key: cord-0777211-2104gfsw
authors: Bishop, Ruth; Tran Plata, Vy T.; Jabour, Sarah M.
title: Who Will Be the History Writers of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
date: 2022-01-28
journal: J Gen Intern Med
DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07392-w
sha: 5ac7e327383d315fea6c394296d7a6e0e477f5e3
doc_id: 777211
cord_uid: 2104gfsw

nan

pain 2 . Sharing these stories among people with shared identities often led to emotional healing, promoted group solidarity and cohesion, and resulted in tangible change 1, 2 .

Stories from diverse backgrounds and identities can spur advocacy and help inform the creation of more inclusive and equitable health policies and guidelines, especially since certain marginalized groups are inordinately affected by pandemics 3 . Additionally, these stories can help address the narratives that ascribe blame to the individual behaviors of people of color or low-income communities for increased disease incidence and spread, rather than institutionalized racism and other forms of oppression 4, 5 . Simply, counter-stories can enable "the listener and teller to build a world richer than either could make alone 2 ." It is these "pandemic counter-stories" which we should seek to preserve and elevate. Yet, in sharing these stories, we must first acknowledge historical reasons why certain narratives have been intentionally left out or gone unrecognized. History reveals that White middle-and upper-class stories are the privileged norm, while stories from people of color or low socioeconomic groups are distorted or silenced 1 . Medical institutions have a long history of afflicting abuse, providing inadequate healthcare, or patronizing marginalized populations, including people experiencing homelessness, people with substance use disorders 6 , people who are incarcerated, and communities of color 4, 5, 7 . The status quo of structural racism and classicism upheld within society is also ingrained within our healthcare system and academic medical centers 4, 5 . If the institution of medicine seeks to be more inclusive of pandemic counter-stories, it will require intentional actions resisting these dominating exclusionary forces 2 .

What we argue is needed before a call for action is a call for reflection. To reimagine pandemic stories to be more inclusive of marginalized voices, we must first intentionally listen to these voices. To listen means to give attention to both the storyteller and their story. We argue that there is no paucity of pandemic counter-stories, merely a lack of attention highlighting them. Secondly, we must recognize that there are limitations to what physicians can contribute to the conversation of storytelling inclusivity. Social scientists and historians of race and medicine have long grappled with these issues 7 , providing decades of research and analysis of counter-stories as a way to shift the needle towards equity. Academic medicine should turn to these experts to generate new methods to "give voice and turn the margins into places of transformative resistance 1 ."

To conclude, counter-storytelling has the power to both humanize and help us construct a more just world. Academic medicine can counter its own history of marginalization of underrepresented groups' stories through intentional reflection and actions that elevate and honor these pandemic counterstories with the attention and audience they deserve. The ultimate goal is for society to recognize counter-stories no longer as counter to the prevailing narrative, but rather as enriching dimensions of our shared reality. Elevating these stories allows us to bear witness to our diverse collective experiences, expose our complacency, and enable us to confront power and privilege in the process.

So, who will be the storytellers recounting the history of the COVID-19 pandemic? Our hope is all of us will.

Critical Race Methodology: Counter-Storytelling as an Analytical Framework for Education Research

Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marginalized populations in the United States: A research agenda

Race, medicine, and health care in the United States: a historical survey

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. Doubleday

Experience of healthcare among the homeless and vulnerably housed a qualitative study: opportunities for equityoriented health care

Psychiatric Jim Crow: Desegregation at the Crownsville State Hospital, 1948-1970

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the mentorship and expertise of Dr. Tonya Kneff-Chang and Dr. Karri Grob as well as editing support from Linda Camaj Deda and Samuel Schotland.