Anti-Black Racism in Bioethics: A Path to Health Equity

Abstract

The concept of racism as a social phenomenon can be summarized in three conceptions: individualist, institutional, and structural. The individualist conception treats racism as a social pathology of individual or collective character. The institutional conception views it as a malfunction of institutions that confer disadvantages to black people, and therefore, correction mechanisms are based on affirmative actions to recover the representation of racial minorities. The structural conception, though controversial, considers that racism arises from the social structure that extends to political, economic, legal, and even familial relations.