Racial disparities in health and healthcare are a very serious public health problem in the United States. Race is a socially constructed label, without any biological or genetic basis. However, on average, Black Americans are much less healthy than White Americans and receive significantly poorer healthcare. Beyond the very strong moral reasons to reduce and eventually eliminate these disparities, there are practical reasons as well. In the US, the annual cost of racial health disparities is estimated to be over $451 billion. Louis Penner, Ph.D. is a co-author of a recent book on the causes and consequences of these disparities, "Unequal Health: Anti-Black racism and the Threat to America’s Health” (Cambridge University Press). The core thesis of this book is that a significant contributor to these disparities is anti-Black racism. In his talk, Dr Penner will talk about the origins of racism in the US and then discuss the ways in which racism endangers the health of Black Americans and the quality of the healthcare they receive. Finally, he will discuss some potential solutions to this problem. Dr. Penner is an Adjunct Research Scientist at ISR's Research Center for Group Dynamics and an Emeritus Professor of Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine. His research team was among the first to document the role of implicit racial bias in racial healthcare inequities. This research has been supported by the National Cancer Institute and other National Institutes.