Racial Healing and Achieving Health Equity in the United States
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." - Rev. Martin L. King, Jr.
January 19, 2021 – National Day of Racial Healing
The Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) effort was created by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as a national and community-based process to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change and to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism.
Among the many aspects of TRHT is the need to address serious racial and ethnic health inequities – and the causes that contribute to them. Good health is essential to ensuring everyone is able to live a high-quality life, be engaged with their families, communities and workplaces, and have the opportunity to flourish and thrive in everything they do. TRHT’s National Day of Racial Healing identifies key steps that will help take collective action to promote positive and lasting change across issues – including to:
- Find ways to reinforce and honor our common humanity and create space to celebrate the distinct differences that make our communities vibrant;
- Acknowledge that there are still deep racial divisions in America that must be overcome and healed; and
- Commit to engage people from all racial, ethnic, religious and identity groups in genuine efforts to increase understanding, communication, caring and respect for one another.
This issue brief was developed to help identify and acknowledge health inequities, influencing factors and policy recommendations that can help the nation achieve health equity.
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