The Health Caucus at the World Conference Against Racism

I attended the 2001 World Conference Against Racism and headed the Health Caucus. One of our objectives was to persuade countries to move toward collecting racial and ethnic population data.

Health made the need especially clear. If a country does not have reliable information about the size, location, age, income, and other characteristics of its racial and ethnic communities, how can it determine whether those communities experience higher rates of disease, disability, maternal death, infant mortality, undertreatment, or premature death?

A raw number is not enough. Suppose 1,000 Black people die from a particular illness. That number has little meaning unless we know the size and relevant characteristics of the Black population. We need a denominator to calculate a rate. We also need comparable information about other populations before we can determine whether a disparity exists.

Without reliable population data, governments cannot determine the scope of a health problem. They cannot allocate resources intelligently. They cannot identify the communities most affected. And they cannot determine whether a policy reduced, preserved, or worsened a disparity.

At Durban, we had to explain the difference between biological race and the social operation of racism. There may be one human race, but racial classifications still affect where people live, the air they breathe, the work they perform, the medical care they receive, and the burdens of stress they carry.

We lobbied hard. Ultimately, the Durban Programme of Action urged governments to collect, compile, analyze, disseminate, and publish reliable statistical data concerning people subjected to racism and racial discrimination. It recognized that governments need disaggregated data to assess conditions, measure progress, identify social gaps, and develop policies to combat racism. It also recognized the need to protect privacy, human rights, and the principle of self-identification.

That was a major victory. After persistent lobbying, we secured international recognition that governments could not fight racism while refusing to collect evidence of its existence.

Twenty-five years later, the United States is considering moving in the opposite direction.