Medical Racism and Black Health Activism in Indianapolis and Beyond: Learning Modules for Health Professionals

Abstract

This set of modules, designed for health care professionals, focuses on the history of health disparities in the United States, with a special focus on Indianapolis. Health disparities between different racial and ethnic groups have been documented since the 1800s. Anti-Black racism has played a central role in the making of modern medicine in the US; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., considered discrimination in medicine to be the most “shocking and inhuman” form of racism. Civil Rights activists and Black health care professionals have led efforts to minimize health disparities, in Indianapolis and beyond, over many decades. But there is more work to be done. As we build toward a more equitable future, we would be wise to inform ourselves of this past.