The Price of Excluding Black Doctors

In WMC Talks episode 5, Erica González Martínez and Morehouse College professor, journalist and author Nicole Carr discuss her upcoming book The Price of Exclusion,The Pursuit of Healthcare in a Segregated Nation, tracing the deep historical roots of racial inequities in American healthcare. Through personal storytelling and archival research—including the story of her own ancestor—Carr reveals how systemic bias, exclusion, and overlooked Black medical contributions continue to shape patient experiences today. The discussion highlights the critical role of Black physicians, especially women, as innovators and community leaders, while challenging audiences to rethink how history, identity, and access intersect in modern medicine.

In her book, using vivid storytelling and meticulous research, Carr resurrects the lives of pioneers who transformed medicine against impossible odds. From America’s first four-year medical school located at a historically Black college in North Carolina to the generations of Black physicians whose contributions were pushed aside by institutions of power, Carr shows how these figures were not only doctors but also advocates and innovators whose work reshaped public health and opened doors for those who followed. Carr also reveals the systemic campaigns that actively disempowered Black doctors, from the American Medical Association’s exclusionary policies to the devastating closures of Black medical schools after the Flexner Report. That legacy fuels today’s shortage of Black medical professionals and the lingering distrust in medicine that continues to cost lives.
For more information, and to pre-order The Price of Exclusion, visit https://www.nicolefcarr.com/.