This past Saturday, Dr. Len White led a Social History Tour of Duke’s campus. Dr. White led members of the department and their families around sites on campus that are noteworthy for their roles in Duke’s past, particularly in regard to race and racism. It was very well received by those who took the tour. If there is enough interest, this might be repeated in the future for those who couldn’t attend this weekend.
Our theme for this academic year has been Community. While we didn’t get together in person as much as we thought we would last summer (pre-Omicron), we still got to enjoy some Namu and some baseball as a group. We still have several ongoing community-themed projects underway.
We are working to build a house for a family in our community. The D&I Committee is pursuing research on disparities and clinical outcomes for our patient community. And many of you participated in focus groups led by Cerica Phelps to help us understand how we can make our workplaces a better community for everyone. Thank you to all those who participated and to Cerica for her leadership!
Thank you to those of you who completed the NCCU faculty engagement survey. We had an overwhelmingly positive response. Ashley Moore is currently working with NCCU to develop opportunities for their students to work with us both in the lab and in the clinic to increase connections between these academic communities.
I’ll keep you updated as this develops. Overall, it’s been a highly productive year, and I want to thank all members of the Committee for their efforts. We will pick up with a new theme starting next month!
With Liberty and Justice for All
Liberty and Justice are concepts embedded in the psyche of the American people. We celebrate them every 4th of July. But the “for all” part of this phrase might actually be better celebrated in June, when we mark Pride and Juneteenth. In 1892, when the Pledge of Allegiance was written, LGBTQ+ Americans were unjustly denied the liberty to pursue the lives of their choice.
And while the slave trade was illegal by that point, no one could reasonably argue that Black Americans were treated justly or had the liberty afforded to White Americans. I imagine that many people heard the Pledge for the first time and found those words hollow. How could we say “for all” and not mean them, too?
When we celebrate Pride and Juneteenth now, we recognize tremendous progress toward the ideals of liberty and justice for people who were historically denied them. Does this mean that we have achieved our goals of full inclusion and equity for all people? Of course not. But there is value in celebrating the achievements of generations of activists who fought and died to get us to where we are today.
It is in the context of our celebrations of ever-growing liberty that we had the jarring experience last week of being told that the very liberty we were celebrating was in jeopardy. We were thrown back to a time when liberty and justice for all was actually liberty and justice for some. We were returned to a time when LGBTQ+ Americans could not lead lives with the partners of their choice. We reverted to an era when women lacked bodily autonomy.
Whether we are referring to LGBTQ+, racial/ethnic and religious minority groups, or women, we are talking about having the liberty to live the life of our own choosing. We are talking about autonomy, one of the core ethical principles of our profession, and one we are obligated to uphold. Sadly, in many places in the United States, this liberty has been erased, placing medical providers in the untenable position of choosing between what is ethical and what is legal.
If we have learned anything from Pride and Juneteenth, it’s that struggles for liberty take years but can ultimately be successful. Even before last week, we were still struggling to make the Pledge of Allegiance meaningful and true for everyone. The details have been suddenly and dramatically changed, but the ultimate goal has not. Those of us who grew up in the United States have probably all recited the Pledge; thus, it is all of our responsibilities to live up to our words and push our country to stand by its promise of liberty and justice for all.
Happy Pride and Happy Juneteenth!