there is no road to climate justice, economic justice, nor yet to nuclear disarmament without anti-racist action
RACISM, INJUSTICE, AND HEALTH
“The Washington State Board of Health recognizes racism is a public health crisis. Each day more Black lives are lost, and families and communities of color are torn apart and devastated by police violence. Black lives matter. We believe Black futures matter. Systemic and institutional racism [within the healthcare system] is a barrier for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color that extends beyond police brutality to the health and wellness of our communities. ”
Land Acknowledgement
We respectfully acknowledge that our advocacy, activism, and learning take place on the occupied and unceded lands of the 29 federally-recognized tribes in Washington state, including the Makah, Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Quileute, Hoh, Quinault, Skokomish, Squaxin Island, Shoalwater Bay, Chehalis, Cowlitz, Yakama, Nisqually, Puyallup, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Tulalip, Stillaguamish, Sauk-Suiattle, Swinomish, Upper Skagit, Samish, Lummie, Nooksack, Colville, Spokane, Kalispel, and many more unacknowledged people groups including the Duwamish, whose ancestral land is home to WPSR’s offices. All of these tribes collectively represent the inhabitants and caretakers of the land and these waters since time immemorial.
The history of white settlement here has been brutal to those who were here first and forever. Acknowledging the need for atonement and a long-overdue reconciliation, we pay respect and commit to following the lead of indigenous elders past and present, and extend our respect to their descendants and to all Indigenous people.
To acknowledge this land is to recognize its long history and our place in that history; it is to recognize these lands and waters and their significance for the peoples who lived and continue to live in this region, whose practices and spiritualities were, are, and shall always be tied to the land and the water, and whose lives continue to enrich and develop in relationship to the land, the waters and other inhabitants.
WPSR’s Commitment to Racial Justice and Anti-Racist Development
Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR) stands with health professionals who believe that systemic racism is a public health issue. We call on WPSR members, who are devoted to fighting climate change, economic inequity, and the threat posed by nuclear weapons, to be every bit as active in dismantling discrimination and institutional racism in their communities. Unless we confront racism, no just solution to the climate crisis, economic injustice, or the nuclear threat will be possible.
The United States was built on a foundation of wealth inequity, rooted in slavery, that has influenced every major event in our history. We recognize our cultural, historical, and ongoing responsibility for much of the violence, environmental degradation, and inequality in the world, as well as our capacity to change how we live together on a planet with finite resources.
As health professionals committed to global health, we must broaden our involvement with impacted communities. If we are to succeed in making the world a safer place, we need to recognize the communities that are already unsafe due to racism and disenfranchisement, and damaged by white supremacist policies that build nuclear arsenals, pollute the planet for profit, and foster an economic system that promotes and perpetuates inequality.
WPSR also acknowledges its need to address the impacts - past and present - of its legacy as a white-led organization, and its role in movements that have neglected to include and embrace the voices of communities most affected by the issues we work on. WPSR is invested in, and firmly committed to working towards equity and social justice both internally as an organization, and externally through our programs and community partnerships.
As an organization working for climate justice, economic justice, and nuclear justice, we are obligated to speak out against systemic racism and to work with our coalition and community partners, and other PSR chapters, to help dismantle systems of white supremacy that perpetuate violence and to organize against all forms of discrimination, injustice, and harm against people of color. We do this work because health professionals have a unique understanding of the present and potential implications these issues have for human health, and because we are compelled to use our privilege and power as health professionals with a trusted voice to prevent what we cannot cure for the good of humanity.
We recognize that climate justice, economic justice, and nuclear justice cannot be achieved without racial justice. We also recognize that statements are not enough to effectuate the change needed, and that - as with the major challenges to health that we work to address on a daily basis - action is required at every level of our unjust society. As such, WPSR is committed to go beyond these words, and to take concrete actions - as an organization and in the communities where we work - that will help dismantle the inherently inequitable systems that stand in the way of a peaceful, healthy, and just society.
If you are able, we urge you to support organizations working on-the-ground right now to fight racial injustice. Our movements are inextricably linked, and our mission to build a healthy, sustainable, just, and peaceful world is only possible if we continue to fight for the health, safety, opportunity, and basic human rights of all people.
Racism is a Public Health Crisis
Major national health organizations - along with a growing number of cities, counties, and states - have recognized, and declared, that racism represents a public health crisis. Across the country, local and state leaders and health associations are declaring racism a public health crisis or emergency.
The American Public Health Association declared racism a public health crisis that needs immediate attention. The American Heart Association which, in November 2020 built on its pledge to confront systemic racism and police brutality, by explicitly recognizing racism as a public health threat, and produced a detailed plan to mitigate its effects. “The AMA recognizes that racism negatively impacts and exacerbates health inequities among historically marginalized communities. Without systemic and structural-level change, health inequities will continue to exist, and the overall health of the nation will suffer,” said AMA Board Member Willarda V. Edwards, MD, MBA.
Middle East Conflict: Demanding Peace and Health
January 2024
Since WPSR issued its statement on “Seeking Peace and Protecting Health in the Middle East” in early November, the situation in Gaza has worsened dramatically, the number of lives lost (23,000 and counting) has become even more alarming and unconscionable, and the humanitarian crisis and suffering even more dire.
Therefore, WPSR urges US leadership to demand an immediate cease-fire and negotiate Palestinian statehood and Israeli security. We demand that the US stop supplying military aid to Israel and only support humanitarian aid until negotiations commence. We urge WPSR members to contact their Members of Congress and President Biden with these demands. Read more…
Seeking Peace and Protecting Health in the Middle East
November 2023
At this time of unprecedented violence and suffering in the Middle East, WPSR reaffirms its stand against war, violence, and terror, recognizes that this tragedy is horrendous and horrific in every way, and calls for actions and dialogue that protect the health, safety and security of the Israeli and Palestinian people.
We’d like to start by calling for compassion for both innocent Israelis and Palestinians and urge our members to avoid extremes of thinking and rhetoric. Read more…
WPSR moves into its new home in El Centro de la Raza
January 2021: After many, many years in Seattle’s University District, WPSR is thrilled to announce our move to the Beacon Hill neighborhood, and into new office space in El Centro de la Raza. “El Centro” is also known as the “Center for People of All Races” with a mission to build community through the unification “of all racial and economic sectors; to organize, empower, and defend the basic human rights of our most vulnerable and marginalized populations; and to bring critical consciousness, justice, dignity, and equity to all the peoples of the world.”
El Centro is a storied Seattle institution, whose history goes back to 1972 when the unoccupied, decaying Beacon Hill school was peacefully occupied by local latinx students and staff, giving birth to El Centro de la Raza. Since then, El Centro has become one of the most prominent community organizations. As noted on their website, “although the founding of El Centro de la Raza was sparked by Latinos and acquired a Spanish name, it began, and remains, “The Center for the People of All Races.” It is “home” for all people who are interested in continuing the struggle for a better world by serving, educating, defending and organizing each other and our people to build the “beloved community” as envisioned by King, Bolivar, Zapata, Ghandi, Martí, Joe Hill, Mother Teresa, Ho Chi Minh, Emma Tenayuca, Che, Black Elk, Geronimo, and thousands of others of our heroes and martyrs.”
We look forward to welcoming all members of the WPSR family to our new offices, and to building an ever-stronger relationship with El Centro and the many communities its serves and supports.
In summer of 2023, WPSR collaborated with the Summer Health Professions Education Program, hosting two groups of 10 students to work on health advocacy projects. (SHPEP) is a national program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with support from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA).
SHPEP is a free summer enrichment program focused on strengthening the academic proficiency and career development of students from African American/Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, and socioeconomically and educationally disadvantaged communities.
WPSR has endorsed calls to fund the development of The Tubman Center for Health & Freedom, a place that will address health and wellness from both systemic and clinical approaches. By practicing medicine from the intersection of health and freedom, the Tubman Center will address both the health of our patients as well as the factors that determine their health by providing primary and preventative care, community resources, social services, political education and advocacy.
The murder of Tyre Nichols has been a devastating loss for his family, friends, and community. It is a painful reminder, and just the latest among so many, that police in communities across this country routinely use violence that perpetuates the racism and discrimination that are hallmarks of widespread and systemic white supremacy. Read more…
Sam Martin from the Washington 4 Black Lives Coalition joins WPSR’s Economic Inequity & Health Task Force on 5/31/22 to talk about the work and policy priorities of the coalition, as the group meets to learn about Guaranteed Basic Income.
WPSR condemns violence and racism in all its forms, and mourns the death of George Floyd and all People of Color who have suffered and died at the hands of a racist and overmilitarized police. Read WPSR’s statement on the killing of George Floyd, police violence, and criminal justice reform.
Strategic DEI Planning at WPSR
Since January 2021, WPSR has embarked on an in-depth DEI assessment and strategic planning process with the support and guidance of a team of graduate public policy students from the UW Evan’s School Consulting Lab. We look forward to rolling this out to you and the entire WPSR community in June 2021.
WPSR’s 2021 Health Justice Gala featured a keynote address by Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali (beginning at 1:06:00) who serves as the VP of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation. He is also the founder of Revitalization Strategies, a business focused on moving our most vulnerable communities from “surviving to thriving.” Previous to these roles, he was Sr. VP of Hip Hop Caucus and worked for the EPA for 24 years. Mustafa serves as a board member for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Climate Hawks Vote.
Recognizing that racism is a publichealth crisis, WPSR is an Ally Member of the Washington for Black Lives coalition, and supports their calls for increased investments in communities of color, reallocation of law enforcement funding into community needs, and - consistent with our peace-based mission, the demilitarization of the police.
White Coats 4 Black Lives
WPSR members march in Seattle, in support of racial justice and equity, and in support of the White Coats 4 Black Lives movement that seeks to dismantle racism in medicine and promote the health, well-being, and self-determination of Black and Indigenous people, and other people of color.
August 26, 2020: Advancing Green Justice
In collaboration with PSR and local partner organization Front and Centered, Washington PSR co-presented a national webinar on how WSPR has placed environmental justice at the heart of its actions to fight climate change and promote clean, healthy renewable energy.
Front and Centered is a statewide coalition rooted in communities of color and people with lower incomes. As thought leaders and organizers on the frontlines of economic and environmental change, they build their agenda and strength with grassroots communities, working for a Just Transition that centers equity and is led by people of color.
