A Civil Rights Expert Explains the Social Science of Police Racism

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June 04, 2020

Dear Reader, Despite some efforts to acknowledge and grapple with systemic racism in American institutions, anger and distrust between law enforcement and black Americans have remained high. But over the past two weeks, George Floyd's death sparked a new level of outrage. And protests against police brutality are ongoing in hundreds of cities around the U.S. In our lead story, civil rights attorney Alexis J. Hoag shares her perspective on the history that has brought the country to this breaking point—and her ideas for how to make substantive improvements in how law enforcement and courts treat black Americans. Another story today addresses racism in health care. Specifically, the heightened concern about black women's weight, which reflects the racist stigmatization of their bodies. It also ignores how interrelated social factors impact black women's health. And many studies show that the stigma associated with body weight, rather than the body weight itself, is responsible for some adverse health consequences blamed on obesity, including increased mortality risk. In an editorial from our archive featured below, Scientific American argues that it's time doctors ditch the scale-centric health care practice and focus on behaviors that have proven positive outcomes for health.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Policy & Ethics A Civil Rights Expert Explains the Social Science of Police Racism Columbia University attorney Alexis J. Hoag discusses the history of how we got to this point and the ways that researchers can help reduce bias against black Americans throughout the legal system By Lydia Denworth

Policy & Ethics The Racist Roots of Fighting Obesity Prescribing weight loss to black women ignores barriers to their health By Sabrina Strings,Lindo Bacon

Public Health Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat The two could come together, making things worse—or our new hygiene habits may actually reduce the flu's spread By Marla Broadfoot

Conservation Rethinking Humanity's Ties to Nature The lesson from the pandemic is not to retreat from the natural world but to become a better steward By Oswald Schmitz

Neurological Health Loss of Smell in COVID-19 Can Present with Brain Alterations MRI scans of a coronavirus patient suggest how SARS-CoV-2 might invade the brain By Stephen Macknik

Biology Contagious Amoeba Vampirizes Gum Cells [Video] An amoeba spread by respiratory droplets, kisses and eating utensils may be a serious (and creepy) gum disease pathogen By Jennifer Frazer

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Doctors Need to Focus Less on a Patient's Weight  Extra pounds can lead to health problems, but dwelling on fat itself can increase stigma and shame   By THE EDITORS | February 2020

QUOTE OF THE DAY "I lean so heavily on the unique history of this country and the fact that we enslaved people, black people. To hold people in bondage as property, you had to look at them as less than human. You see that continuing to happen today in [what] I refer to as the criminal legal system, not the justice system, because it is not just. We are not there yet." Alexis J. Hoag, civil rights attorney at Columbia University

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