[Views expressed in this opinion article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their employer or General Surgery News.]
By Wilson Alobuia, MD, Auriel August, MD, and Kirbi Yelorda, MD
This is not new. It was 2012 when Trayvon Martin was gunned down by a white vigilante; nearly a decade later, what has changed? The current outrage over the senseless slaughter of black men and women is long overdue.
Many of you find discomfort in the unjust treatment of the black community, so you reach out to your black friends, colleagues, loved ones and genuinely ask, “How are you doing?” To put it simply, we are not OK. The centuries of generational trauma that we carry are being brought to the surface and laid bare for the world to witness—and even worse, justify. Current events remind us that we cannot rely on our education or profession to protect us.
The reality is that many of us cannot accurately express what we feel, let alone what we need from you. How do you express feeling devalued because of your skin color to a work colleague? How do you explain fearing for your life when you see red and blue flashing lights in your rearview mirror? How do you ask that the country you live in recognizes that the value of a black life is equal to that of a white one?
Heartbreak does not even begin to cover it.
While we are encouraged by your desire to do something, we are hurting, and words cannot heal that pain. Amidst the psychological anguish, frustration and distrust that we feel, the best and only form of support is action. So, the next time you are compelled to ask your black medical student, resident, fellow, friend or colleague how they are doing or how you can help, please consider doing the following instead.

From left: Dr. Yelorda, Dr. August, Dr. Alobuia
Talk the Talk
Speak out against the injustices endured by those in the black community. Post publicly on social media platforms. Speak out whenever and wherever you can: during department meetings, at grand rounds, in the OR, on rounds, in patient rooms and with your loved ones. Wherever you have a voice, use it. We understand there is fear around saying the wrong thing, but that is not an excuse for inaction. When you voice your support of black people, it proves to us and the world that you truly know what it means to be an ally. The phrases “Black Lives Matter,” “black people” and “police brutality” carry significant weight and convey the gravity of the discussions at hand. Skirting around these words fails to convey the reality of what is happening and negates the power of your voice and ally-ship.
Walk the Walk
Donate, march if you are able-bodied, write to your senators, email your congressmen and congresswomen. Volunteer to help register people to vote. Use your strengths and resources to protect and uplift the black community. Integral to this is the understanding that none of us are free until all of us are. Reform can only happen if it is done unanimously.
Look Inward
If you are feeling grief, rage, guilt and helplessness, please recognize that these feelings are valid, appropriate and necessary to facilitate activism and change. They are an important reminder that systemic racism and this attack on the black community are not aligned with your own values and beliefs. If these conversations are making you uncomfortable, ask yourself why that is. If you find yourself shying away from saying too much or wanting to “go about your regular life,” consider how you would feel if your family members were being targeted and your “friends” blatantly ignored it.
We all look back and wonder how people could have turned a blind eye to the Holocaust or to the civil rights movement. Choosing to ignore our public outcry is a commitment to repeating history. Have the courage to have hard conversations with yourself and your family. In medicine, we pride ourselves on being lifelong learners. Take the time to educate yourself on this topic. This important step can be initiated with something as simple as watching a documentary on racial injustice as a family. As part of these conversations, consider ways in which you and your loved ones have benefited from systemic racism. You have the power to ensure that your sons, daughters and grandchildren do not perpetuate the harmful, hateful and disgraceful foundations on which this country was built.
Lastly, we need you to give us time to heal. In order to curb stereotypes and preconceived notions that society has long held regarding the black community, many of us find ourselves going above and beyond, in order to be perceived as professional, competent, reliable and even worthy of our positions. We need space to be human, to grieve, to be off our game. So be particularly gracious in this difficult season. Many are hurting, and yet continue to contribute our best to the care of our patients. Should you find that a black colleague/trainee is particularly quiet, needs to step out of rounds, or appears to be having a bad day, please be compassionate. Our people are dying.
“A single candle can both define and defy the darkness.”
—Anne Frank
With love,
—Drs. Alobuia, August, and Yelorda are general surgery residents at Stanford Medicine, in Stanford, Calif.
[Compiled by GSN]
1) American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery
2) American Association for the Surgery of Trauma
3) American Board of Surgery
4) American College of Surgeons
5) American Medical Association
6) American Society of Plastic Surgeons
7) Association for Academic Surgery
8) Association of Women Surgeons
9) Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma
10) Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
11) Society of Black Academic Surgeons
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I am sorry you all feel this way. Please consider reading "Discrimination and Disparities" by Thomas Sowell (who happens to be a black man and one of my favorite authors). Realize that to most of your colleagues, you are just fellow surgeons and the skin color is completely irrelevant until you or social media make it an issue.
None of this political talk (and make no mistake this is all political) Should be imposed upon our patients. They are ill, they are innocent and they are to be protected regardless of race, creed, color, religion and so forth. Primum non nocere.
I would just like to point out a fact and am not looking to start an argument. George Zimmerman's mother was Peruvian and his father was German. Why does this make him "white"? He is of mixed race. Barack Obama had a white mother and a black father yet is always called "black". Who gets to decide which parent's ethnicity holds the key to what ethnicity the child should be viewed as? I would suggest it is due to outward appearance. Barack Obama looks more black than white so he is black. Some feel George Zimmerman looks more white than Latino so that makes him white, not Latino. Couldn't that be considered judging and labeling people by their looks as opposed to the whole person they truly are? Isn't that what we are supposed to not do in life?
Thank you for your thoughtful article and sharing your voice and experience with us. We have somuch work to do. But together we can, we will be better.
Thank you for this brave and moving article, and for being part of the field of surgery. You had no obligation to educate me, but you did it anyway, and I am grateful for it. There is much we need to change, but there is much that we can do. Fellow white surgeons: allyship = action, and we can start at home.
Great article to enable the allies! Thanks for putting words on things I myself have difficulties expressing. You cut like a knife! Sharp and exact. Well done.
Thank you for your thoughtful and important article. Please dont be discouraged by the negative comments. You have many allies amongst your colleagues who are trying our best to listen, learn, and take action for drastic chsnge.
Thank you for sharing this piece in this forum. Well done! Your points are actionsble and can
help others move in a better direction. Thank you.
Thank you very much for writing this. I am so sorry that in this forum you are continuing to be subject to abuse and negative comments when we as the larger surgical community should be listening and learning.
Thank you for your thoughtful letter. It is well past the time for us to examine our biases and make some changes to combat personal and systemic racism. I am sorry that you are receiving abuse and negative comments. We need to listen better and do better.
Thank you for taking the time to educate your white colleagues. I'm sorry that some will read this article and still come away with the idea that they can somehow educate you on your own experience. Please know that you do have support and we will keep doing our best to learn and improve. Both in the professional and personal space.
-a white surgeon, trying to be an ally.
Your article is powerful and important. Thank you. Many of us are listening and trying to do better, be better. The unhelpful comments above from our "colorblind" colleague only help drive home your point that we as profession have a long way to go. You belong here. Ignorance and racism do not.
You are falling for this group identity talk that is an anathema to being treated as an individual based on the content of your character. Hope the patients you are treating do not know who you consider your people and your community. They’d be anxious if they found out they do not belong
Doctors Alobuia, August, and Yelorda,
Thank you so much for writing this piece, and thank General Surgery News for publishing it. We need to have robust conversations, and "even" people who think that race should not matter or that they personally are not racist, continuing ask, "what can I do better?"
We all need to look in the mirror. I applaud your courage, and your energy to write this piece, in a time of exhaustion and stress for all, but especially for Black Americans, including surgical trainees.
Let us have frank discussions! That's the only way we can move forward. Thanks for doing a heavy lift.
Thanks for your willingness to be the light and to lead
I have seen very little racism in surgery. Black lives do matter, but not as a political movement. The amount of melanin in someone's skin should not affect how they are treated and the opportunities they are given. Let's call out racism when we see it, but don't try to make so called "whites" ally themselves politically with the BLM movement.
I applaud the 3 of you for writing this article. As a black surgeon, we are very underrepresented and it can be much easier to stick to the status quo rather than to express our views on racial injustice in society, medicine, and surgery. People who "don't see race/racism" don't see it because they have the privilege of not seeing themselves being targeted on a daily basis. The momentum these types of conversations are gaining nationally (and internationally) is important, but only if it leads to action and social change. The burden of this change should be on our entire society and not black people alone. Keep working hard in your training, and be encouraged.