TJC Story Blog
Apr 2021
Amber Sherman
Ms. Sherman, a 26 year old Black woman, shared with TJC that she has felt discriminated against because of her race or ethnicity while accessing healthcare.
She said: “As a Black woman, I haven’t felt listened to by doctors, and as a fat black woman, I feel like doctors see my weight and assume that’s why I have health issues and don’t analyze me as a whole person..I would rather see Black doctors, Black Women doctors specifically, so I don’t think there are enough of those.” And she added, “I have experienced doctors who made me uncomfortable, didn’t listen to me, and upset me with their lack of bedside manner.”
Ms. Sherman would like to tell her politicians, “Black people, especially Black women aren’t being listened to at doctor’s appointments and it has created a sense of angst and fear around going to the doctor.” Ms. Sherman also shared that she knows family/friends who have felt discriminated against based on their race or ethnicity while accessing healthcare, and that she lost her job due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
*The Black Health Matters initiative seeks to frame health as a racial justice issue and to educate about the long-standing systemic barriers to care and other social determinants of health as well as bias in the healthcare industry that create worse health outcomes for Black people. If you have ever experienced health disparities or health inequities, please fill out this brief survey. TJC wants to share your experiences to educate people about these issues and get them to take action to fix the problems in our healthcare system.
