Speaking Truth Webinar Series: Medical Racism, November 18, 2021
In the third and final webinar in our Speaking Truth Series, we examine the history of racism in our medical system from the Tuskegee Experiment ("Untreated Syphilis Study in the Negro Male in Macon County, Alabama, 1932-1972") to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A June 7, 2021 article by CNN Health, "Black or 'Other'? Doctors may be relying on race to make decisions about your health," states that, "In 2016, researchers asked White medical students and residents about 15 alleged differences between Black and White bodies. Forty percent of first-year medical students and 25% of residents said they believed Black people have thicker skin, and 7% of all students and residents surveyed said Black people have less sensitive nerve endings. The doctors-in-training who believed these myths — and they are myths — were less likely to prescribe adequate pain medication to Black patients."
Even Black NFL players injured with concussions are compensated differently than White players because of what's referred to as "race correction" in medicine.
In this webinar, we'll examine how racism has been a factor in medicine since European colonization of this continent and continues through to today as we battle inequities in access to COVID-19 treatment vaccination. We'll also explore what changes are underway and what changes are necessary to achieve equity in medical care and treatment.
If you miss any of the programs in this series, please know that they will be recorded and available for on-demand viewing on our YouTube channel.
A June 7, 2021 article by CNN Health, "Black or 'Other'? Doctors may be relying on race to make decisions about your health," states that, "In 2016, researchers asked White medical students and residents about 15 alleged differences between Black and White bodies. Forty percent of first-year medical students and 25% of residents said they believed Black people have thicker skin, and 7% of all students and residents surveyed said Black people have less sensitive nerve endings. The doctors-in-training who believed these myths — and they are myths — were less likely to prescribe adequate pain medication to Black patients."
Even Black NFL players injured with concussions are compensated differently than White players because of what's referred to as "race correction" in medicine.
In this webinar, we'll examine how racism has been a factor in medicine since European colonization of this continent and continues through to today as we battle inequities in access to COVID-19 treatment vaccination. We'll also explore what changes are underway and what changes are necessary to achieve equity in medical care and treatment.
If you miss any of the programs in this series, please know that they will be recorded and available for on-demand viewing on our YouTube channel.
Panelists
Dr. Kirk A Johnson
Dr. Kirk A Johnson teaches courses in Justice Studies, Medical Humanities, Bioethics, Global Issues, and Religion at Montclair State University, Monclair, NJ. Pronouns are he/him/his. He received his Masters of Divinity (MDiv) from Drew Theological School and his Doctorate in Medical Humanities (DMH) from Drew University. Dr. Johnson is a member of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities and The New York Academy of Medicine. He serves as a member of the Atlantic Health Systems Bioethics Committee, former Assistant Director of the Medical Humanities program at Drew University, and fellow emeritus of The American Heart Association’s Multicultural Initiatives Leadership Fellowship Program.
Dr. Johnson has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and upcoming contributions in numerous books. His recent books are "The Anti-Racism Resource Guide Volume One: Supporting Black Businesses and Economics" (Peculiar Capital, 2020) and “Medical Stigmata: Race, Medicine, and the Pursuit of Theological Liberation” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He is an ordained clergy in the United Church of Christ (UCC), Secretary of the UCC Central Atlantic Conference’s New Jersey Association, a member in the Summit Interfaith Council, and creator of the “Race Talk: Origins” and “Race Talk: Systems” courses.
Dr. Johnson specializes in:
Dr. Johnson has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and upcoming contributions in numerous books. His recent books are "The Anti-Racism Resource Guide Volume One: Supporting Black Businesses and Economics" (Peculiar Capital, 2020) and “Medical Stigmata: Race, Medicine, and the Pursuit of Theological Liberation” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). He is an ordained clergy in the United Church of Christ (UCC), Secretary of the UCC Central Atlantic Conference’s New Jersey Association, a member in the Summit Interfaith Council, and creator of the “Race Talk: Origins” and “Race Talk: Systems” courses.
Dr. Johnson specializes in:
- Religion and Medicine
- Ethics/Bioethics
- Race and Medicine
- Health Disparities
- Physician-Patient Relationship
Dr. Jontyle Robinson
Dr. Jontyle Robinson, trailblazing art historian/curator received her doctoral degree in art history from the University of Maryland and was first curator for the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta and Tuskegee University’s Legacy Museum /Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site. The Legacy Museum is a bioethics and visual arts museum. These schools are Historically Black institutions.
Her groundbreaking research on artist Archibald Motley at the Chicago History Center resulted in New York City’s Kenkeleba Gallery “Three Masters: Archibald Motley, Eldzier Cortor, and Hughie Lee Smith.” In 1991, the Chicago History Center, mounted "The Art of Archibald John Motley, Jr" from her decade-long research which was, also, the foundation for the Whitney Museum's exhibition “Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist " on view from October 2015-January 2016 in New York City.
She curated/ co-authored for the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art's contribution to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, "Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women Artists,” the first exhibition /catalogue of African American women artists touring America. In 2016, Robinson conceptualized the Alliance of HBCU Museums & Galleries, a coalition of 11 Historically Black College and University Museums and Galleries. She is Founding Director.
There are Alliance partnerships and programs at Yale University, Princeton University University Art Museum, Princeton University Library University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum; American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution/Lunder Conservation Center, The Brooklyn Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges, UCLA/Getty, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, SUNY/Buffalo, American Institute for Conservation, LACMA, Bard Graduate Center-NYC, Harvard University Art Museums.
For her unwavering, laser-focused commitment to African Americans in the art industry she was honored with the Allied Professionals Special Recognition award by AIC for her work and contributions to the advancement of the conservation profession.
Her groundbreaking research on artist Archibald Motley at the Chicago History Center resulted in New York City’s Kenkeleba Gallery “Three Masters: Archibald Motley, Eldzier Cortor, and Hughie Lee Smith.” In 1991, the Chicago History Center, mounted "The Art of Archibald John Motley, Jr" from her decade-long research which was, also, the foundation for the Whitney Museum's exhibition “Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist " on view from October 2015-January 2016 in New York City.
She curated/ co-authored for the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art's contribution to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, "Bearing Witness: Contemporary Works by African American Women Artists,” the first exhibition /catalogue of African American women artists touring America. In 2016, Robinson conceptualized the Alliance of HBCU Museums & Galleries, a coalition of 11 Historically Black College and University Museums and Galleries. She is Founding Director.
There are Alliance partnerships and programs at Yale University, Princeton University University Art Museum, Princeton University Library University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum; American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution/Lunder Conservation Center, The Brooklyn Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges, UCLA/Getty, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, SUNY/Buffalo, American Institute for Conservation, LACMA, Bard Graduate Center-NYC, Harvard University Art Museums.
For her unwavering, laser-focused commitment to African Americans in the art industry she was honored with the Allied Professionals Special Recognition award by AIC for her work and contributions to the advancement of the conservation profession.
Host/Moderator
Dr. Pamela Zappardino
Pamela Zappardino holds a doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of RI and is a graduate of Leadership RI and Leadership Maryland. She serves on the Boards of Common Ground on the Hill, Rape Crisis Intervention Services of Carroll County, the Carroll County NAACP, the Community Foundation of Carroll County and the Living Legacy Project as well as on the steering committees of the WMC Heritage Society at McDaniel College and Carroll Citizens for Racial Equality. She has been on the Carroll County Public Schools’ Council for Multicultural Education for 15 years.