433 - Recognizing W.E.B. Du Bois and His Seminal Work on Racism and Health
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 21 February 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
In 1899 W.E.B. Du Bois published a landmark study on tuberculosis in the Black communities of Philadelphia, titled "The Philadelphia Negro." This was the first scholarly work to demonstrate that social forces, including racism, are fundamental to health outcomes. In recognition of Black History Month, sociologist Dr. Alexandre White and health equity scholar Dr. Rachel Thornton join Dr. Josh Sharfstein to tell the story of this remarkable study. They also explain why understanding this history is empowering to medical and public health practitioners today. Read Dr. White and Dr. Thornton's recent publication, with Dr. Jeremy Greene, in the New England Journal of Medicine here. www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMms2035550
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Season 5 of Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. |
| 0:13.0 | I'm Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement, and a former |
| 0:19.1 | health commissioner here in Baltimore, Maryland. |
| 0:21.7 | Our goal with this podcast is to bring scientific evidence and experience to shed light on critical |
| 0:27.5 | health issues. If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health |
| 0:33.0 | question at jhhhu.edu. That's public health question at jh.u.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:42.3 | Today, in honor of Black History Month, we turn to the powerful work of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, |
| 0:49.3 | whose 1899 study of tuberculosis in Philadelphia is a classic. |
| 0:55.0 | It is also, unfortunately, a classic that is rarely taught. |
| 0:59.0 | We'll hear from Johns Hopkins sociologist Dr. Alexander White about this seminal work, |
| 1:05.0 | and then from pediatrician and health equity scholar Dr. Rachel Thornton. |
| 1:10.0 | She speaks to the valuable and energizing lessons |
| 1:12.9 | of this history for the medical and public health fields today. |
| 1:17.7 | Let's listen. |
| 1:19.5 | Professor White, Dr. Thornton, welcome to Public Health on call. |
| 1:23.6 | Thanks for coming to talk to me today during Black History Month about your recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine called Remembering Past Lessons about Structural Racism, Recentering Black Theorists of Health and Society. |
| 1:39.7 | This is an essay about a part of history that isn't known by many people. |
| 1:45.8 | And maybe I'll start with you, Professor White. |
| 1:48.6 | Tell us about it. |
| 1:50.2 | Well, firstly, thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:52.5 | This is a real treat to be here. |
| 1:55.3 | Yeah, I mean, I think the genesis of this paper that I wrote with Dr. Jeremy Green and Dr. Thornton focuses really on |
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