Dear White People

The Article in Brief

Dear White People

Krys E. Foster , and colleagues

Background Members of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Minority and Multicultural Health Collaborative write an open letter to their white colleagues, as reflected in this essay.

What This Study Found Authors discuss their experiences of being educated in unbalanced and biased academic systems, including medical schools. They also share how they have had to carry disproportionately higher financial debt due to student loans. And while physicians of color produce essential research highlighting gaps in care for underserved communities�and tools to address those gaps�they are undervalued, underpaid, denied career advancement, and experience daily micro- and macro-aggressions, according to the authors. As medical doctors who are also people of color, they write that they have had to bear the exhaustive burden of a minority tax, including assuming the responsibility of explaining and then fixing racism and associated inequities of racism in medicine while also balancing the complexities of "white fragility."

Implications

• Authors provide a list of specific actions that their white counterparts can follow to support and elevate the voices of all people of color to break down structural and systemic policies and practices that enforce a culture of racism, inequity, and bias.