Racial Justice in Medicine: Narrative Practices toward Equity

ABSTRACT:In an age of police violence against Black persons and their mass incarceration, Americans seek a "public sphere" in which to examine the torn fabric of race relations. To date, efforts to overcome centuries-long polarizations and to find collective avenues toward racial justice have had little success. This essay proposes that narrative engagement and creative discovery can open paths toward mutual comprehension, if not reconciliation, in the sphere of racial justice.Focusing on racial inequity within health care, faculty from the Division of Narrative Medicine at Columbia University designed and executed an intensive three-day workshop entitled "Race | Violence | Justice: The Need for Narrative" using the methods and principles of narrative medicine. This essay provides a critical race theory conceptual framework for the project and summarizes the content and process of the workshop itself. To learn about the workshop's outcomes, the 110 participants were surveyed anonymously six months later in an unsolicited email questionnaire composed of three open-ended questions and a creative exercise. The team accomplished a modified-grounded-theory–guided content analysis of the survey question responses and a narrative/poetics reading of the responses to the creative exercise.The study identified overarching themes and revealed uniform and enthusiastic endorsement of the methods of the workshop with evidence of lasting impact on respondents' work, teaching, activism, and personal lives. Although limited by the number of participants and respondents, the study supports the necessity of narrative and creative approaches in anti-racism and anti-bias work.