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The recent nonindictments of police officers who killed unarmed Black men have incited popular and scholarly discussions on racial injustices in our legal system, racialized police violence, and police (mis)conduct. What is glaringly absent is a public health perspective in response to these events.
We aim to fill this gap and expand the current dialogue beyond these isolated incidents to a broader discussion of racism in America and how it affects the health and well-being of people of color.
Our goal is not only to reiterate how salient structural racism is in our society, but how critical antiracist work is to the core goals and values of public health. (Am J Public Health. 2015;105: e27-e30. doi:10.2105/AJPH. 2015.302706)
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.1
"Ican't breathe.""Hands up." "Black lives matter." These statements developed in reaction to the recent deaths of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man strangled to death by police in Staten Island, New York, and Michael Brown, an unarmed Black adolescent shot to death by police in Ferguson, Missouri.2 To racial scholars, activists, and many community members, these preventable deaths were only two recent examples of the stark racial injustices that have plagued our country's history. In both instances, the White police officers responsible for the deaths were neither charged with any crime, nor taken to trial.3 However, despite the national and international media attention these cases drew,4 they are by no means isolated incidents.5 Moreover, despite the media's disproportionate focus on cases involving men,5,6 intersectional analyses demonstrate that racialized police violence and misconduct are inflicted upon women and transgendered persons of color as well.7-11
These cases bring to light how racism, defined as a "system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on race, that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities," and advantages others,12(p10) affects the daily realities in communities of color. As public health professionals, we are committed to achieving optimal health for all. Thus, these violent, premature deaths of people of color should enrage us because they directly oppose the vision of Healthy People 2020, "A society in which all people live long, healthy...