The Patriot Post® · Health Disparities and Racism

Racism, as defined by the Left, does not mean hatred toward a specific racial group. The Left has manipulated language and repackaged the term “racism” to mean something else entirely. Racism now pertains to inequities that a minority racial group faces because of perceived oppression by the institutions. Those institutions are “controlled” by the majority race. By switching the language, leftists have made it a tool of race-based Marxism in an attempt to undermine the fabric holding our country together.

Health disparities are the topic under scrutiny in today’s episode of Everything Is Racist™. According to an investigative series by the Associated Press, black people are the biggest victims of these disparities from birth to death. Black Americans are more likely to have asthma, Alzheimer’s, high mortality rates among pregnant moms and young babies, poor teen mental health, and high blood pressure. And it’s all the fault of the oppressive white institutions, if the AP is to be believed.

Back here in the real world, however, correlation does not equal causation.

Take, for example, the claim that racism is to blame for black children having higher rates of asthma than white children. According to the AP, “More than 12% of Black kids nationwide suffer from the disease, compared with 5.5% of white children.” The article grudgingly admits that genetics are against some of these kids. It also conveniently neglects to say what percentage of these children are genetically predisposed to this condition.

The article blames asthma cases in black children on social/environmental factors. In other words, these kids — just like many whites — live in polluted inner cities and moldy rental houses, and/or suffer from a lack of access to healthcare. The supposed inequity is that blacks are trapped in a poor socioeconomic cycle because “racist” institutions are against them. Racism, in this case, seems to be a filler excuse for not changing circumstances to better the lives of their children.

Alzheimer’s rates are higher amongst the black population, according to the AP, because of disproportional underlying health conditions that black Americans suffer from such as obesity, high blood pressure, stress, depression, poverty, and “discrimination.” In other words, genetics and poor lifestyle choices (eating badly and not exercising) are primarily to blame, but the AP will happily still point to racism.

Higher mortality amongst pregnant mothers and their babies is blamed on racist doctors “not taking them seriously” (but don’t talk about the fact that more black babies are aborted than born in New York City). Teens’ poor mental health is because of “racial trauma” (but don’t talk about the fact that they’ve been conditioned to look for the slightest offense). High blood pressure is due to “structural inequities” (but don’t talk about how eating better and exercising are choices available to everyone).

Much of what the AP tries to explain as “inequity” and “racism” is living in a cycle of poverty, genetic predisposition, or poor personal responsibility.

Poverty is difficult no matter which race you are a part of. It’s not only a state of being, but it turns into a mindset and a repeated pattern of behavior. However, breaking the cycle of poverty is not impossible, and with determination and avoiding toxic and destructive behaviors (drug use, promiscuity, alcohol abuse, criminality) it can be achieved. It’s also worth pointing out that the majority of American cities are run by Democrats and have been for years. They are the ones promoting this racism narrative, perhaps because continuing to peddle that lie is more beneficial to them than helping actually fix the problem.

Genetic predisposition is what it is. We are born with our own mixture of issues and have to muddle through the best we can. Blaming racism is counterproductive. Is it racism that white people are genetically predisposed to have more thyroid problems? Or Parkinson’s disease? You are blaming something you have no control over on the bogeyman of the “racist institutions,” which also have no control over an individual’s genetics.

Then there is that triggering topic of personal responsibility. There are many things outside of our control such as biology, other people’s actions, and the life situation we were born into. However, each individual is responsible for their thoughts, actions, and treatment of others. If someone decides they are going to let themselves go physically, that is a choice, and that choice has negative health consequences. If someone decides to pursue a destructive lifestyle because of their life circumstances, that is a choice. If someone decides that everything that goes wrong in their life is because of inequity, and that inequity gives them license to hate others of the race they deem “oppressive,” that is also a choice. Playing the victim is so much easier than playing the responsible and cogent human being.

Health disparities aren’t racist, but by covering these differences with that label, it neglects to ask the question: Why? Perhaps there is an underlying medical reason; perhaps it is poverty or living in a rough neighborhood. Those “whys” might lead to actual solutions, so, sadly, they are tossed to the side. The faux solutions to “racism” lets individuals off the hook. It is so much easier to blame others than to examine the extenuating circumstances that are the real culprits.

It is racial Marxism that calls health differences between the races “racism.” The end goal is not better health outcomes for minorities; it’s equally bad health outcomes for everyone — and ultimate power for those in charge.