Series Description

Stark inequities in morbidity and mortality among U.S. minoritized populations have persisted for generations. The root cause of these inequities is structural racism. As a concept that first emerged with European colonial expansion in the 16th century, race(ism) is woven into the fabric of American consciousness. It is insufficient and harmful to view racism as an isolated event; doing so invalidates the experiences of persons afflicted by racism while perpetuating the structures and systems that uphold racism.

We are reimagining our conversations on racism and embarking on a journey — beginning with the moment of our country's inception through the country's current state. The first stop on our journey will be “The Birth of Race: The genocide of native and indigenous peoples & colonization of the Americas,” highlighting the structural forces of racism — including the intersection among various demarginalized groups. Our journey will then showcase the events leading up to the Civil War and Reconstruction, the grotesque period of Jim Crow, along with the Civil Rights Era—a time of Black resilience. To understand the history of health inequities, our journey will unpack events of medical mistreatment, including the War on Drugs, and through the country's current state. Through this six-part educational series, we will deconstruct and de-naturalize the idea of race for an increased understanding of the systemic nature of racism and its impact on health.

Series Objectives

Please see below for the series objectives. Each of the six parts will address a select number of objectives as described in their individual descriptions later in this guide.

• Deconstruct and de-naturalize the idea of race as a biological reality.
• Contextualize the historical and systemic nature of racism and bias in the United States.
• Describe the relationship between race and health as an outcome of the intergenerational impact of historic structural racism.
• Explain the mechanisms through which structural racism shapes health outcomes using the socio-ecological framework (e.g., stress and accelerated aging, bias, health behaviors, income, education level, health insurance status, wealth accumulation, neighborhood factors, food delivery systems, zoning laws, urban and rural infrastructures, access to health care).
• Integrate lessons learned within the participants’ scope of influence.

1. The Birth of Race: Genocide of Indigenous Peoples & Colonization of the Americas (Jason E. Glenn, Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine)
   
   
2. The Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Evolution of Racial Thinking (Jason Glenn, Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine)
    
3. The Civil War and Reconstruction (David Roediger, Department of History, KU-Lawrence)
    
4. The Jim Crow Era (Kristina Bridges, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, and Shawn Leigh Alexander, Chair, African and African American Studies, KU-Lawrence)
    
5. The Civil Rights Movement (Jason Glenn, Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine and Kristina Bridges, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health)
    
6. Present-day Inequities (Jill Peltzer, School of Nursing; Kakra Boye-Doe, MS-IV)