AMA Apologizes for History of Racism

The American Medical Association apologized for its history of racism against U.S. African-American doctors Thursday.

The country’s largest medical association also pledged to improve its relationship with minority doctors and increase their numbers so that the workforce accurately represents the diversity of America’s patients, immediate past AMA President Ronald M. Davis said.

The apology followed an independent study, which the AMA supported, of the association’s historical role in African-American segregation and discrimination. The study will be made public next week, the AMA said.

The Washington Post reported Thursday the study found that the AMA permitted state and local medical associations to exclude black physicians, effectively barring those doctors from the national organization. In the early 20th century, the organization also listed black doctors as colored in its national physician directory, the Post said.

In addition, the AMA was silent during debates over the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and, for years, didn’t force hospitals built with federal funds to end discrimination.

The medical profession, which is based on a boundless respect for human life, had an obligation to lead society away from disrespect of so many lives, Davis wrote in a commentary in the July 16 Journal of the American Medical Association.

The AMA failed to do so and has apologized for that failure, he wrote.