The current Black Lives Matter movement responding to anti-Black police brutality has evidenced the violence and discrimination that Black people in the U.S. (and elsewhere in the world) experience.
Although the passing of the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1865 legally abolished slavery, its effects continue to structure the present world.
A 2015 systematic review looking at racial bias in healthcare indicated that racial bias manifests itself through positive attitudes toward white people and negative attitudes toward people of color. It added that this bias has a significant impact on patient outcomes.
While many healthcare providers are explicitly committed to equal treatment of all individuals, biases can also operate implicitly. An explicit commitment to equal treatment is no guarantee that equal treatment will follow.
Crucially, how people recognize bias has associations with the racial group with which they identify. As the authors of the present study note, drawing on previous research:
“Whites are more motivated to disavow stereotypes that cast Whites as racists, and use a higher threshold for racist behaviors, often reserving them only to behaviors and attitudes that are blatantly racist.”
Consequently, to account for racial bias in a healthcare setting, researchers need to consider the experiences and perceptions of non-white people.
Read more on MedicalNewsToday.com.
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