Thread by @arghavan_salles

Just a quick set of comments on some things I’ve noticed, particularly in the last week, among some of the leaders in medicine.

Some have responded to racism and the murder of black people with timely, appropriate statements. They are not my focus.

THREAD

In an effort to help, here are my thoughts on common mistakes I’m seeing made.

1. If you are a section, division, dept chair or dean and have not issued a formal statement, please reflect on why. Your silence implies approval of racism and police brutality against black people.

2. If you released a statement that basically says all lives matter, you have sent out a damaging message and should retract it. If you’re not sure why that messaging is harmful, there are many resources available to help you understand. Here’s one:

vox.com/2016/7/11/1213…

3. I have seen leaders ask black people to share their traumas so that the former can “better understand” the issues.

It is not up to those who have been discriminated against & oppressed to teach you. There are many resources to learn from. Here’s one:

nytimes.com/interactive/20…

4. I have seen leaders ask the very people who are being attacked to draft statements on the leaders’ behalf.

That sends the message that you don’t care enough to even take a stab at it. And it places undue burden on those who are already dealing with trauma.

5. Some have not wanted to use phrases like Black Lives Matter because they think it’s political.

It’s not.

This is about standing up to racism and injustice. If you’re not sure you want to do that, that is worrisome.

6. If you think we don’t have a problem with racism in medicine, please read more on that topic. Even in current events we see the impact that structural racism has had on outcomes for people of color during the covid pandemic. See @uche_blackstock’s work to learn more.

7. Some people have expressed concern about alienating patients. I understand medicine is a business. But you don’t have to look further than Ben & Jerry’s, an ice cream company, to see a strong statement being made by a huge company.

benjerry.com/about-us/media…

8. Some seem to think not being racist is enough.

It’s not.

We all need to strive toward being anti-racist. If you don’t know what that means or how to do it, again, there are many resources available including books...

... like How To Be An Antiracist (@DrIbram) and So You Want To Talk About Race (@IjeomaOluo). If you don’t want to read, watch some documentaries. There are many additional resources here:

medium.com/wake-up-call/a…

I don’t pretend to understand all perspectives, and I’m not a black person. I just spend more time thinking about injustice and racism than do many physicians and am sad to see people making these mistakes. I’m hopeful these tips will help. Please add more!

Fin

Cc @drjessigold @JJcolemanMD @drnikkistamp @janevandis @choo_ek @kdc_md @DrJCoftheDC @ETSshow @DrHowardLiu @DrJenGunter @gradydoctor @RoxanaDaneshjou @BriChristophers @londyloo @EMARIANOMD @alvarezzzy @RealDoctorMike @MikeGisondi @AMWADoctors @WomenSurgeons

One last thing: I’ve heard that using words like racism and murder makes leaders uncomfortable.

What should make you uncomfortable is actual racism and murder, not the appropriate labeling of awful things happening in the world around us.