segregation by race,
-
8:03 - 8:08which has led to blacks and whites living
in very different neighborhood contexts, -
8:08 - 8:11is a classic example
of institutional racism. -
8:13 - 8:17One of America's best-kept secrets
-
8:17 - 8:19is how residential segregation
-
8:19 - 8:22is the secret source
-
8:22 - 8:25that creates racial inequality
in the United States. -
8:27 - 8:30In America, where you live
-
8:30 - 8:33determines your access to opportunities
-
8:33 - 8:36in education, in employment,
-
8:36 - 8:40in housing and even
in access to medical care. -
8:42 - 8:48One study of the 171 largest
cities in the United States -
8:48 - 8:51concluded that there is not even one city
-
8:51 - 8:55where whites live
under equal conditions to blacks, -
8:55 - 8:59and that the worst urban contexts
in which whites reside -
8:59 - 9:03is considerably better than the average
context of black communities. -
9:04 - 9:06Another study found
-
9:06 - 9:09that if you could eliminate statistically
-
9:09 - 9:10residential segregation,
-
9:10 - 9:14you would completely erase
black-white differences in income, -
9:15 - 9:17education and unemployment,
-
9:17 - 9:20and reduce black-white differences
in single motherhood -
9:20 - 9:22by two thirds,
-
9:22 - 9:24all of that driven by segregation.
-
9:25 - 9:27I have also learned
-
9:27 - 9:30how the negative stereotypes
-
9:30 - 9:33and images of blacks in our culture
-
9:33 - 9:36literally create and sustain
-
9:36 - 9:39both institutional
and individual discrimination. -
9:41 - 9:44A group of researchers
have put together a database -
9:44 - 9:47that contains the books,
-
9:47 - 9:50magazines and articles
-
9:50 - 9:54that an average college-educated
American would read over their lifetime. -
9:54 - 9:57It allows us to look within this database
-
9:57 - 10:03and see how Americans
have seen words paired together -
10:03 - 10:05as they grow up in their society.
-
10:05 - 10:09So when the word "black"
appears in American culture, -
10:09 - 10:11what co-occurs with it?
-
10:11 - 10:13"Poor,"
-
10:13 - 10:14"violent,"
-
10:14 - 10:15"religious,"
-
10:15 - 10:17"lazy,"
-
10:17 - 10:18"cheerful,"
-
10:18 - 10:20"dangerous."
-
10:20 - 10:21When "white" occurs,
-
10:21 - 10:23the frequently co-occurring words
-
10:23 - 10:25are "wealthy,"
-
10:25 - 10:26"progressive,"
-
10:26 - 10:27"conventional,"
-
10:28 - 10:29"stubborn,"
-
10:29 - 10:31"successful,"
-
10:31 - 10:32"educated."
-
10:32 - 10:36So when a police officer
-
10:36 - 10:40overreacts when he sees
an unarmed black male -
10:41 - 10:46and perceives him
to be violent and dangerous, -
10:46 - 10:51we are not necessarily dealing
with an inherently bad cop. -
10:51 - 10:54We may be simply viewing
-
10:54 - 10:56a normal American
-
10:56 - 11:00who is reflecting
what he has been exposed to -
11:00 - 11:02as a result of being raised
-
11:02 - 11:03in this society.
-
11:04 - 11:06From my own experience,
-
11:08 - 11:10I believe that your race
-
11:10 - 11:13does not have to be
a determinant of your destiny. -
11:15 - 11:17I migrated to the United States
-
11:17 - 11:19from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia
-
11:20 - 11:22in the late 1970s
-
11:23 - 11:25in pursuit of higher education,
-
11:26 - 11:28and in the last 40 years,
-
11:28 - 11:30I have done well.
-
11:30 - 11:33I have had a supportive family,
-
11:33 - 11:34I have worked hard,
-
11:35 - 11:36I have done well.
-
11:37 - 11:40But it took more for me to be successful.
-
11:41 - 11:45I received a minority fellowship
from the University of Michigan. -
11:45 - 11:50Yes. I am an affirmative action baby.
-
11:51 - 11:53Without affirmative action,
-
11:53 - 11:55I would not be here.
-
11:57 - 12:00But in the last 40 years,
-
12:00 - 12:03black America has been
less successful than I have. -
12:05 - 12:10In 1978, black households
in the United States -
12:10 - 12:14earned 59 cents for every dollar
of income whites earned. -
12:15 - 12:17In 2015,
-
12:17 - 12:22black families still earn 59 cents
-
12:22 - 12:26for every dollar of income
that white families receive, -
12:26 - 12:30and the racial gaps in wealth
are even more stunning. -
12:31 - 12:33For every dollar of wealth
that whites have, -
12:34 - 12:37black families have six pennies
and Latinos have seven pennies. -
12:39 - 12:40The fact is,
-
12:40 - 12:42racism
-
12:42 - 12:47is producing a truly rigged system
-
12:47 - 12:52that is systematically disadvantaging
some racial groups in the United States. -
12:53 - 12:55To paraphrase Plato,
-
12:55 - 12:57there is nothing so unfair
-
12:59 - 13:02as the equal treatment of unequal people.
-
13:04 - 13:06And that's why I am committed
-
13:06 - 13:09to working to dismantle racism.
-
13:10 - 13:12I deeply appreciate the fact
-
13:12 - 13:16that I am standing on the shoulders
-
13:16 - 13:20of those who have sacrificed
even their lives to open the doors -
13:20 - 13:21that I have walked through.
-
13:22 - 13:26I want to ensure
that those doors remain open -
13:26 - 13:30and that everyone
can walk through those doors. -
13:32 - 13:35Robert Kennedy said,
-
13:35 - 13:38"Each time a man" --
or woman, I would add -- -
13:38 - 13:40"stands up for an ideal
-
13:40 - 13:43or acts to improve the lot of others
-
13:43 - 13:46or strikes out against injustice,
-
13:46 - 13:49he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,
-
13:49 - 13:52and those ripples can build a current
-
13:52 - 13:57that can sweep down the mightiest walls
of oppression and resistance." -
13:58 - 14:00I am optimistic today
-
14:00 - 14:03because all across America,
-
14:03 - 14:05I have seen ripples of hope.
-
14:06 - 14:08The Boston Medical Center
-
14:08 - 14:10has added lawyers to the medical team
-
14:11 - 14:15so that physicians can improve
the health of their patients -
14:15 - 14:20because the lawyers are addressing
the nonmedical needs their patients have. -
14:20 - 14:24Loma Linda University
has built a gateway college -
14:24 - 14:26in nearby San Bernardino
-
14:26 - 14:29so that in addition
to delivering medical care, -
14:29 - 14:32they can provide job skills
-
14:32 - 14:34and job training
-
14:34 - 14:39to a predominantly minority,
low-income community members -
14:39 - 14:43so that they will have the skills
they need to get a decent job. -
14:45 - 14:47In Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
-
14:47 - 14:51the Abecedarian Project has figured out
-
14:51 - 14:56how to ensure that they have lowered
the risks for heart disease -
14:56 - 14:59for blacks in their mid-30s
-
14:59 - 15:02by providing high-quality day care
-
15:03 - 15:05from birth to age five.
-
15:05 - 15:09In after-school centers
across the United States, -
15:09 - 15:11Wintley Phipps and the US Dream Academy
-
15:11 - 15:14is breaking the cycle of incarceration
-
15:14 - 15:18by providing high-quality
academic enrichment and mentoring -
15:18 - 15:21to the children of prisoners
-
15:21 - 15:24and children who have
fallen behind in school. -
15:25 - 15:26In Huntsville, Alabama,
-
15:26 - 15:28Oakwood University,
-
15:28 - 15:30a historically black institution,
-
15:30 - 15:34is showing how we can improve
the health of black adults -
15:34 - 15:37by including a health evaluation
-
15:37 - 15:41as a part of freshman orientation
-
15:41 - 15:44and giving those students
the tools they need -
15:44 - 15:45to make healthy choices
-
15:45 - 15:49and providing them annually
a health transcript -
15:49 - 15:51so they can monitor their progress.
-
15:52 - 15:53And in Atlanta, Georgia,
-
15:53 - 15:59Purpose Built Communities has dismantled
the negative effects of segregation -
15:59 - 16:02by transforming a crime-ridden,
-
16:02 - 16:05drug-infested public housing project
-
16:05 - 16:09into an oasis of mixed-income housing,
-
16:09 - 16:11of academic performance,
-
16:11 - 16:14of great community wellness
-
16:14 - 16:15and of full employment.
-
16:16 - 16:18And finally,
-
16:18 - 16:20there is the Devine solution.
-
16:21 - 16:23Professor Patricia Devine
-
16:24 - 16:27of the University of Wisconsin
-
16:27 - 16:31has shown us how we can attack
-
16:31 - 16:34our hidden biases head on
-
16:34 - 16:36and effectively reduce them.
-
16:37 - 16:38Each one of us
-
16:38 - 16:41can be a ripple of hope.
-
16:41 - 16:45This work will not always be easy,
-
16:45 - 16:48but former Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall -
16:49 - 16:52has told us, "We must dissent.
-
16:52 - 16:54We must dissent from the indifference.
-
16:54 - 16:56We must dissent from the apathy.
-
16:56 - 17:00We must dissent from the hatred
and from the mistrust. -
17:00 - 17:01We must dissent
-
17:01 - 17:05because America can do better,
-
17:05 - 17:09because America has no choice
but to do better." -
17:09 - 17:11Thank you.
-
17:11 - 17:14(Applause)
- Title:
- How racism makes us sick
- Speaker:
- David R. Williams
- Description:
-
Why does race matter so profoundly for health? David R. Williams developed a scale to measure the impact of discrimination on well-being, going beyond traditional measures like income and education to reveal how factors like implicit bias, residential segregation and negative stereotypes create and sustain inequality. In this eye-opening talk, Williams presents evidence for how racism is producing a rigged system -- and offers hopeful examples of programs across the US that are working to dismantle discrimination.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 17:27
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How racism makes us sick | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How racism makes us sick | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for How racism makes us sick | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How racism makes us sick | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How racism makes us sick | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for How racism makes us sick |