You may be accustomed to hearing me speak about COVID-19. Yes, the crisis appears to be improving, and yes much remains unknown and still to be told. But today, even in the midst of pandemic, there is another, different crisis gripping our country. Racism.
It did not begin this week, this year, or this century. It did not catch us by surprise. But it certainly is a crisis of pandemic proportion. And we cannot sit in silence.
People of color in our communities have been deemed unequal, unworthy of justice, unworthy of life itself. I would love to say that the practice of medicine puts us above racism. But that would be a lie. I would love to say that the Hippocratic oath makes us behave differently, see the world differently, and treat people of color justly. But that too, would be a lie.
Today Black Americans are suffering, and that pain is boiling over, becoming a torrent of injustice that we can no longer ignore. And our response cannot be silence.
I don’t know the solution, but I am listening and learning.
I don’t know a way to relieve the pain, as a fellow human or as a physician, but I will sit and be present.
I don’t know the depth of the suffering, but I lament the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others.
Martin Luther King Jr. said:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
So today, I want to be clear. We, at EB Medicine, stand with our brothers and sisters of color.
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Sam Ashoo, MD, FACEP, is board certified in emergency medicine and clinical informatics. He serves as EB Medicine’s editor-in-chief of interactive clinical pathways and FOAMEd blog, and host of EB Medicine’s EMplify podcast. Follow him below for more…
