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Say Ahhh! Health Equity social determinants of health

We Can’t Analyze the Pain of Racism

June 1, 2020 Joan Alker
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For those of us at CCF who live in the District of Columbia, we have watched the deaths from COVID-19 mount disproportionately in the African American community. Three quarters of those who have died are Black, yet African Americans constitute 46% of the population. This pattern has been replicated across the country in African American, Native American and Latino communities.

We know that families of color are disproportionately impacted by the economic and health crises the nation is facing in this pandemic. And we know that Medicaid disproportionately serves children and families in communities of color and that it is a constant fight to preserve its fundamental structure, funding, and comprehensive benefits. And that preserving it is not enough –we must work to make its promise a reality – especially in light of ongoing racial disparities in health outcomes.

We know these things because they are facts and we are policy researchers that like to work with facts, yet facts offer us scant guidance now as we ask ourselves how to do better for Black, Latino and Native American children and families in the face of ongoing and persistent racism. All that we can do is listen and try.

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Related Posts

  • We Need to Name it: Racism is a Public Health Crisis
    June 2, 2020
  • Disparities exist in children’s coverage by race/ethnicity, income and maternal health
    June 11, 2018
  • Medicaid And CHIP Help Address Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Children’s Health
    April 26, 2017
Joan Alker is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families and a Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy.
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      We Need to Name it: Racism is a Public Health Crisis

      Elisabeth Wright Burak
      June 2, 2020

      Disparities exist in children’s coverage by race/ethnicity, income and maternal health

      Karina Wagnerman, Allexa Gardner June 11, 2018

      Medicaid And CHIP Help Address Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Children’s Health

      Karina Wagnerman, Tricia Brooks April 26, 2017

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      The Center for Children & Families (CCF), part of the Health Policy Institute at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, is a nonpartisan policy and research center with a mission to expand and improve high-quality, affordable health coverage. Founded in 2005, CCF is devoted to improving the health of America’s children and families, particularly those with low and moderate incomes. Contact Us

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