Abstract

Racial inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic highlight how systemic anti-Black racism negatively impacts health. Anti-Black racism pervades the healthcare system, ranging from race-based corrections embedded in clinical algorithms to bias among healthcare providers. Systemic racism takes a physiological toll, causing illness and early mortality among Black people in the US and sending ripple effects across Black communities. The erasure of Black history is a common tool of racism that serves to impede progress toward racial justice. Structural changes, such as policies and laws that centre the lived experiences of Black people and directly address anti-Blackness racism, are essential for achieving health equity.