摘要：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. “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 “I can’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 lives.” 13 Therefore, our commentary calls upon our field to recognize the pervasive role of racism in public health and to reshape our discourse and agenda so that we all actively engage in racial justice work. Our position is not a new one. 14–22 In 1998, the American Public Health Association (APHA) released a policy statement on the disproportionate impact of police violence on people of color. 20 This statement recommended strategies for reversing the trends; however, to date, there has been no record whether these policy recommendations have been implemented. 23 The relevance of the 1998 APHA statement to the most recent incidents of racialized police violence is chilling. Yet, almost two decades later, explicit conversations about racism remain glaringly absent from most mainstream public health discourse. Although our commentary was motivated by the recent nonindictments in the Garner and Brown cases, 2-3 we intend to expand the conversation beyond these individual high-profile cases to discuss racism and public health more broadly. Specifically, our goal is to emphasize how race and racism in our society are central to the field of public health. The intent of our commentary is to (1) acknowledge racism as a critical public health concern, (2) distinguish between the constructs of race and racism for public health, (3) discuss the pervasiveness of structural racism in our society, and (4) offer calls to action.
