Society of Black Academic Surgeons Response to Recent Events

Our white coats have never protected us. We collectively feel the pain.

The Society of Black Academic Surgeons watches with heartache the rapid sequence of high profile lethal events that have occurred over the last several months affecting African Americans. These acts demonstrate the societal mistreatment of people of color and is painfully accentuated by the international pandemic that continues to disproportionately ravish Black lives.

This national and international awakening brings light to issues we already knew existed. Social inequities and structural racism are the root causes. Our white coats have never protected us. We collectively feel the pain. Our people have experienced long standing injustices stemming from systematic racism. We condemn the witnessed (and unwitnessed) acts of brutality and call for swift justice against those who took part in these untimely and unwarranted deaths. We condemn the medical injustices faced by African Americans that remain unabated and persistent as brutally highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We condemn the inequalities we face in our institutions of higher learning and the workplace.

We are in the midst of the fierce urgency of now, requiring action from all of us.

The mission of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons is to improve health, advance science, and foster careers of African American and other underrepresented minority surgeons. It was founded to provide refuge, leadership, and sponsorship. We also serve as advocates for our patients who are often from communities of color. To our members and fellow surgeons/physicians of color, please know we support you and are here for you. For our allies, please use your voice and your platforms to facilitate changes in policies to end inequalities and racism in America. We are in the midst of the fierce urgency of now, requiring action from all of us.