Racism Has No Home Here

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Health Editor’s Note: SAHM is an acronym for Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine.  Racism is all around us.  It was here, loud and strong, for eight years when we had Barak Obama as our president. Racism is here when we want to exclude immigrants from being a part of our America. Racism is here whenever we racially profile someone, whether it be at an airport or in a police station. Prejudice, bigotry, racism has no place here.

Everyone knows that it is wrong to be a racist and should be uncomfortable when subjected to racist remarks.  No one wants to be called a racist.  How do I know this?   You can call someone a racist and be unfriended on Facebook, not because you were labeling someone but because you gave him or her their correct label, called them out, rubbed his or her face in his or her xenophobia which is a fear of what appears to be foreign or strange. Xenophobia is an irrational fear of nothing/no one that/who will harm, maim, kill, etc.  Racism is here and it seems that the best way to be rid of this blight is to make sure that the young understand the reality of what racism is, what it can cause, and how he or she can squelch this hateful concept…..Carol 

SAHM Urges Organizations and Health Professionals to Address Racism

Oakbrook Terrace, IL – SAHM has released a position paper, published in the August issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, strongly encouraging organizations, providers, researchers and policymakers to address the negative and pervasive consequences of racism.



“Racism is not an invisible, abstract idea. It is being felt every day by millions of people in the United States and around the world. It is vitally important as health care providers we recognize this new wave of discrimination and prejudice and proactively take steps to address the harmful effects of racism and make it clear there are tangible, helpful efforts organizations and individuals can implement immediately,” said SAHM president, Deborah Christie, PhD, FSAHM.

Racism negatively affects the self-concept, health and well-being, and life trajectories of both non-dominant racial and ethnic (NDRE) youth and youth-serving providers. In the face of growing nationalism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and overt expressions of racism, it is important organizations acknowledge the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral toll racism has on individuals and take steps to combat it.

“Racism exacts a significant toll on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities. This is a proud moment for SAHM as it leads the charge in calling for system-wide responses to racism as a serious public health concern,” said co-author, Veenod L. Chulani, MD, FSAHM.

Included in the paper are a number of suggestions and steps for organizations to consider and implement.

  • Organizations should consider and address racism as a form of structural violence.
  • Organizations should reaffirm their commitment to justice and equity and actively develop, implement, and evaluate policies and processes to ensure that racism is not embedded systematically.
  • Youth-serving organizations should explicitly convey their views against racism and create safe, welcoming spaces for all.
  • Organizations should develop, implement, and evaluate interventions at all levels addressing chronic minority stress and vicarious trauma affecting non-dominant racial and ethnic providers.
  • Organizations should develop, implement, and evaluate interventions at all levels addressing chronic minority stress and vicarious trauma affecting NDRE trainees and students.
  • Organizations should develop, implement, and evaluate training for providers to routinely explore and address racism with all youth and effectively intervene when they identify affected youth.
  • Providers caring for youth should integrate promising interventions to address racism as a part of routine evaluation and in response to identified aggression.

“We believe this landmark call to action to recognize and respond to racism is critical, especially in our present climate, where the amplified racial tensions and alarming increased rates of discrimination, bias, and hate-related violence directed against members of non-dominant racial and ethnic groups constitutes a real, urgent crisis,” said co-author, Maria Veronica Svetaz, MD, MPH, FSAHM.

To download the PDF and read the full text online, visit the Journal of Adolescent Health website.

To obtain more information or to speak to an expert, contact Justin Dreyfuss at SAHM headquarters, +1-847-686-2286, jdreyfuss@adolescenthealth.org.

SAHM is a multidisciplinary organization of health professionals who are committed to advancing the health and well-being of adolescents. Through education, research, clinical services and advocacy activities, members of SAHM strive to enhance public and professional awareness of adolescent health issues among families, educators, policy makers, youth-serving organizations, students who are considering a health career, as well as other health professionals. Learn more at www.adolescenthealth.org.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. KimSpirit, Anything I write is for the entire population who reads it….not all readers are veterans. Readers on VT know where I come from. I do nothing to harm veterans and for you to say such a thing is pure malice. Who do you think you are? You mention freedom of speech and I assure you that racism has nothing to do with freedom of speech. If you had read the article that I presented, but did not write, you will see that it is addressing trying to address and stop issues of racism early on in a child’s/adolescent’s life. A non-racist parent will raise non-racist children and then we will no long have to address the issues of racism, zenophobia, jingoism, nationalism, etc. which do much to divide us so we can be conquered…..Carol

  2. It’s not the deep state, it’s ignorance and upbringing. It is a smallness of being. Cowardice.

    In our constitution, Native Americans are referred to as ‘merciless savages’ and blacks as 3/5ths human.

    Rural white America is heavily racist and this trait in a culture is highly indicative of a horrible lack of knowledge and exposure to the world. The number of religious practitioners, that are racist, far outnumber the percentage of racists in the non-religious population. The fruit is the indicator.

  3. Blacks here in Baltimore are not racist because they are Black. (They are perhaps the worst racists in the world.) Racism is being fomented by the deep state. the destruction of the middle class with illegal immigration is being fomented by the deep state.There will be no middle class in the New World Order. Your smart appliances will control every aspect of living. Your EZpass will bill every mile of road; and eventualy restrict access. Just remember, in actuality, we are all hated equally by the deep state. After the destuction of the dollar; you will beg for the take-over by our saviors, the banksters.

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