Sherman James, the Susan B. King Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University, will discuss the unprecedented health gains Southern blacks experienced from 1965-1980 during the 24th annual MLK Symposium.
During that time period, the U.S. black population experienced an unprecedented reduction in both infant mortality and deaths from cardiovascular disease. Southern blacks, especially in the rural South, experienced the greatest gains in health relative to baseline rates.
In his presentation, titled “Healing the Wounds: The Health Disparities Legacy of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement,” James, a social epidemiologist, will summarize the scientific evidence bearing upon this dramatic improvement in the health of black Southerners. James also will provide some explanations for the speed of these improvements and will end the hour-long presentation with a discussion of lessons that this period holds for current efforts to reduce U.S. racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health. A question-and-answer session will follow the talk.
The presentation is at 11:45 a.m. Jan. 17 in the Dow Auditorium, Towsley Center, U-M Hospital, 1515 East Medical Center Drive, second floor.
James’ research focuses on racial and ethnic inequities in health status and health care, and community-based and public policy interventions designed to minimize and ultimately eliminate, these inequities.
His presentation is sponsored by the School of Public Health, School of Dentistry, Medical School, School of Nursing, School of Social Work, College of Pharmacy and the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers.
James was the John P. Kirscht Collegiate Professor of Public Health at SPH, the founding director (1998-2003) of the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health, chair (1999-2003) of the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, and a senior research scientist (1989-2003) in the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research.
