How Can Cardiology Journals and Researchers Address Disparities?

The journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes has published an editorial affirming that structural racism is a public health crisis and acknowledging that the scientific publishing community can play a role in addressing it.

The statement begins by describing the “groundwater” metaphor developed by Bayard Love and Deena Hayes-Greene from the Racial Equity Institute. Structural barriers that result in disparities are like a pond fed by toxic groundwater. You can never address the problem of dead fish in the pond until you fix the underlying structural problem of toxic groundwater.

The editorialists affirm that it is critical for the medical community to acknowledge the societal structures — the groundwater — that have led to dis…