Biomaterial Database

Exploring Race, Racism, and Structural Racism in Medicine. 2023

Pamela S Allen, and Natasha M Mickel

Department of Dermatology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, 619 Northeast 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. Electronic address: pamela-allen@ouhsc.edu.

Race and racism are rooted in the man-made belief that the color of a person's skin determines a person's hierarchal rank in humanity. Early scientific theories of polygenics and misleading scientific studies were used to promote the concept of the inferiority of people of color and to support and maintain the institution of slavery. These discriminatory practices have filtered into society as structural racism, including the field of medicine. Structural racism has led to health disparities in black and brown communities. Dismantling structural racism requires us all to become change agents at societal and institutional levels.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000091722	Systemic Racism	Processes of racism that are embedded in laws (local, state, and federal), policies, and practices of society and its institutions that provide advantages to racial groups deemed as superior, while differentially oppressing, disadvantaging, or otherwise neglecting racial groups viewed as inferior. Differential access to the goods, services, and opportunities of society by race. Institutionalized racism is normative, sometimes legalized, and often manifests as inherited disadvantage. It is structural, having been codified in our institutions of custom, practice, and law, so there need not be an identifiable perpetrator. (ttps://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/programs‐impact/sdoh.htm)	Institutional Racism,Institutionalized Racism,Structural Racism,Systematic Racism,Institutionalized Racisms,Racism, Institutional,Racism, Institutionalized,Racism, Structural,Racism, Systematic,Racism, Systemic,Racisms, Systematic,Structural Racisms,Systematic Racisms
D063505	Racism	Differential treatment or unequal access to opportunities, based on group membership such as origin or ethnicity.	Everyday Racism,Covert Racism,Racial Bias,Racial Discrimination,Racial Prejudice,Bias, Racial,Discrimination, Racial,Discriminations, Racial,Prejudice, Racial,Prejudices, Racial,Racial Discriminations,Racial Prejudices,Racism, Covert,Racism, Everyday