Changing the Conversation

“Privilege is when you think something is not a problem because it’s not a problem to you personally.” – David Gaider

“When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” – Author Unknown

Clyde Lloyd shared with me an encounter he had while attending a conference in a hotel. Heading down to the conference check-in area, he was alone in an elevator as it stopped to pick up another passenger. A woman looking at her cellphone entered. Upon glancing up, she stopped abruptly, then quickly exited the elevator murmuring, “Go ahead. I’ll wait for the next one.”

"Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot." —Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"We are all just trying to be holy." —Richard Siken, Snow and Dirty Rain

If we’re going to talk about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I want to talk about the tactician. I want to talk about the general who methodically moved the war banner of racial equity across the country—who died in the fight.

Research on “health care disparities,” the euphemism for unnecessary deaths and adverse outcomes among people from low socioeconomic groups and from communities of color, often attribute them to individual characteristics and structural barriers within mental health systems. Most often an individual’s use of services as well as the way services are arranged and delivered are cited as causes.

I want to begin by commenting on what is going wrong and then discuss what is hopeful in the provider-client relationship. Although research is taking place, there is little agreement about best practices and ethical standards in minority mental health care. The issues of staff bias, racism, institutional racism, prevailing practices, and methods of prioritizing who gets time and attention are omitted from the discussion. Also, questions of discrimination that stem from preconceived notions and racial profiling of African American people and/or questions of how stigma influences medical decisions are absent, if not actively avoided, in discussions of healthcare disparities.

A few months ago, I wrote a post for this blog about the intersection of trauma, racism, and violence. Since then, my frustration, sadness, confusion, and anger has grown. With continued news of violence, especially against people of color (I use this term to be as inclusive as possible), I feel compelled to follow up.

I want to start with something I wrote in my last post: We can no longer rely on our privilege to shield us from the reality of racism in this country.