Stories that change the system: Medical bias against women of color
Bright pink letters on the whiteboard read, “Implicit Bias Implications.” Donnesha Blake, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Central Michigan University College of Medicine, stood in front of a classroom of more than 30 people in her pink blouse.
On Monday, Feb. 6, Dow Science 179 hosted a Medical Bias Against Women of Color discussion organized by Faith in Femininity and Student National Medical Association (MAPS).
Juniors Ammy Nguyen, a member of Faith in Femininity, and Keeley Folts, a president of MAPS, started the event with an ice-breaker and a presentation explaining the meaning of the implicit bias, which is an unconscious prejudice.
Then Blake took the stage and began with a poem called ‘In 2006 I had an ordeal with medicine’ by Bettina Judd. Blake said Judd’s experience reminded of her own.
“When I think about the stories of Black women’s mistreatment and bias against Black women in medical institutions, I think of my stories, my mother’s stories and her mother’s stories,” Blake said in her speech. “I think about Bettina Judd and I think about all the women in our past who haunt us.”
Blake shared one of her personal experiences of facing medical bias when a doctor told her she was overweight. When Blake asked to show the weight in pounds, the doctor opposed. Blake said she was weightlifting at that time and was at a healthy weight.
Blake said she also sees a bias in the medical system of Black women having a higher pain tolerance. She said it comes from history of the U.S., when doctors used to experiment on enslaved Black girls.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women also have higher maternal mortality rates that Blake referred to as well.
Blake continued with a sequence of “What if” questions one of which said: “What if we use better tools, including the lived experiences of Black women to better care for them?”
Folts said the medical system would have been more efficient if the biases were fought.
“(If there was no bias) we (would) just be more well rounded, we would have better doctors, we would have better patient outcomes,” Folts said. “People would probably trust their physicians a lot more.”
Lindsey Gibb, a CMU junior and an organizer of the event from the Faith in Femininity, said she enjoyed having a conversation and bringing awareness to medical bias.
“Focusing on listening to the experiences of women of color … when they speak and not second guessing them or questioning them about their own experiences is a really great way to go,” Gibb said.
Attendees of the event, seniors Dasia Myles and Shayla Sanders, said it was important to hear Blake addressing the bias issue. They both said they were impacted by Blake sharing her personal story and perspective.
“I thought it was interesting because a lot of information I already knew was reconfirmed, and I also learned some new things,” Sanders said.
Myles said her favorite part of Blake’s speech was the idea that in order to better the medical system, patients have to acknowledge doctors that are wrong in their biases.
Blake said when a person hears the word “bias,” they start defending themselves.
“People can stay away from it (acknowledging the wrong) when they hear the word ‘bias’ because they don’t want to be seen as a bad person,” Blake said. “I have tried to use different terms … like ‘unconscious’ or ‘health equity.’”
When an audience member asked Blake what to do if they had bad experience with a treatment, Blake advised them to speak up. She said the best way to change the system is to share stories and educate.
“It really does rely upon a community to hold yourself accountable to recognize when a person is biased or something to say,” Blake said.
For acknowledging your own biases, Ngyuen recommended taking short Harvard quizzes that help indicate when you are unconsciously biased. Ngyuen said after the first important step of discovering and acknowledging your bias, people can educate themselves.
“Encroaching and bringing education into the system … taking active education into the healthcare system … would do an overhaul and help us change it (system) and see it (bias),” Ngyuen said.
Ngyuen named active learning the best way of education, meaning being involved in the topic. For example, participating in the events that residence and inclusion assistants host in the dorms, keeping the discussion alive and attending events.
Madeline Gibb, fa reshman, is Faith in Femininity vice president. Gibb said it was an impactful opportunity to educate herself on the issue.
“It is so important because people are struggling,” Gibb said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to go into a doctor’s office and to not receive the care you need because people aren’t believing me because of race. ... That is horribly wrong and it’s an injustice that needs to be fixed.”
Sander said being interested in learning more and attending such events like this one is what’s going to change the system and help people who are advocating for their needs.
Blake said she was happy with how many people attended the Medical Bias Against Women of Color discussion. She wrapped up her speech with another poem of Judd’s.
She also advised books for additional information on the topic, such as “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, “Patient” by Bettina Judd and “Medical Bondage” by Deirdre Cooper Owens.
“I think sometimes I even get into the thing about ‘stories don’t change things’… but they do,” Blake said. “And so I really wanted to emphasize that today. … Listening to other people’s stories helps us to also go ‘Wow, I want to know more about what she was talking about,’ and it allows us to do more investigating.”
