President Biden’s director of disease control and prevention centers has declared racism a serious threat to public health.
“Racism is a system – made up of structures, policies, practices and norms – that assign value and determine opportunities based on the way people look or the color of their skin,” the CDC posted on its website on Thursday. “This leads to circumstances that unfairly benefit some and harm others throughout society.”
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks to press at the Hynes Convention Center FEMA Mass Vaccination Site on March 30, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Erin Clark-Pool / Getty Images)
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, announced the statement in a statement Thursday.
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‘Racism is not just the discrimination of one group on the basis of the color of their skin or their race or ethnicity, but the structural barriers that affect racial and ethnic groups differently to influence where someone lives, where they work, where they children play and where they worship and gather in the community, ‘she said in a statement.
She also blamed racism for the excessive impact of COVID-19 on color communities
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“The pandemic has highlighted inequalities that have existed for generations and has revealed to the whole of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic that affects public health: racism,” she said. “Racism is a serious threat to public health that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans. Consequently, it affects the health of our entire nation.”
She said the CDC would combat this by studying the impact of ‘social determinants on health outcomes’ by investing in minority communities and launching a new website.
In addition to the coronavirus, the CDC said that minority communities experience higher health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, asthma and heart disease than white Americans.
“Over generations, these structural inequalities have led to serious racial and ethnic health inequalities that are severe, profound and unacceptable,” Walensky said.