San Francisco: Future Doctors Affirm that Black Lives Matter
Page Media
On Tuesday, Bay Area residents came together at SF City Hall to participate in a national April 14 "shut-down day" calling for a stop to police killings and police brutality. This action was in response to the ongoing nationwide conversation about racism and the misuse of power by law enforcement officers leading to injury and death of people of color.
#WhiteCoats4BlackLives
As concerned future medical providers, we were proud to participate in this action. We believe that safe policing in underserved communities of color is not only a matter of justice but critical to ensuring that our communities are safe, healthy, and thriving environments for everyone.
For that reason, we fully support federal legislation, the End Racial Profiling Act, as well as California efforts including AB 953 and AB 619. These bills will help identify racial disparities in policing and could create ways to avoid the tragic loss of life. We also support legislative efforts to increase crisis intervention training for law enforcement, such as SB 11 and SB 29.
Inequality is taking many black & brown lives
The murder of Walter Scott of North Charleston, S.C. last week marked the 300th killing by police in 2015. As medical students, we were disturbed not only by the excessive use of force but also by the denial of medical care; officers on the scene failed to perform CPR on Mr. Scott as he lay face-down on the ground, handcuffed, with five bullets in his body.
Just four months ago, we stood in solidarity with protesters in Ferguson, Staten Island, and in cities across the nation to demand justice for Mike Brown and Eric Garner. We called attention to police violence as a public health issue—one that particularly threatens the lives and health of people of color.
Now, as White Coats for Black Lives, we stand with the family and friends of Mr. Scott, with the black community, and with those who continue to affirm that #BlackLivesMatter.
Police violence results in stress and poor health outcomes, in addition to the loss of life for people of color; it is therefore our duty as future medical professionals to defend the health of our patients by speaking out against police brutality. We challenge our classmates, as well as residents, attending physicians, and other health professionals, to advocate for police reforms as a means of protecting the health and lives of our patients of color.
To truly care for our patients, we are proud to have taken leave of our books and clinics. On Tuesday we marched. On Tuesday we listened. Today we are ever more resolved to act.
Walker Keenan, a first-year, and Nicolas Barcelo, a fourth-year, are both medical students at the University of California San Francisco. Hannah Obasi, a first-year at the University of California San Francisco, also contributed to the blog.
White Coats For Black Lives was founded to emphasize the role of health providers who are equally concerned for their patients in their community as they are for those in hospital beds. In the time since, they continue to work towards eradicating racism, to end racial discrimination in medical care, and to create a physician workforce engaged with the struggle for racial justice.
Take action
Have you or someone you know been a victim of police racial profiling or excessive use of force?
