3266 - Medical Racism; Secret US Troops In The Middle East? w/ Dr. Uché Blackstock, Ken Klippenstein

It's another EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Dr. Uche Blackstock, emergency physician and former associate professor of emergency medicine at the New York University, to discuss her recent book Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism In Medicine. Then, she is joined by Ken Klippenstein, investigative reporter at the Intercept, to discuss his recent reporting on the U.S.'s covert military presence in the Middle East. First, Emma runs through updates on the US lawsuit against Biden for funding the genocide in Gaza, the genocide itself, the war’s regional expansion, US economic development, congressional policy, UAW expansion, RFK’s candidacy, and Myanmar’s secret prisons, before watching South Africa’s response to the continuing genocide in Gaza in the face of the ICJ’s ruling, and the complicity of third party states. Doctor Uché Blackstock then dives right into her background growing up within a community of Black physicians, including her mother, to becoming the first Black mother-daughter legacy graduates from Harvard Med, and touches on the impact of her mother’s passing from leukemia – largely influenced by racialized environmental risk factors – in shaping her perspective on health and race. Next, Dr. Blackstock steps back to tackle the history of Black physicians in the US, looking at the decrease in the rate of Black physicians in the US from 1910-2008, and the impact of the Flexner Report on shutting down many of the thriving Black educational medical institutions, pushing Black people away from the profession and the remaining Black physicians involved out of their communities. After touching on the importance of both policy and institutional pressure to support continued medical practice in marginalized communities, Dr. Blackstock walks Emma through the greater context of racial discrimination in medicine beyond the socioeconomic, including the bias experienced interfacing with the healthcare system, and how the industry approaches issues that predominantly impact Black people and communities of color, before wrapping up with the particular impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black communities. Ken Klippenstein then joins, briefly walking through the recent revelations to the US public of US troop activity in the Middle East, exploring why both the US and the host countries prefer to keep the presence low-key, and why that often results in the US public remaining unaware until personnel are killed. Stepping back, Ken walks Emma through the evolution of the Biden Administration’s transparency on military activity in the region – particularly in the wake of Israel’s siege on Gaza – the role the US is playing in expanding the conflict in Israel, and what to expect from this military presence moving forward.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they walk through the evolving exposé on WWE Tyrant and monopolist Vince McMahon surrounding his myriad sexual abuses, watch Tom Cotton fail to comprehend Asian identities outside of China, and parse through Nikki Haley’s reasonably friendly appearance on the Breakfast Club. Ro Khanna provides some hopeful questioning of the FBI, and Aaron calls in to discuss grappling with family’s perspective on the genocide in Gaza, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Dr. Blackstock's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705871/legacy-by-uche-blackstock-md/

Check out Ken's reporting here: https://theintercept.com/staff/kenklippenstein/

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