Just Health: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2023

The author of the bestselling Just Medicine reveals how racial inequality undermines public health and how we can change it

With the rise of the Movement for Black Lives and the feverish calls for Medicare for All, the public spotlight on racial inequality and access to healthcare has never been brighter. The rise of COVID-19 and its disproportionate effects on people of color has especially made clear how the color of one’s skin is directly related to the quality of care (or lack thereof) a person receives, and the disastrous health outcomes Americans suffer as a result of racism and an unjust healthcare system.

Timely and accessible, Just Health examines how deep structural racism embedded in the fabric of American society leads to worse health outcomes and lower life expectancy for people of color. By presenting evidence of discrimination in housing, education, employment, and the criminal justice system, Dayna Bowen Matthew shows how racial inequality pervades American society and the multitude of ways that this undermines the health of minority populations. The author provides a clear path forward for overcoming these massive barriers to health and ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to be healthy. She encourages health providers to take a leading role in the fight to dismantle the structural inequities their patients face.

A compelling and essential read, Just Health helps us to understand how racial inequality damages the health of our minority communities and explains what we can do to fight back.

Dayna Bowen Matthew, JD, PhD is the Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. Dr. Matthew is a leader in public health and civil rights law who has also held many public policy roles. These include serving as senior adviser to the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and as a member of the health policy team for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.