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Posts tagged as “unconscious bias”

The American Medical Association Declares Racism a Public Health Threat in New Policy

New policy adopted by physicians at the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Special Meeting of its House of Delegates (HOD) recognizes racism as a public health threat and commits to actively work on dismantling racist policies and practices across all of health care.

In June 2020, the AMA Board of Trustees acknowledged the health consequences of violent police interactions and denounced racism as an urgent threat to public health, pledging action to confront systemic racism, racial injustice and police brutality.

The new policy approved by the AMA, representing physicians and medical students from every state and medical specialty, opposes all forms of racism as a threat to public health and calls on AMA to take prescribed steps to combat racism, including: (1) acknowledging the harm caused by racism and unconscious bias within medical research and health care; (2) identifying tactics to counter racism and mitigate its health effects; (3) encouraging medical education curricula to promote a greater understanding of the topic; (4) supporting external policy development and funding for researching racism’s health risks and damages; and (5) working to prevent influences of racism and bias in health technology innovation.

“The AMA recognizes that racism negatively impacts and exacerbates health inequities among historically marginalized communities. Without systemic and structural-level change, health inequities will continue to exist, and the overall health of the nation will suffer,” said AMA Board Member Willarda V. Edwards, M.D., M.B.A.

“As physicians and leaders in medicine, we are committed to optimal health for all, and are working to ensure all people and communities reach their full health potential. Declaring racism as an urgent public health threat is a step in the right direction toward advancing equity in medicine and public health, while creating pathways for truth, healing, and reconciliation.”

UPS Finally Ends Ban on Natural Black Hairstyles and Beards

According to cnn.com, United Parcel Service (UPS) finally is lifting several strict rules on how employees who interact with the public — mostly the delivery drivers — can wear their facial hair and hairstyles.
To quote from CNN.com:

The changes relax the strict limits on facial hair (no beards for most employees, and mustaches limited to above the crease of the lip), how long men could wear their hair (nothing longer than collar length) and hairstyles (no Afros or braids). While styles still must be business-appropriate and not pose a safety concern, those specific limits have been eliminated.

The UPS changes also include the lifting of gender-specific regulations, including rules like the length of the uniform’s shorts. The new rules, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, were posted on an internal company web site for employees.

“These changes reflect our values and desire to have all UPS employees feel comfortable, genuine and authentic while providing service to our customers and interacting with the general public,” UPS said in a a statement, adding that the company is “determined to continue to make UPS a great place to work for all of our more than 500,000 employees around the world.”

UPS had faced criticism that its appearance rules, particularly the hair guidelines, amounted to a form of discrimination. In 2018 it agreed to pay a $4.9 million fine and enter into a consent decree with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to allow greater freedom to wear beards and long hair by those who filed for a religious exemption.

UPS is likely also motivated to make the changes due to the need to add more staff to handle the increase of packages being sent because of the surge in online shopping due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/11/business/ups-end-beard-ban/index.html

 

Black-Owned Coffee Shops to Try Instead of Starbucks Today

Starbucks locations across the U.S. are closed today for the “unconscious bias” training mandated throughout the company in the wake of the wrongful arrests of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks this April. So to find (and perhaps fall in love with) a black-owned cafe in your town, click on either link below:
http://blackstarjournal.org/2018/05/03/500-black-coffee-houses-and-cafes/

 Black-Owned Coffee Shops to Try While Starbucks Is Closed | Teen Vogue