Hispanic Identity and Its Inclusion in the Race Discrimination Discourse in the United States.

ABSTRACT

As protests against racism occur all over the United States and medical institutions face calls to incorporate antiracism and health equity curricula into professional training and patient care, the antiracism discourse has largely occurred through a Black/African American and White lens. Hispanics, an umbrella category created by the U.S. government to include all people of Spanish-speaking descent, are the largest minority group in the country. Hispanics are considered an ethnic rather than a racial group, although some Hispanics self-identify their race in terms of their ethnicity and/or country of origin while other Hispanics self-identify with any of the 5 racial categories used by the U.S. government (White, Black/African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). Expanding the antiracism discourse in medicine to include Hispanic perspectives and the diversity of histories and health outcomes among Hispanic groups is crucial to addressing inequities and disparities in health and medical training. A lack of inclusion of Hispanics has contributed to a growing shortage of Hispanic physicians and medical school faculty in the United States as well as discrimination against Hispanic physicians, trainees, and patients. To reverse this negative trend and advance a health care equity and antiracist agenda, the authors offer steps that medical schools, academic medical centers, and medical accreditation and licensing bodies must take to increase the representation of Hispanics and foster their engagement in this evolving antiracism discourse.