Professor Discusses Race and LGBTQ+ Health Disparities in Forum

Professor Medill and Renberg Chair Steven Thrasher and CUNY Professor Linda Villarosa discussed racial and LGBTQ+ inequalities in the US health care system at a Renberg Forum event on Tuesday.

Moderated by Medill Dean Charles Whitaker, the panelists discussed Thrasher’s book The Viral Underclass and Villarosa’s book Under the Skin. Both books were written around the same time and highlight systemic ill health to marginalized communities.

“The Viral Underclass” will tell the often unfair narrative of the virus and how certain communities are “blamed,” including black gay men during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Thrasher said. . The shaming of black gay men during the crisis has highlighted social issues such as the criminalization of HIV and limited access to treatment, he added.

“Viruses that are social in nature and socially connected are often blamed on one person as if they were nowhere else,” Thrasher said. “It’s very important that media coverage reflects that reality…and that people can come out safely without feeling embarrassed.”

“Under the Skin” explores the racial prejudices held in the medical system, especially against black women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, black women’s maternal mortality rate was nearly three times higher than that of non-Hispanic white women.

Villarosa explained that black diabetics are more likely than white patients to be amputated.

“I don’t think health care providers go into the profession to do harm,” Villarosa said. “But someone is making these unequal treatment decisions.”

Villarosa said these problems are often structural, with policies that draw red lines and perpetuate cycles of poverty. Distorted media coverage can also exacerbate these problems, she added.

Thrasher said the journalism’s focus on “individualized narratives” rather than systematic ones inadvertently increases the stigma of underrepresented communities. , agreed that health reports still focus too much on individual cases and their experiences, rather than delving into the systemic roots of problems.

Whitaker said of Thrasher’s view, “Giving names to these bad practices perpetuates these stereotypes and helps the media understand that we were complicit in not going below the surface. I will.” “Certainly, I think we have the ability to change that.”

Panelists also opened the floor to audience questions. English professor.Sarah Shulman We asked whether Villarosa applied her body of research to black gay men and whether class influenced these patterns.

Villarosa said her study had not yet explored the issue, but her anecdotal study found that black gay men received similar quality health care regardless of class. is shown.

While teaching medical students, Mr. Villarosa said he realized many needed to ring alarm bells to recognize systemic problems within the profession. But it can also be individuals who perpetuate these inequalities, she added.

“It makes me sick sometimes when I’m in medical school saying, ‘There are these 483 studies that show that something is happening in the hospital you work at,'” Villarosa said. “This is an unspoken prejudice that happens to individual people, regardless of who you are.”

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