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CANCELLED - Cassedy Lecture in the History of Medicine: "Savages cry easily and are afraid of the dark” What it means to talk about race and African American health

Air date: Thursday, September 24, 2020, 2:00:00 PM
Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Description: 12th annual Cassedy Lecture in the History of Medicine:

This lecture will examine the impact of racism on African American health, looking at pervasive inequities that drive higher rates of morbidity and death in the United States. Where once explicitly racist theories of African American bodies and minds dominated public and scientific discourse, contemporary understandings of racial inequities in health tend to use less incendiary language, but still conceive of poor health as fundamentally a problem of individuals. Such framing centers health behaviors including diet and visits to the doctor, and leaves the role of social structures uninterrogated. This talk explores the deeply entrenched effects of racism on African American health through institutional policies and practices that defeat socioeconomic opportunity and cause overexposure to harms; stereotypes; day-to-day encounters with racism; and other aspects of American social life.
Author: Dr. Naa Oyo A. Kwate, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of Human Ecology, Rutgers University
Runtime: 1 hour