Racism as a Root Cause Approach

The field of public health has identified racial health disparities as a chief concern for decades. Although there has been a myriad of published articles in which researchers describe the severity and complexity of these disparities, they persist into present day relatively unchanged. We believe this lack of progress can be explained, in part, by a failure to acknowledge that racism is at the root of these racial disparities. Many children's health advocates believe more should be done to address our country's systemic racial inequities, but few of us feel able to create meaningful change, and even fewer feel that it is our responsibility.

Malawa, Z., Gaarde, J., & Spellen, S. (2021). Racism as a root cause approach: A new framework. Pediatrics, 147(1).