Byrd W M, Clayton L A
Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.
J Health Care Poor Underserved. 1993;4(2):102-16. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2010.0373.
To appreciate the causes of the African-American cancer crisis, contemporary myths and perceptual gaps regarding cancer in blacks must be analyzed and placed in historical context. Since ancient times, racism has permeated western scientific, medical, and social cultures. Yet contemporary analysts typically frame a 370-year-old African-American health deficit in nonracial terms, and ignore both the metamorphosis of racism and the impact of racism on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer; exposure to cancer-causing industrial pollutants; educational opportunities for black health professionals and policymakers, and other factors. If the African-American cancer crisis is to be halted, the growing divergence between urgent needs and meager resources devoted to preventing, detecting, and treating cancer in blacks must be sharply reversed.
要理解非裔美国人癌症危机的成因，必须分析当代有关黑人癌症的神话和认知差距，并将其置于历史背景中。自古以来，种族主义就渗透到西方科学、医学和社会文化中。然而，当代分析人士通常用非种族的术语来描述长达370年的非裔美国人健康赤字，而忽略了种族主义的演变以及种族主义对癌症预防、诊断和治疗的影响；接触致癌工业污染物的情况；黑人健康专业人员和政策制定者的教育机会，以及其他因素。如果要阻止非裔美国人的癌症危机，就必须迅速扭转在预防、检测和治疗黑人癌症方面迫切需求与微薄资源之间日益扩大的差距。
