Central PA Medicine Summer2020 - 4

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From the Editor

That Bear Don't
Need No Help
Joseph F. Answine, MD, FASA
Central PA Medicine Editor-in-Chief

facebook.com/dauphincms

Dauphin@pamedsoc.org

Dauphin County Medical Society
777 East Park Drive, PO Box 8820
Harrisburg, PA 17105

grew up loving the Three Stooges. Yes, most of my colleagues would say "that
figures." In one episode, Curly was outside with a bear. While in the safety of
a cabin, Moe asked Larry to go outside and help him. Larry then said: "That
bear don't need no help." Why I brought this up hopefully will make sense by
the end of the editorial.

Articles within this edition of our DCMS magazine deal with racism. I was concerned about writing on the subject because of how contentious the issue is currently.
However, our editorial board is a democracy and the overwhelming consensus was to
confront it as it pertains to medicine. Many well written emails convinced me that
the majority of the board was correct.
In this editorial, I am writing my thoughts, and they are MY thoughts and not
the board's thoughts. Furthermore, being an Italian American physician, therefore
considered "white," I need to be careful that my words are not mistaken as inappropriate due to the potentiality of losing my credibility or my position within the
medical community. I am comfortable, however, that my points will be understood
and taken correctly.
Morgan Freeman was asked how to get rid of racism in an interview from 2005, and
his response was: "Stop talking about it." We spend a lot of time making statements
that bring to light racial differences: "Black Lives Matter"; "Latino Lives Matter";
"Women's Rights"; "LGBT"; "White Coats for Black Lives"; and (my least favorite
because it should never have to be stated) "All Lives Matter."
The reason I did not want to devote this edition to racism is because I truly believe
focusing on it promotes racism.
Yes, I have heard the statement "silence is violence" as well. But I am concerned that
the more we give the true racists press, the more we promote their agenda.
Even though I grew up in "redneck central" on the border of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, my first real experience with racial indifference was
in college. As a child, my friends were of all ethnic backgrounds and we were oblivious
to racial intolerance. We were just buddies playing sports together and going to school
together. While working my way through college, I was introduced to affirmative

Summer 2020 Central PA Medicine

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Central PA Medicine Summer2020

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