Racial Health Disparities

Floor Speech

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Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and also the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres) for hosting this Special Order hour. I would like to thank my sister Chair Beatty and all my Congressional Black Caucus colleagues for their continued work to shine a spotlight on racial health disparities.

Dr. Martin Luther King once said, ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.'' Madam Speaker, what was true in Dr. King's time continues to be true in our own. Communities of color have long experienced inadequate access to healthcare, housing, healthy food, and economic opportunity.

These inequalities independently, and working together, increase the prevalence of a host of dangerous health conditions, including diabetes, asthma, obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

One of the most shocking examples of health inequity is our Nation's maternal and infant mortality crisis. Infants born to Black mothers are nearly twice as likely to die compared to those born to White mothers. Continuing after birth, minority Americans face far higher rates of illness and death from an array of conditions.

And what does this lead to, you might ask? Well, I am glad you did. Black Americans have a life expectancy that is 4 years--I repeat, 4 years--shorter than White Americans.

The COVID pandemic's disproportionate impact on minority Americans exacerbated and exposed these disparities and the underlying inequalities driving them. Black and Brown Americans have faced far higher rates of hospitalization and death during the pandemic, and a growing body of research confirms what we have suspected--no, what we have known, what we have known for years--and that is there is an undeniable link between historical racism and the present-day medical health problems Black Americans face.

Health disparities that disproportionately impact Black Americans, from heart disease to maternal and infant mortality, are not merely an aberration. No, they are a direct result of structural, systemic, and institutional racism that has been passed down from generation to generation.

To build a healthier America for all, we must address the generational injustices that drive the racial inequities we continue to see today. That is why I was proud to declare racism as a public health crisis as a county council member, and that is why I am proud to work today with my Congressional Black Caucus colleagues to improve health outcomes for minority Americans and to address injustice in healthcare and throughout our society.

As Dr. King said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. That is our power and our message.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), my friend.

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Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Payne for those remarks.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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