Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern's response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

Leading American medical journal continues to omit Black research, reinforcing a legacy of racism in medical knowledge

The Conversation, March 2023

The leading U.S. medical journal, read regularly by doctors of all specialties, systematically ignores an equally reputable and rigorous body of medical research that focuses on Black Americans’ health.

The American Medical Association created a segregated “whites only” environment more than 100 years ago to prohibit Black physicians from joining their ranks. This exclusionary and racist policy prompted the creation in 1895 of the National Medical Association, a professional membership group that supported African American physicians and the patients they served. Today, the NMA represents more than 30,000 medical professionals.

In 2008, the AMA publicly apologized and pledged to right the wrongs that were done through decades of racism within its organization. Yet our research shows that despite that public reckoning 15 years ago, the opinion column of the AMA’s leading medical journal does not reflect the research and editorial contributions by NMA members.

Continue reading at The Conversation.

More Stories

The Center for International Affairs and World Cultures hosts a panel with a pair of scholars on the future of the Middle East peace process. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

After ceasefire deal, how can mediators create a lasting peace in Gaza? Experts unravel the task

02.05.2025
Police responders at the aftermath of Swedish school shooting.

Sweden’s deadliest mass shooting highlights global reality of gun violence, Northeastern criminologist says

02.05.2025
White house

Two different governors make pilgrimage to Trump White House

02.05.25
All Stories