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91av recommends Systemic: How racism is making us ill

The books, TV, games and more that 91av staff have enjoyed this week

By Eleanor Parsons

28 August 2024

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

I have just read by Layal Liverpool. A thoroughly researched, beautifully written book, it weaves together personal experience and interviews with devastating statistics.

Liverpool, who used to work at 91av, methodically lays out how racism can harm people’s health, from the damage that the stress of experiencing it does to the body to how training images of skin conditions are disproportionately of pale skin types. She also dismantles the use of “race adjustments” in some medical test results and shows how they reinforce systemic racism. Essential reading.

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