Issue 14 - Intersectionality & Communities
Updated: Jul 31
Social and cultural norms influence how minoritised communities are treated. These norms are often reinforced and delivered at the community level: news, social media and interpersonal interactions colour the way minoritised individuals are portrayed and interact with others. Racism, combined with other forms of oppression based on gender identity, sexuality, disability, and more, can drastically shape how someone experiences healthcare. Building on our theme of intersectionality, Issue 14 highlights health at the community level. We feature a book excerpt on maternal health and medical racism from Layal Liverpool’s recently released book, Systemic. Our academic highlight appraises work on caste and environmental justice.
We are also excited to introduce a new category called “Youth Voice”, which will feature children and young people’s perspectives on racism and health. The first piece under Youth Voice is from the Lancet Commission on racism and child health’s Youth Advisory Board, and explores the role of racism in people’s mental health.
In this issue:
Youth Voice - Mental health and racism
Popular Culture - Book excerpt: Systemic: How racism is making us ill by Layal Liverpool
Academic Highlights - Caste and community health; Environmental justice and houselessness
R&H Updates
Race & Health Podcast - Series 3 Complete!
The newest episode of the Race & Health Podcast, Intersectionality, marks the end of Series 3. You can check out the Intersectionality episode here. Series 4 is now in development, but in the meantime, be sure to catch up on the podcast here.
UCL-Lancet Lecture 2024 - Under the Skin: Understanding the Toll of Race and Inequality on the Health of People
The UCL-Lancet Lecture is an annual global health event open to the public, co-hosted by the UCL Institute for Global Health, UCL Grand Challenges and The Lancet. Delan Devakumar joined the May session with Professor Linda Villarosa and Dr Rochelle Burgess to connect the dots between racism, inequalities and health outcomes. Watch the session recording here.
New publications
Lancet Correspondance: Protecting children from racism: urgent health system actions
“Health systems are the very institutions designed to keep us well; their primary purpose is to promote, restore, and maintain health. This objective is incompatible with racism.”
This recent correspondence piece by English et al (2024) follows from a roundtable event hosted by R&H members Sonora English, Abi Deivanayagam and Delan Devakumar. The event brought members from across the London health community together discuss how racism shapes the lives of minoritised children in the UK, and how we can better protect them from discrimination fostered by the health system. The correspondence identifies several key action points, including incorporating anti-racist research health and research practice into health system mechanics – from training, to policies; implementing professional requirements and accountability measures to uphold anti-racist principles, improving the data that informs the health system, and inviting more representation in the input process.
Research Article in the International Journal for Equity in Health: Ethnic discrimination, asking for fair treatment, and poor self-rated health: a gender stratified analysis of 13,443 Korean Chinese waged workers in South Korea
Discrimination based on ethnicity is a common experience in South Korea, and has particular nuances based on employment and gender. In partnership with Dr Seung-Sup Kim and his research team at Seoul National University, Race & Health members Mita Huq and Delan Devakumar discuss what racism and health looks like in this context. Authored by Lee et al (2024) is the first to find an association between perceived ethnic discrimination and self-rated health.