Michigan Office Focused On Black Healthcare Renamed

The Trump administration’s ongoing crusade against anything revolving around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has affected all facets of American life. From business, college admissions, to even the military, the administration has launched a concerted effort to make life harder for any Black, brown, and LGBTQ Americans. The attacks on DEI have even extended into healthcare, with Michigan quietly renaming one of its offices focused on healthcare for Black, brown, and marginalized communities. 

Bridge Michigan reports that the Office of Equity and Minority Health (OEMH), which the state once hailed as “the third oldest minority health office in the United States,” has quietly renamed itself to the Michigan Office of Transformation, Engagement, and Community Health in an effort “to align with broader departmental and community priorities.” 

The site now states that the office’s goal is “ensuring optimal health and eliminating differences in health outcomes among all Michigan communities through improved service delivery, health infrastructure, skill-building, and policy change. This is a stark difference from its previous mission to tackle healthcare disparities in “Michigan’s racial and ethnic minority populations.”

Michigan’s Office of Equity and Minority Health was established in 1988 through an executive order, before having its mission codified into law in 2007. The office’s goal came into distinct focus in 2020, when it became the “primary coordinating body” to help combat racial disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the last 37 years, the office has had many different names, but its charge has remained the same: to lead and advance community health by reducing or eliminating differences in health outcomes caused by social, economic, cultural and geographic factors by ensuring access to health care for all Michiganders,” spokesperson Lynn Sutfin wrote in an email to the outlet.  

From Bridge:

Bridge also compared the MI-TEaCH website with an archived version of the OEMH website, as it appeared on May 3. 

OEMH was tasked with surveying and analyzing racial and ethnic data, devising strategies to improve health outcomes for residents, coordinating with local communities and providing training on community engagement and topics like equity and implicit bias. 

The group’s stated commitment was “to work towards ensuring health equity and eradicating health disparities continuously and steadfastly among Michigan’s diverse communities, which include American Indians/Alaska Natives, Arab and Chaldean Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Black/African Americans, and Hispanics/Latinos.”

Reference to these groups has been pushed to a secondary MI-TEaCH page and omits Chaldean Americans as a specified target group.

Now, if I were a generous man, I’d say that it’s just a name change, and as long as they maintain their historical focus, hopefully everything will shake out. Unfortunately, my generosity towards white America has long been exhausted. 

At the end of the day, language matters, folks. The old adage “when white people get a cold, Black people get the flu,” isn’t just a turn of phrase. It’s more or less the truth when it comes to healthcare outcomes for Black people across America. Black women in particular are disproportionately affected by everything from cancer mortality rates to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. 

By shifting to broader language and definitions, they’re essentially minimizing the focus needed to protect Black bodies. Changes like these are only going to make Black people, a group understandably distrustful of the American healthcare system, less likely to have faith that their best interests are being looked after. 

It’s become increasingly clear that these attacks on DEI aren’t about creating a “merit-based” society. It’s about hurting Black people by any means possible. 

SEE ALSO:

RFLC Wants To End The Black Maternal Mortality Crisis

The Color Of Health: Why Black Men Shouldn’t Wait To See A Doctor