
Cigarette Stories - samclemens
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/cigarette-stories/
======
jdkee
“ Today, our greatest health challenges arise from inequality and racism,
which are squarely beyond the ambit of the formal health-care system.”

An unfortunately unsubstantiated claim in an otherwise excellent piece.

~~~
mberning
This is such a common trope nowadays. If the question “what is the evidence to
support that conclusion” is even asked, the answer is almost surely a casually
observed correlation and little more.

~~~
reilly3000
Hey fellows: rather than say there isn't evidence, how about looking for some?
It appears that lots of people have asked that question over many years:

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3244674/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3244674/)

[https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/institutional-
racism...](https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/institutional-racism.html)

[https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/racism-discrimination-
he...](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/racism-discrimination-health-care-
providers-patients-2017011611015)

[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Albert_Adegbembo2/publi...](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Albert_Adegbembo2/publication/6733812_Perception_of_racism_explains_the_difference_between_Blacks'_and_Whites'_level_of_healthcare_trust/links/09e4150b3fae53db73000000.pdf)

How can it be that race and racism, which have shaped so much of the
experience America across nearly every domain, somehow have had no effect on
the history or state of healthcare systems?

~~~
mberning
Yeah, a blog and an ER anecdote is not compelling evidence, whether it’s from
Harvard or not. They assume the conclusion they want a couple paragraphs in
and then spend the rest of the time backing in to it.

For example “For minorities, these differences result in unequal access to
quality education, healthy food, livable wages, and affordable housing.”

Is just causally tossed out without any serious argument to substantiate it,
and in the face of significant evidence to the contrary. Evidence such as the
fact that it is illegal to discriminate against somebody based on their race
when seeking employment. And affirmative action in education is still very
much a thing.

So I am supposed to believe that society is deeply racist and biased even
though, in general, we have gone to great lengths over decades to ensure
everybody has equal opportunity, and in some cases better opportunity, based
on their race, sex, disability etc.

I’m not so convinced.

~~~
reilly3000
Ya you're right, minorities are in a worse financial, social and wellness
status because its their fault, or more fundamentally something is lesser
about them. They should have be able to recover and even overcome majorities,
despite the fact they couldn't own land in certain parts of the country until
1969. Typical.

And when that liberal rag, The Atlantic says: [0]"The numbers are staggering:
White Americans with a college degree are on average three times as wealthy as
black Americans with the same credential, and in families whose head of the
household is employed, white families have 10 times the wealth of black ones.
One estimate on the conservative end suggested that this wealth gap could take
two centuries to close."

...you should summarily that information as its clearly elites spreading fake
news propaganda.

Here they go again: [1] "Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of
Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist
housing policy." What proof do you have???

Laws against discrimination are effective and equally enforced by an unbiased
justice system. What is unequal is human potential. Why must we keep
pretending it is?

[0][https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/07/black-...](https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/07/black-
white-wealth-gap-inheritance/565640/)
[1][https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-
cas...](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-
reparations/361631/)

Disclaimer: this is sarcasm.

