Promoting health equity with HBCUs: Breaking away from structural racism

Background: The United States continues to be plagued with pervasive health dis-parities. Leading health and professional organizations acknowledge structural racism as a contributing factor for the lack of a racially diverse nursing work-force particularly those serving in leadership roles which could help to mitigate health disparities among historically stigmatized populations.Purpose: Purpose Lack of funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and lack of meaningful partnerships, stymie efforts that can be made by nursing programs at HBCUs.Discussion: Discussion This position paper examines collaborative actions that can address upstream factors that perpetuate healthcare disparities through deep engagement between the policymakers, professional associations, industry, and educational institutions.Methods: Faculty representing HBCU's and predominately White institutions, pro-fessional organizations, and staff met via videoconference to refine the focus of the paper, determine topic areas for writing teams, and refine details which occurred during weekly meetings.Conclusion: To disengage from structural racism, three critical recommendations are amplified with associated examples