Let’s take action against anti-Black racism & violence

Students, trainees, faculty and staff,

I am deeply aggrieved by the perpetuation of anti-Black racism and violence across North America, including within our own community, and would like to acknowledge our collective anger, grief and pain.

The deaths of George Floyd, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery are the most recent examples of how systemic racism and cruel institutional practices can lead to the tragic and unnecessary loss of life. As scholars of health and medical professionals, we cannot let this continue.

These recent appalling events are the tip of an iceberg of racism that regrettably permeates our society. Most racism is invisible, and embedded in structures and policies that permanently and generationally shape lives, families and communities. Sadly, racism exists in medicine, and harmful biases infiltrate medical education and the medical academy. 

As dean of the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), I call for collective action against racism both within our faculty and in society.

Medicine has a professional obligation to ensure that care is provided to those that need it. We commit to doing no harm and protecting the well-being of all people.

The CSM’s leadership team is committed to working as authentic allies. We will identify and redress policies and practices that maintain systemic racism. We will also work in solidarity with Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) students and colleagues to truly achieve equity, diversity and inclusion within our CSM community.

As a leadership team, we sincerely value inclusion. We know that when diverse voices and experiences lead education, science and clinical medicine, we learn and grow in remarkable ways. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank BIPOC students, faculty and staff for your contributions and hard work. We are truly better together.

We must all recognize our roles as allies and pledge to listen, learn, reflect and act. We need to educate ourselves so that we can end acts of racism that hurt us all. In our promise to do better, we know we can transform medical education and health care. 

To those of you that are feeling overwhelmed in this moment, the University of Calgary has resources available to help our students, faculty and staff.

I encourage you to be an active citizen both within our CSM community and in the community in which you reside. Look for ways to share your time, knowledge and resources with organizations who support our view of an inclusive, pluralistic society, and take the time to learn more about racism, privilege and inequity.

Listening is an important first step and your input is critical, so I also encourage you to send your questions, comments, ideas and concerns to csmdean@ucalgary.ca. Together, let’s take action against anti-Black racism and violence.

Sincerely,

Jon Meddings, MD
Dean, Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary