Racial and ethnic backgrounds have been a persistent factor in the provision of health care, stemming from the civil rights era. Several important pieces of legislation were passed during this time, including the Brown v. Board of Education court decision and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, both of which aimed to integrate society. However, the racial divide was not completely resolved, leading to the common medical disparities found today. Interest in the state of national medical disparities has contributed to the formation of important organizations striving to transform these inconsistencies for the benefit of all. The aim of this essay is first to show how the realization of civil rights was neglected in the medical field, thereby encouraging 20th century segregation; second, to offer latent reform options that have potential successes and failures and third, to conclude with personal reflection on medical disparities. In the 1950s and 1960s, the end of segregation was an intense topic in the United States, which not only publicly demoralized minorities, but severely weakened their ability to provide and obtain adequate medical care. To improve these conditions, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act was imposed, prohibiting federal support for any business engaging in acts of discrimination. Although hospitals and other public facilities have followed this specification, the majority of the health care system has not complied with Title VI explicitly allowing physicians to be exempt from sanctions for substandard treatment of patients (Smith Ph.D , 2005). More than forty years later, extensive research attests that when access and socioeconomic factors are addressed, a patient's race and/or ethnicity is nonetheless pro...... middle of l 'article ......es. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from the American Medical Association: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/433/cehcd-goals-principles-strategies.pdfCommission to End Health Disparities. (2009). Five-year summary of the Commission to End Health Care Disparities. Retrieved March 16, 2011 from the American Medical Association: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/433/cehcd-five-year-summary.pdfKaiser Family Foundation. (2002). Why the difference? Retrieved March 15, 2011 from the Kaiser Family Foundation: http://www.kff.org/whythedifference/evidence.htmSmith Ph.D, DB (2005, August 2). Eliminate disparities in treatment and fight to end segregation. Retrieved March 15, 2011 from the Commonwealth Fund: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/Fund-Reports/2005/Aug/Eliminating-Disparities-in-Treatment-and-the-Struggle-to-End - Segregation.aspx