The impact of settler colonialism and racism continues to be deeply ingrained within our societal systems, leading to persistent health inequities. Indigenous Peoples, Black, Latine and other people of color in the United States and its occupied territories have experienced these historical and ongoing systems of oppression through land dispossession, cultural genocide, the enslavement of Africans and their descendants, the internment of Japanese Americans, the separation of Indigenous families by sending children to boarding schools, violation of treaties discriminatory immigration policies and practices, redlining, racially restrictive covenants, exclusionary zoning, racialized police violence, and voter suppression, among other policies and practices that are embedded in the fabric of U.S. society.
At the same time, progress has been made toward health equity. And health equity research - guided by community knowledge, power, and leadership - serves as a transformational catalyst for the public good. It helps identify what works, for whom, and under what conditions to guide policies, implementation, and funding decisions that create meaningful impact to improve health and wellbeing. A healthier nation, where all Americans can thrive and grow, benefits everyone, and should serve as a unifying goal, transcending ideological divides.
To sustain and build on this progress, we must continue to invest in health equity research, to ensure that health is a right for all, rather than a privilege for a few.