Health statistics are reported by race throughout our health tracking systems. Everywhere you look, in every measure, you can see that health outcomes for Black people are worse than for White people. Here’s a sample showing the differences, or disparities, in outcomes reported by race in the USA.
My lane is pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, so I will focus this discussion there.
From life expectancy and diabetes, to infant mortality (death of a child before age one), Black outcomes are worse than White (1).
So is race a risk factor? Does being Black cause you to have poorer health? NO! Racism does that!
From life expectancy and diabetes, to infant mortality (death of a child before age one), Black outcomes are worse than White (1).
So is race a risk factor? Does being Black cause you to have poorer health? NO! Racism does that!