SARASOTA (WSNN) – Nearly a hundred healthcare workers gathered in Newtown today in solidarity with activists to show support of black lives matter and racial equality.
The group, “White Coats for Black Lives“, is a part of a larger national movement. They view racism as a threat to the health and well-being of people of color.
SMH doctors, Sarah Temple and Karen Hamad organized a movement on Saturday, to support the nationwide protests.
“As physicians and healthcare workers, we see healthcare disparities and we see them directly as a result of systemic injustice, and systemic racism,” Dr. Hamad said. “So, it’s important for us to stand here and do this.”
Nearly 100 physicians and others kneeled in silence for nine minutes to honor George Floyd’s memory.
Second-Year Med Student at FSU College of Medicine, Laura Samander, says she hopes people will standup up to condemn racism.
“Stand up, fight for them, kneel with us,” Samander said. “And realize this is not just because of one murder of a black man. This is a system problem and is systemic oppression that has been going on for 400 plus years. America was built on the backs of black men and women and children.”
Dr. Temple says the coronavirus is a prime example of the injustice in the healthcare system.
“It just overly targeting the black population, the native population, as far as morbidity and mortality,” Dr. Temple said.
CenterPlace Health Senior Physician, Dr. Washington Hill, says he there is no question about it; there is systematic racism in our healthcare system.
“An example, of course, is black women die and they don’t die because they’re different than white women, they die because of systematic racism, such as living in food deserts, not having access to care, not being employed, etc,” Dr. Hill said.
So he says people need to keep protesting to work to fix this problem. Dr. Hill’s message to the protesters:
“Keep on going. Don’t give up,” Dr. Hill said. “This is hard work, it’s tiring, it’s wet and takes a lot of energy. But we have to keep on going.”
Samander says this exactly what she will do.
“I will continue to fight and honor every single black person that has lost their life to unjust violence and police brutality,” Samander said.
