Enough is Enough: Racism & Discrimination
The brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of an American police officer has rightfully sparked outrage the world over, highlighting many centuries of injustice faced by individuals from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
The sheer size and scale of the demonstrations which have followed show that there is a strong appetite for change.
Medicine is not immune to this problem. A special issue of the British Medical Journal1 in February dedicated to Racism in Medicine, described the problem in our own profession; with individuals facing differential attainment in career progress and salary, and also being subjected more frequently to bullying and harassment in the workplace. This is a disgrace to our profession.
We must listen.
These challenges are real and are faced by our friends and colleagues, both junior and senior.
The British Cardiovascular Society is an organisation committed to supporting our members, the members of our Affiliated Societies, and our patients of all backgrounds.
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting diversity within the British Cardiovascular Society we are updating our policies and will prioritise a policy on Diversity and Discrimination, which will be shared in the near future.
In the meantime, we must all commit to stamping this out. We must ensure our specialty is accessible and supportive to our colleagues, so that our patients may benefit from our colleagues’ exceptional skills and we absolutely must not accept poor behaviour when we witness it.
The behaviour we walk past is the behaviour we accept.
Racism and discrimination are not acceptable in any form. It is time to be part of a change we can all be proud of.
Time is being called on inequality.
Enough is enough.
Author: Dr Cara Hendry
1. Linton Samara. Taking the difference out of attainment BMJ 2020; 368 :m438