What will it take to achieve meaningful change in our lifetimes?
We are constantly reminded that racial hatred and resentment run deep in this country. All too often they manifest in ways that leave us wondering if real progress will ever come, and if it does come, is it always going to be at risk of being undone?
These questions are unanswerable, but there are some things we can say with great certainty:
- We are committed to addressing and undoing racism, discrimination, and bias as a first priority in our personal and professional lives.
- As members of the community that teaches and trains this nation’s health care providers and biomedical researchers, we must be standard-bearers and role models in this work.
- Anti-racism will require humility, honesty, mutual trust, the courage to be vulnerable, and the willingness to share our knowledge and resources with each other in a community of practice that breaks down silos and barriers to communication. Our shared humanity is too important to be silenced.
- We will always advocate for doing the right thing, and for making this world a better place.
- We will not back down, we will not be intimidated, and we will not compromise in achieving the goal of medical education, medical care, and medical research that are free of racism and bias and promote equity.
- As mass shootings continue to occur on an almost daily basis, increasingly targeting marginalized racial groups, our elected officials remain impotent in creating a safe America. It’s time for us to use our privilege, influence, social capital, and votes in addressing this public health crisis. And it’s time for our legislators to work for the people, not their political future, in order to achieve meaningful results.
In Solidarity,