Racism, a National Public Health Crisis

Social Justice. That’s what Dr. Walter Palmer has been about all his life. He’s known as a living legend in civil rights work. On January 1, 2021, he kicked off a new initiative, where he wants the United States government to declare a national public health crisis about racism. His petition drive, albeit in the early stages, has already drawn 1,400 signatures from all over the country and the campaign is only one month old. This is a national grassroots campaign, with supporters not just in the United States, but in parts of Europe and South America as well, according to Dr. Palmer. The age group being targeted are people age 15 and up. “We have a group of young people organizing high schools all across America, even during the pandemic. Doctors are organizing doctors. Educators are organizing educators. Clergy are organizing clergy and so on. Our former Mayor from Philadelphia, W. Wilson Goode has committed to this effort. He’s sending our petition out to over a thousand people. I’ve got University of Pennsylvania medical doctors, nurses, technicians, that are on board. The way I’ve set things up, I’ve divided the country into nine regions. I have people organizing each of the regions. We’re systematically reaching out to a large number of institutions. Right now, we’re going to every four-year college and junior college we can reach, communicating with the presidents and deans and student organization leaders.” Acknowledging the fact that this is a crisis that has been going on for the last 50 plus years, Dr. Palmer stated, “We have to educate people. I was a part of that fight back in the 1960’s when I was the director of cardio-pulmonary care at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Back then we had set up what was called the Medical Committee for Human Rights. We were pushing for national support to address racism then, but we couldn’t get support from the American Medical Association, (AMA). We did get support from the National Medical Association (NMA), and the African American Doctors Organization, but it still wasn’t enough support at that time to get the traction we needed. A month after I made the presentation at Penn, back in the 60’s, the American Medical Association came out declaring that their organization recognized that racism was a national public health crisis. A month after that, the Public Health Association made up of doctors who do public health, came out and said their organization recognized that racism was a public health crisis.” Some, Dr. Palmer added, might wonder why are we doing what we’re doing now? “It’s because while it’s good to have individual groups say they know there’s a problem with racism in America, until the government recognizes it, we can’t get the kind of assistance that’s really required to address the issue. The government has to treat racism like a pandemic. That means they have to create a Marshall plan like they did in Europe to restructure Germany; like they did in Japan, to restructure Japan; Korea, and also in Vietnam. I’ve spent 70 years out here fighting, one piece at a time, housing for the poor, healthcare, schools, homelessness, Black on Black Crime, drugs. To have the government declare racism as a national public health crisis, we can get comprehensive help to make for change.” In a perfect world, three things can and should happen most immediately for Dr. Walt Palmer’s initiative to move forward successfully. The petition to implore the U.S. Government to declare racism as a national public health crisis needs to be signed by thousands and thousands of people. Once federal level lawmakers see that so many Americans are of the same mindset, in their belief that we are in crisis over racism, the government needs to officially acknowledge that fact, and declare it as true. Then there needs to be a national dialogue on race and racism in the United States. That’s a dialogue that will be ongoing. It’s not something that can be done in one or two sessions. ********** For those who may not know the name, Dr. Walter Palmer, he is a legend in Philadelphia and certainly in Black Philadelphia. A well-educated man, Dr. Palmer learned many things over his 87 years of life. One of the most prevalent lessons he learned was that racism existed and would not cease to exist without him changing the world for himself. He experienced racism in every area of his life, including as he entered the medical field. He experienced racism even after creating a department at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and successfully leading it for years. Dr. Palmer was born in 1934 in Atlantic City, New Jersey and he and his family moved to Philadelphia in 1939. Everything wasn’t always easy and smooth in his life. One could say, Dr. Walt Palmer was and is a self-made success. He was arrested for the first time at age 12. He was shot and stabbed before high school, involved in local gangs, and went on to graduate from West Philadelphia High School, graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s School of Respiratory and as mentioned earlier in this column, he became director of Cardio-Pulmonary Care at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He studied business and communications at Temple University. He also attended Cheyney University for his teacher’s degree in history, social studies, and communications, then went to Howard Law for his Juris Doctorate. Additionally, Dr. Palmer has worked for many organizations doing community organizing, He helped to buy and sell many major businesses, was a chief negotiator between MOVE and the city, worked in education, and is a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He was inducted into the Philadelphia College of Physicians in 2005. To learn more about the petition drive to get the U.S. government to declare racism as a national public health crisis, log on at www.thewdpalmerfoundation.org. We’ll be doing a full salute to Dr. Walter Palmer during Black History Month, so stay tuned for more details about all the things this man has accomplished. But for now, know that you can get involved with the push to get our federal level lawmakers to declare racism as a National public health crisis. The Coronavirus pandemic has made it where the majority of us who chose to be smart, are not congregating in large numbers. Smart people are observing the social distancing guidelines. We’re not having in-person public meetings. However, when there’s a will, there’s a way, and people can still get signatures on a critical petition like this one. Start by logging onto the Palmer Foundation web site. You can also email Dr. Palmer at thewdpalmerfoundation@gmail.com, or call him at 267-738-1588.