“We are a nation of contradictions, and sometimes what brings out the best in us also brings out the worst,” Drs. David Skorton and David A. Acosta wrote in a recent blog post on the Association of American Medical Colleges’ website.
They were responding to yet another outbreak in gun violence with mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo., last month. Skorton, AAMC’s CEO, and Acosta, the group’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, called on industry leaders to speak out loudly against “the dangerous mix of racism, mental illness, hate, and gun violence.”
They outlined four key actions that are needed:
- Learn how to talk to and respect each other in our workplaces.
- Champion the value of immigrants to our culture and our economy.
- Speak out if you witness a hate crime or incident.
- Enact commonsense reforms on guns.
“While there are vaccines now for COVID-19, the only cure for the hate that divides us is hard work by all of us and political will from our elected leaders. We cannot wait for more tragedies,” they wrote.