procedures and poorer quality medical care than whites (Smedley et al. 2003). This pattern persists even when differences in health insurance, SES, stage and severity of disease, co-morbidity, and the type of medical facility are taken into account. Cultural racism has led to pervasive negative racial stereotypes of racial groups regarded as inferior (Williams 2004). Some evidence suggests that unconscious discrimination based on these negative stereotypes of minorities is a likely determinant of this pervasive bias in the delivery of care (van Ryn 2002; Green et al. 2007).
