Reducing Health Disparities: A Socio-Scientific Representation of African-Americans in Research

WHEREAS, African-Americans disproportionately suffer from negative health outcomes; and

WHEREAS, factors such as geographical/neighborhood disparities, socio-economic disparities, and discrimination in health care are an insufficient proxy for race; and

WHEREAS, differences in health outcomes between African-Americans and other races are often misclassified as genetic and socio-economic variations; and

WHEREAS, the NAACP has consistently advocated for health initiatives that reduce health disparities among African-Americans; now

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the NAACP call on health policy-makers and grant-makers to support research that acknowledges or explains the complex interaction among race and the biological and social determinants of health, and oppose research that refuses to acknowledge or explain the complex interaction among race and the biological and social determinants of health.