Future of Black Iowa conference addresses health care, education

IOWA CITY - When it comes to African-American issues, Iowa's efforts to pursue equity, inclusion and freedom have deep roots.

So says Dianne Dillon-Ridgley of Iowa City, who took part Friday in day one of a two-day conference titled 'The Future of Black Iowa.”

Even so, Dillon-Ridgley said the road, at times, has been 'bumpy.”

'It's important now, particularly as new generations come on board and new people come to Iowa who don't necessarily have multigenerational roots here, that we focus very intentionally on the state of black issues for people in Iowa,” said Dillon-Ridgley, who serves on the board of directors for Interface Inc., an Atlanta-based modular carpet manufacturer.

Creating solutions and action plans to combat struggles African-Americans face is the goal of the conference that kicked off Friday at the Iowa City Public Library and continues Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m., at the University Capitol Centre, 200 S. Capital St. Adrien Wing, director of the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, said a particular focus is being given to problems black Iowans face in health care and education.

According to the Iowa State Data Center, African-Americans made up about 3.4 percent of the population in Iowa in 2015. Despite this, they 'are disproportionally represented in every indicator at the bottom,” Wing said during her opening remarks Friday. 'There's no area where there is not a disparity, which is shocking.”

About 50 people - black and white - attended Friday morning's session, which included keynote speeches from employees of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine who discussed the nation's health care system and what it might look like for people of color.

Sherree Wilson, associate dean for cultural affairs and diversity initiatives, spoke on the disparities black individuals and other people of color face when receiving treatment.

Wilson said a 1999 study by the National Academy of Medicine - then called the Institute of Medicine - requested by Congress, found a significant variation in treatment of patients by race, even when severity of the condition and socio-economic status were comparable.

Some African-Americans in attendance said they had experienced this inequality and they had more positive experiences with doctors of their own race.

The morning also delved into conversations surrounding federal health care legislation - the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as 'Obamacare,” and the recently proposed replacement, the American Health Care Act.

Dr. Keith Carter, head of the department of ophthalmology at the UI Carver College of Medicine and the first keynote speaker of the day, offered a general overview of the benefits and negative impacts of both pieces of legislation on the national health care system.

The conference concludes Saturday with a final session starting at 3 p.m. during which participants will work to come up with an action plan to address issues seen in Iowa City and Johnson County. 'Because the numbers overall are small, it is possible to do something in a way that it's not possible in Cook County or Bronx, New York, or places that have such a huge volume,” Wing said. 'So here, if we decide we need to do something, we can do it.”

Wing said a second Future of Black Iowa conference is being planned for this fall with a focus on criminal justice in Iowa.

'We're hoping every academic year that we will have a conference on some aspect of life for blacks in Iowa,” she said.

For more information on the conference, including a full schedule of events for Saturday, go to uichr.uiowa.edu.

l Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com

Saturday's Schedule

Here's the schedule for Saturday's Future of Black Iowa conference, which takes place in room 2520 at University Capitol Centre, 200 S. Capital St.

' 8:30 a.m. - Coffee

' 9 a.m. - Session III: University Level Education

' 10:45 a.m. - Keynote: 'Diversity, Privilege, Leadership and Iowa: Are We Ready?”

' 12:15 p.m. - Lunch

' 1:30 p.m. - Session IV: Gender Issues in Health

' 3 p.m. - Session V: Final Plenary - Creation of an Action Plan

' After 4:30 p.m. - Informal gathering