"So many causes lie in how we treat one another"
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Posted By: WILLIAM W. HEMMANS III on August 14, 2008 *Posting a article I came across I found interesting, what do you think? How much does the person in the mirror play a part?* Negrophile So many causes lie in how we treat one another [...] Countless studies show that stressful environments and situations raise blood pressure. And few things are as consistently stressful as being black. By almost every measurable social category — such as income, infant mortality, education, incarceration rates and employment — blacks fare poorly, making everyday life a constant struggle. Only a buried-head ostrich would say that racial discrimination does not play a role in many African Americans' poor health. What's so pernicious about this "bad gene" theory is that it attributes current health disparities to actions taken nearly four centuries ago, when the more relevant issue may very well be what is happening today. Reducing health disparities to genes obscures more sensible conversations about the contemporary nature of discrimination, how it affects minority health and how best to improve health outcomes. Racial disparities in health are real. But a bit of caution should be exercised when playing the gene card to explain them. [...] | Go back for the rest of Center for Genetics and Society director Osagie K. Obasogie's Alameda Times-Star op-ed "Oprah's unhealthy mistake," and then make time for his Bioethics Forum essay "Racial Alchemy: Bioethics and the Skin Tone Gene" posted in articles on May 21, 2007 9:58 PM | t (0) « Previous phile: 'The symphony is like a big ship, and it takes a while to turn it around.' » Next phile: That's what I'm talkin' 'bout: square biz Comments This reminds me of what Claude Steele said in a PBS interview: What's John Henry-ism? John Henry-ism is a term that a colleague of mine, Sherman James at the University of Michigan, has used to describe a syndrome of high blood pressure among American blacks. He uses a sample of blacks in North Carolina who he has given this name to. And you remember John Henry-ism is an old fable in which John Henry is a steel driving man and he competes with the steam-driven pile driver to see who can drive the most stakes in this railroad construction. And they go at it, the steam-driven machine and John Henry in another track. And they go at it for days and days and days and finally, John Henry wins. He drives one more stake before this machine sputters to a stop. But as he drives that stake he drops dead. Part of being black is having to deal with an extra burden. Part of the heroism of African Americans is struggling against that extra burden. But there's a price to pay. There's often a price to pay. And I think that's what that term captures. To function in a society where you have to contend with the prospects of being stereotyped and negatively treated in very important domains of life, that's an extra burden and there is going to be--you can and should struggle as valiantly as you can against it--a price to pay and it certainly isn't to say that that's fair. — leslie, June 13, 2007 12:30 PM If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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WILLIAM W. HEMMANS III
CRT 1st Response Case Manager, Mental Health Care,, Florida A&M University class of 1995 Member Since February 2004 |
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