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47
NNU Statement on Black Lives Matter
and the Health Impact of Societal
Racial Disparities
[via nationalnursesunited.org]
National Nurses United joins with the AFL-CIO and activists across the
United States in urging all presidential candidates to address the pervasive
problems of racial and economic justice that have so stained our nation.
For nurses, the national dialogue this week about structural racism is a
reminder that health, which includes personal safety, is a broad thematic
that affects all corners of the national debate—from police shootings to
the courts to incarceration, and racial disparities in healthcare, housing, job
opportunities, and education.
Systemic racism also contributes to additional race-based violence, such as
the horrific massacre that claimed nine lives in an African-American church
in Charleston, S.C.
While there are clear correlations between structural racism in the criminal
justice system and economic and social justice, each area is also a clear
and present danger to life and health, as well as an infringement on the
human rights of those affected and on American democracy. As nurses, we
are dedicated to preventing all forms of illness, protecting health, and
alleviating human suffering.