Our lives are at risk. The health care system—and everyday individuals—have to do a better job to protect us.My life is at risk. Not just because I’m 73 with the usual annoying aches and pains that accompany age, but because I’m tall and I’m Black. At 7 feet, 2 inches, I’m statistically more prone to blood clots, lower back and hip problems, higher risk of cancer, especially prostate cancer, atrial fibrillation , and a shorter life span in general.
There are a lot of groups addressing these rusty fissures, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , the American Civil Liberties Union , National Urban League, Southern Christian Leadership Conference , and others. People who may not be familiar with the wonderful work of those organizations at least know about , which is less a traditional organization and more a movement of loosely affiliated activists across the country united by the credo that is their name.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted just how malignant the system is. The virus has hit the African American community at a much higher and more devastating rate than it has the white community. At the same time, they receive a lower standard of care. The death rate for Blacks is 3.6 times higher than for whites.
To counter this, Black job applicants have taken to “whitening” their names and omitting ethnic information in order to get job interviews. Sadly, this has been effective. In a study published by Harvard Business School, 25% of Blacks using a whitened name on an application received a callback, compared to 10% who didn’t.
It’s hard to feel valuable to a society that doesn’t value your health or life. And yet, one of the reasons Blacks are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at higher rates is because they work at what the government has defined as essential jobs more than any other ethnic group: 37.7% Black versus 26.9% white. In health care and social assistance industries, the rate is even higher. So, they’re both essential, yet disposable, like protective gloves.
It’s also why I’m so proud of my son Amir, who chose to become a surgeon in an effort to help the Black community. He knew that
kaj33 Racism is a health risk. Discuss
kaj33 Nooo!!!
kaj33 At the core of such risks is colorism. Media indoctrination has dis-served the public by advocating racism.