Next procedure cancelled so sitting in the staff room with 2 nurses watching day 6 of #BlackLivesMatter protests in the US. Yesterday a huge protest in London & many other cities. The nurses felt protestors shouldn't use violence & were wrong to go near the White House. I said > 
"what other options do they have?" But as I said it, I knew how tone deaf it is for me to saying that as both of the nurses are black and I'm not. You've heard the difference about non-racism vs anti-racism, I've been thinking about it a lot recently.
Being able to talk to others honestly & hearing their views is important, otherwise it's easy to never change your mindset, safe in the knowledge you are a 'good guy'. You don't hate black people! You're not like these racists. But we all have things to learn.
In science circles, most of us are susceptible to this bias & very unaware of it. It takes conscious effort to avoid faulty assumptions.
Take the other dominant story of 2020 - COVID-19. In particular, its effect on black and ethnic minorities.
Take the other dominant story of 2020 - COVID-19. In particular, its effect on black and ethnic minorities.
BAME people are disproportionately represented amongst COVID deaths in the UK and US. Scientists were quick to hypothesise genetic theories, based on pseudoscientific ideas of race. The simple answer is the excess deaths are almost all due to social factors.
BAME people are overrepresented in front-line work, whether it's nursing, driving or cleaning. They are more likely to CONTRACT the virus. Once they are hospitalised with COVID, actually the outcome is the same as anyone else with a similar medical background. (ONS)
I live in Newham which, I think, has the highest proportion of BAME residents (56%) in London & it's also the worst COVID-affected area in the entire country.
Even a pandemic hasn't made people understand that health is intrinsically tied to deprivation.
Even a pandemic hasn't made people understand that health is intrinsically tied to deprivation.
I mention medical background as pre-existing medical problems are not equally distributed. Again, doctors have always attempted to scientify this by looking for genetic reasons, when in reality the idea that races differ dramatically is nonsense.
I wonder if someone needs to write 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to Science People About Race'
Scientists, science communicators, doctors are mostly from privileged backgrounds & consider themselves woke and can be blind to structural racism (I absolutely include myself in this)
Scientists, science communicators, doctors are mostly from privileged backgrounds & consider themselves woke and can be blind to structural racism (I absolutely include myself in this)
It's good to show support, sign petitions, and protest. That's important. But introspection and discussion is how most of us can actually make a change to ourselves, not "hey I'm colour blind".
If you're getting bored of BLM tweets and would rather just concentrate on your field, which is *just* science or medicine and nothing to do with race, then I'd suggest you need to rethink that.
As a teenager I remember cycling to Eltham to see where Stephen Lawrence was killed, when he was also a teenager. Some things changed afterwards, some didn't. I don't know if George Floyd's death will have a similar effect. Had they lived, they would've been about the same age.
