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> It's typical of the intellectual/moral bankruptcy of so many American > academics that they were confused by her viewpoint. > > > Why African-Americans are disproportionately dying of the Covid-19 virus – > It’s not obesity, it’s slavery > > https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/opinion/coronavirus-race-obesity.html > > By Sabrina Strings > > Dr. Strings is an associate professor of sociology at the University of > California at Irvine > > · May 25, 2020 > > > > About five years ago, I was invited to sit in on a meeting about health in > the African-American community. Several important figures in the fields of > public health and economics were present. A freshly minted Ph.D., I felt > strangely like an interloper. I was also the only black person in the room. > > > > One of the facilitators introduced me to the other participants and said > something to the effect of “Sabrina, what do you think? Why are black > people sick?” > > > > It was a question asked in earnest. Some of the experts had devoted their > entire careers to addressing questions surrounding racial health > inequities. Years of research, and in some instances failed interventions, > had left them baffled. *Why are black people so sick?* > > > > My answer was swift and unequivocal. > > “Slavery.” > > > > My colleagues looked befuddled as they tried to come to terms with my > reply. > > I meant what I said: The era of slavery was when white Americans > determined that black Americans needed only the bare necessities, not > enough to keep them optimally safe and healthy. It set in motion black > people’s diminished access to healthy foods, safe working conditions, > medical treatment and a host of other social inequities that negatively > impact health. > > > > This message is particularly important in a moment when African-Americans > have experienced the highest rates of severe complications and death from > the coronavirus and “obesity” has surfaced as an explanation. The cultural > narrative that black people’s weight is a harbinger of disease and death > has long served as a dangerous distraction from the real sources of > inequality, and it’s happening again. > > > > Reliable data are hard to come by, but available analyses show that on > average, the rate of black fatalities is 2.4 times that of whites with > Covid-19. In states including Michigan, Kansas and Wisconsin and in > Washington, D.C., that ratio jumps > <https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race> to five to seven > black people dying of Covid-19 complications for every one white death. > > Despite the lack of clarity surrounding these findings, one interpretation > of these disparities that has gained traction is the idea that black > people are unduly obese > <https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/african-americans-disproportionately-affected-coronavirus-cdc-report-finds-n1179306>(currently > defined as a body mass index greater than 30) which is seen as a driver of > other chronic illnesses and is believed to put black people at high risk > for serious complications from Covid-19. > > > > These claims have received intense media attention, despite the fact that > scientists haven’t been able to sufficiently explain the link between > obesity and Covid-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and > Prevention, 42.2 <https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html> percent of > white Americans and 49.6 percent of African-Americans are obese. > Researchers have yet to clarify how a 7 percentage-point disparity in > obesity prevalence translates to a 240 percent-700 percent disparity in > fatalities <https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race>. > > > > Experts have raised questions about the rush to implicate obesity, and > especially “severe obesity” (B.M.I. greater than 40), as a factor in > coronavirus complications. An article in the medical journal The Lancet > <https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30156-X/fulltext> > evaluated > Britain’s inclusion of obesity as a risk factor for coronavirus > complications and retorted, “To date, no available data show adverse > Covid-19 outcomes specifically in people with a BMI of 40 kg/m2.” The > authors concluded, “The scarcity of information regarding the increased > risk of illness for people with a BMI higher than 40 kg/m2 has led to > ambiguity and might increase anxiety, given that these individuals have now > been categorised as vulnerable to severe illness if they contract Covid-19.” > > > > Promoting strained associations between race, body size, and complications > from this little-understood disease has served to reinforce an image of > black people as wholly swept up in sensuous pleasures like eating and > drinking, which supposedly makes our unruly bodies repositories of > preventable weight-related illnesses. The attitudes I see today have echoes > of what I described in “Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat > Phobia <https://nyupress.org/9781479886753/fearing-the-black-body/>.” My > research showed that anti-fat attitudes originated not with medical > findings, but with Enlightenment-era belief that overfeeding and fatness > were evidence of “savagery” and racial inferiority. > > > > Today, the stakes of these discussions could not be higher. When I learned > about guidelines suggesting that doctors may use existing health > conditions, including obesity, to deny or limit eligibility to lifesaving > coronavirus treatments > <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/coronavirus-covid-triage-rationing-ventilators.html>, > I couldn’t help thinking of the slavery-era debates I’ve studied about > whether or not so-called “constitutionally weak” African-Americans should > receive medical care. > > > > Fortunately, since that event I attended five years ago, experts focused > on the health of African-Americans have continued to work to direct the > nation’s attention away from individual-level factors. > > > > The New York Times’ 1619 Project featured essays detailing how the legacy > of slavery impacted health > <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/racial-differences-doctors.html> > and > health care for African-Americans and explaining how, since the era of > slavery, black people’s bodies have been labeled congenitally diseased > <https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/681773> and undeserving > of access to lifesaving treatments > <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6258045/>. > > > > In a recent essay addressing Covid-19 specifically, Rashawn Ray > underscored the legacy of redlining that pushed black people into poor, > densely populated communities often with limited access to > <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/04/09/why-are-blacks-dying-at-higher-rates-from-covid-19/>health > care. And he pointed out that black people are overrepresented in service > positions and as essential workers who have greater exposure than those > with the luxury of sheltering in place. Ibram X. Kendi > <https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/stop-looking-away-race-covid-19-victims/609250/> > has > written that the “irresponsible behavior of disproportionately poor people > of color” — often cited as an important factor in health disparities — is a > scapegoat directing American’s attention from the centrality of systemic > racism in current racial health inequities. > > Evaluating the inadequate and questionable data about race, weight and > Covid-19 complications with these insights in mind makes it clear that > obesity — and its affiliated, if incorrect implication of poor lifestyle > choices — should not be front and center when it comes to understanding how > this pandemic has affected African-Americans. Even before Covid-19, black > Americans had higher rates of multiple chronic illnesses > <https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/policy-dose/articles/2016-04-14/theres-a-huge-health-equity-gap-between-whites-and-minorities> > and > a lower life expectancy than white Americans > <https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.459>, > regardless of weight. This is an indication that our social structures are > failing us. These failings — and the accompanying embrace of the belief > that black bodies are uniquely flawed — are rooted in a shameful era of > American history that took place hundreds of years before this pandemic. > > Sabrina Strings is an associate professor of sociology at the University > of California at Irvine and the author of “Fearing the Black Body: The > Racial Origins of Fat Phobia > <https://nyupress.org/9781479886753/fearing-the-black-body/>.” > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
