Pretty much every ethnic group in the United States was the subject of racism or ethnocentrism at one point in history. Native Americans were robbed of their land; African Americans were condemned to a life of slavery; citizens of Asian origin were rounded up during the red scare; the Irish and Italians were discriminated against; and let us not forget what citizens from Latin American origins go through today. However, most people assume nowadays that racism is going away. When I was in college I used to hear how blacks are not really discriminated against anymore. Now the focus is on Latin Americans and those who follow the Muslim religion. As I expected, that is not true, not at all. Racism is all around us poisoning our life and sometimes helping kill innocents.

A new study of more than 2,200 patients treated at the Emory Transplant Center showed that black patients with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) had a 59% lower rate of kidney transplant than whites at this southeastern center. How bad is this? Extremely bad, especially since African Americans suffer from End Stage Renal Disease disproportionately compared to other races. For example, the incidence of kidney failure in blacks is 998 per million, while in whites it is 273 per million. African Americans constitute only about 15% of the total U.S population; however, they constitute about 30% of kidney failure cases. Not only this, but African Americans also develop kidney disease at an earlier age than Caucasian, 56 years old for blacks compared to 66 for whites. So, since African Americans seem to be more prone to kidney failure, one would think that transplant rates would be proportionate to the number of cases. Yet, in the case of Emory Transplant Center, black patients have a 59% lower rate of transplant. How does this make sense? Don’t all people have the right to life? Shouldn’t all people be treated equally when it comes to life saving treatments?!

In the study it was shown that black patients formed approximately 56% of the waiting list for a new kidney but only about 44% of them eventually got the life saving organ. Nationally, African Americans have a transplant rate proportionate to the waiting list proportion. Thus, the researchers believe that unknown barriers are restricting access for African Americans to the life saving operation at this medical center. During the study, researchers analyzed data from this center as well as from the United States Renal Data System and the United Network for Organ Sharing, for over 2,200 patients referred for evaluation between the years 2005 and 2007 with follow-ups up to May 2010.

Other disturbing findings by this study include the following: after referral approximately 60% of Caucasian patients began the evaluation process, compared to 51% of African Americans; there were no significant differences in the proportion of patients completing the evaluation; and now the most disturbing, 71% of whites were placed on a waiting list and 30% got the new organ, compared to 59% of blacks placed on the same list out of which only 18% got the new organ. And if you think this is it, it gets worse. The study also showed that black patients spend nearly a year longer on the waiting list than white patients and also, it takes longer for blacks to be referred after diagnosis than for whites, about 200 days longer on average.

Hopefully enough attention will be given to this topic to change the way Emory Transplant Center provides care for their patients. Also, I hope together we can put an end to this trend, and with it, get one step closer to putting an end to racism.