This podcast was produced by Jesuitical, a podcast from the young, hip and lay editors of America Media, hosted by Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis.
The main content begins at minue 14:21.
If you are paying attention to the news these days, you have probably heard the term “systemic racism” used to describe the conditions in this country that made something as horrific as the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in broad daylight possible. The disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on people of color has also been talked about as an issue of “systemic racism.” But what exactly does that mean? How does it play out in different parts of American society and in individual lives? How do history, individual prejudices, government policy and social arrangement conspire to devalue the lives of some Americans?
This podcasts explores those questions through a specific lens: health care. Sarah Kureshi is a doctor of family medicine who teaches a course at Georgetown University on racial bias in the health care system. We ask Dr. Kureshi about the root causes of health inequalities, what the medical community is doing to root out racism and what the coronavirus pandemic has revealed about what and who this country considers essential.they