ABSTRACT
Brazil carries in its history centuries of slavery and racist ideologies that are reflected in its current social inequalities. Research shows that black women experience the worst access and quality of health care, which would be a consequence of institutional racism. Based on those data, a literature review was applied using the systematic review methodology with the aim to survey the Brazilian scientific production regarding institutional racism and the health of black women, as well as to analyze how the theme has been treated by researchers. It became clear that the literature on the subject remains scarce, reinforcing the need to address the theme racism in further research. Although racial inequality is confirmed in all articles analyzed, their conclusions vary among them, and some authors interpreted data solely as a consequence of economic inequality. We concluded that the debate about racism is of pivotal importance in the fight against it and that the identification of racial inequality with economic condition is a consequence of the racial democracy myth that contributes to the institutional racism perpetuation. Raising awareness about racism is needed among professionals so that it becomes essential to consider the category ‘race’ for equal health.
KEYWORDS
Racism; Women’s health; Parturition; Violence
