The bigger question lies- why do these things happen to blacks more than whites? The short answer is that genetics can play a significant role in these cases. Dr. Clyde Yancy, a medical director and associate dean of the Southwestern Medical Center in University of Texas, mentions other notable factors such as the environment, the socio-economic status of the demographic, and racism. The medical director has stated that all humans have more or less the same physiology. This fact should make us believe that we are all equally likely to acquire the same deadly diseases. Furthermore, having the same physiology should make all of us respond to the same treatment. Though people respond differently to the same treatment, and diseases afflict each individual differently, black Americans have unique elements that make them more susceptible.
Dr. Yancy states that there should be a recognition in the fact that some arbitration issues arise in the way the industry practices medicine and health care. He says, “Race shouldn’t be an issue, but the numbers are there and should be attended to. Race is indeed a poor physiological construct. It is a placeholder for something more solid, which more or less has something to do with genetics. The issue is that there are political and socio-economic biases coupled with genetic and physiological elements that fall in the same table. There are nuances in racial differences, and there are issues relative to racism and in disparity operating in a broad context.”
Dr. LeRoy Graham agrees with Dr. Yancy, and adds a few things about the matter. He says that it’s definitely time for America and the health industry to face the issues head-on. Dr. Graham is an expert in pediatric lung care and is one of the board members of the American Lung Association. He is also a pediatric associate clinical professor at the Atlanta Morehouse School of Medicine and is a physician at the Atlanta Children’s Healthcare.
Dr. Graham proclaims that physicians should sit up and take notice regarding the health disparities affecting the current system of health care. Institutionalized racism may have originated in sinister ways, but the doctors will have to work harder in recognizing any disparity and immediately acting upon it in order to fix it on a personal level.
