狐狸视频

Anti-Black racism in health care can't be ignored, U of T's Roberta Timothy tells the Toronto Star

Roberta Timothy

(photo by Adam Coish)

The first Black Health Lead at the 狐狸视频鈥檚 Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Roberta Timothy about the impact of COVID-19 on Black communities and potential solutions for racism in health care. 

鈥淗ow do you fix a problem that was really, really broken before the pandemic, because you鈥檝e already denied the problem and that anti-Black racism exists?鈥 said Timothy, an assistant professor, teaching stream, who is the principal investigator for , a research project that seeks to identify how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Black communities in Canada and worldwide.

Through her nearly 30 years working in community health and anti-violence efforts, Timothy said she has found that discussing the impact of anti-Black racism on health is challenging for many. Yet, despite the lack of dialogue, she said, the effects of anti-Black racism in Canada can be seen clearly in the rates of diabetes, chronic health issues, cancer and HIV. 

鈥淧eople keep talking about 鈥業 can't wait to go back to normal,鈥 but normal for us was experiencing anti-Black violence on a daily basis,鈥 Timothy told the Toronto Star. 鈥淲e don't want to go back to that, we want to hopefully change that and support real wellness for our communities.鈥

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