The Supreme Court’s examination of the legality of affirmative action serves the same purpose as Toni Morrison passionately declares of racism: it is “a distraction.” Rather than focusing on dismantling the system of racism, we are fiddling with the band-aid we’ve placed over the bullet hole.

From W.E.B. DuBois’ “double-consciousness” (2) to Nipsey Hussle’s “survival mode” (3), cognitive dissonance has always been a prerequisite of Blackness in America. However, perhaps these continuous attempts to name the internal conflict of Black individual desires versus external realities have been hinting at the novel term, moral injury.

How do we relate our pain? How can we tell our physicians and providers that we are suffering and to what degree we are suffering? Moreover, how can we describe it in a way that others can understand? This is a recurring problem in healthcare relationships and is perpetuated by deep rooted fears and stereotypes.

To gain a true appreciation for the African and African diaspora’s philosophical perspective, it is important to go beyond the modern, if not colonial, construction of African thought to see the richness of this perspective and the impact that it has had, and continues to have on human thought.