Jones, C. P. (2018). Toward the science and practice of anti-racism: launching a National Campaign against Racism. Ethnicity & Disease, 28(Suppl 1), 231.

Summary

As president of the American Public Health Association (APHA) from 2015-2016, I launched a National Campaign Against Racism as a key agenda of my APHA presidency.1,2 I set this agenda for the nation’s flagship professional society for public health practitioners and researchers because I identified racism as the root cause of “race”-associated differences in health outcomes.3 We must now set this agenda for our nation. Although some in this country will acknowledge that racism is foundational in our nation’s history, many in this country are in denial about the continued existence of racism and its profound impacts on the health and well-being of the nation. Indeed, it is because of this widespread denial of racism that we must launch a National Campaign Against Racism with three tasks: 1) naming racism; 2) asking “how is racism operating here?” and 3) organizing and strategizing to act. Following are brief descriptions of each of these tasks, including a framework for an Anti-Racism Collaborative as a platform for organizing our work going forward.