WC4BL Berkeley Chapter Statement on the May 2020 Black Lives Matter Movement
#blacklivesmatter
The White Coats for Black Lives (WC4BL) UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program Chapter writes today with deep sadness and outrage over the current state of our country. This week marks the fourth-known killing of Black people in May 2020 alone. George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor join the many Black lives that have been senselessly taken by the police violence and racism plaguing the United States. Their families either now join or remain in the ranks of having their loved ones unjustly taken from their communities.
There has been a disconcerting trend of the media focusing on material damage done by rioting and looting rather than elevating the important message of the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) community activists. As medical students, we vehemently disagree with the media’s emphasis on respectability politics. Instead, we choose to focus on the injustice enacted at the hands of the police and highlight the Black voices speaking against these abuses. George Floyd was murdered when a police officer kneeled on his neck for 8.5 minutes. We know that this action leads to positional asphyxiation, in which oxygen cannot be delivered to the body tissues and ultimately results in death. This is what happened to George Floyd.
As the Berkeley WC4BL chapter, we believe that it is our responsibility as future physicians to speak out against these injustices. Silence is not an option. We are tired, we are outraged, and we demand action.
WC4BL was founded by medical students in 2014 in response to police brutality after the slayings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Five years later, nothing has changed—in fact, criminal justice, education, and healthcare systems have only exacerbated the health disparities and police brutality experienced by Black communities. Under the current Trump administration and in the midst of a global pandemic, the health disparities faced by Black communities are compounded by the unjust killing of Black people. Black communities are caught in an impossible situation: having to choose between protesting for their right to live peacefully or staying safe from COVID-19, a virus already disproportionately killing Black communities.
We acknowledge that the history of Black America is entrenched in more than 400 years of trauma. Across institutions, America has poured more resources into the oppression and policing of Black communities than into the healing of these communities. It began with the transatlantic slave trade, and was followed by Jim Crow laws, ongoing mass incarceration, and police brutality. Police departments, equipped with military-grade weaponry, have disproportionately surveilled Black communities resulting in high levels of arrest and police killings. As medical students, we must recognize the history of American scientists and physicians exploiting Black lives as research subjects and subsequently denying them the benefits of the research they contributed to. The multifaceted trauma experienced by Black people carries through generations, both on an individual and societal level. Many peer-reviewed articles have shown several physiological and genetic effects of experiencing racism, including increased allostatic load, dysregulations in cortisol, oxidative stress, and shorter telomeres. Chronic exposure to racism is also associated with elevated rates of overall mortality, heart disease, and low birthweight. We now see the effects of this trauma and institutional racism today in the form of the disproportionate Black lives lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. To be clear, these differences in health outcomes are a direct result of a history of systemic racism and systematic oppression.
As future physicians, we are outraged by the statement released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner claiming that George Floyd’s death was caused by “underlying health conditions” such as “coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.” The fact remains that George Floyd’s last words were “I can’t breathe.” Additionally, an independent autopsy found that George Floyd died from “asphyxiation from sustained pressure.” The Medical Examiner was complicit in protecting a broken system upholding police brutality—this is a clear example of willful ignorance of published, scientific, peer-reviewed evidence that has irrefutably demonstrated the “underlying health conditions” that disproportionately affect black communities are due to systemic and structural racism. The lack of accountability shown by Hennepin County in releasing that statement is wildly irresponsible and ultimately furthers the harm done. It is a physician's duty to improve the health of their community. Thus, medical professionals have a responsibility to speak out against police brutality and hold their colleagues accountable.
We take a stand for the immediate end to tear gas use in the midst of a pandemic that causes severe respiratory health outcomes. We take a stand against the unethical imprisonment of protestors especially considering the rates of transmission of coronavirus in jails.
As medical students we urge our political, criminal justice, education, and healthcare systems to critically assess the implementation and enforcement of policies that enable and maintain the persecution of Black people. We urge our institutional systems to implement and enforce anti-racist policies and specifically policies that address anti-blackness to not only protect, but also support all Black lives. These policies must be explicitly written, prioritized, and funded in order to be effective. Furthermore, anti-racism curricula must be taught in every institution, particularly in law enforcement which has been directly responsible for ending Black lives.
Police officers must be trained in anti-racism and preventing anti-blackness with the objectives of understanding 1) the history of oppression of Black communities, 2) the generational trauma of that oppression, and 3) the many forms of oppression that afflict Black communities today. Officers must be assessed on their ability to protect Black lives and held accountable when they do not fulfill their duties. Departments that do not change their policies in light of these deaths risk their officers killing innocent Black men, women, and children and must be held accountable. Additionally, we support the activist groups in Minneapolis calling for divestment from police and reinvestment in housing, healthcare, education, employment, as well as community-based anti-violence and trauma-informed services. These changes are not an exhaustive list, but rather a first step to protecting Black Americans against institutional violence.
The UC Berkeley-UCSF White Coats for Black Lives chapter demands the recognition of racism, white supremacy, and police brutality as a public health crisis. Structural racism is a disease with quantifiable negative health outcomes. We urge the medical community to immediately address this matter with the urgency it deserves. We demand the following:
The development of a medical diagnosis for Chronic Exposure to Racism and incorporate this diagnosis into our healthcare system in order to prioritize and advocate for our Black patients.
Comprehensive anti-racism training for all US Medical Students, practicing Physicians, and associated health providers (including but not limited to: Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and Medical Assistants).
Eliminate the use of race as a predisposing factor in medical diagnoses.
Utilize an anti-racist and health equity framework in medical education.
Improve the recruitment and support of Black medical students and physicians.
The UC Berkeley-UCSF WC4BL chapter unconditionally affirms that BLACK LIVES MATTER. We stand in solidarity with the protesters across the United States and denounce the actions of the police officers involved in the murder of George Floyd.
In solidarity,
UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program White Coats for Black Lives
With support from:
UCSF Student National Medical Association
UCSF Latino Medical Student Association
UCSF Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association
UCSF Association of Native American Medical Students
UCSF Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved c/o 2024
UC Berkeley Students for a National Health Program
Freedom School for Intersectional Medicine and Health Justice
UCSF Pride in Medicine
UCSF Do No Harm Coalition
References
Self-reported Experiences of Discrimination and Health: Scientific Advances, Ongoing Controversies, and Emerging Issues
https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ucsf.idm.oclc.org/pmc/articles/PMC5555118/Racism and Health: Evidence and Needed Research
https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ucsf.idm.oclc.org/pmc/articles/PMC6532402/
