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Close the life expectancy gap.
In the United States, great expectations within the healthcare sector are not endowed to everyone. Black and Brown populations have continued to fall behind the average life expectancy of white populations—a chasm that has widened considerably in the wake of COVID-19. Though recent years saw a shrink in the gap between Black and white lifespans in the U.S., the pandemic brought the difference to its widest breadth since 1998 (Intelligencer). In 2020, the average life expectancy for white Americans decreased by 0.8 years, but Latino and Black populations dipped more notably, losing 1.9 years and 2.7 years, respectively (NPR). This shocking statistic does not boil down to genetics or biological fitness, but rather economics.
Happy Friday and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. A year ago yesterday, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus as a global pandemic (NPR). Since then, so much of our lives have forever changed. Its impact in the U.S. didn't just exacerbate the existing disparities in our country, but create new and distinct issues that directly affected our wellbeing. And it's evident in the latest data on life expectancy. Hannah shares more in today's newsletter.
And just a quick personal note – grief is not linear. Give yourself grace with any feelings or sensations that might be arriving with the one-year marker of an event that turned our lives around. There's no right way to heal from this, only the way that is right for you. I'm sending you all the love for what's been lost this year, and all that there is to discover in the days ahead.
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Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Explore the Kaiser Family Foundation to advocate for health reform; push for medicaid expansion and learn about the causes of the life expectancy gap and what is needed to reverse it in your state through the Health Resources & Services Administration and the Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Use resources from the Equal Justice Initiative website to dissect America’s racist roots and learn how to be engaged in the current fight for equal rights.
Support the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond with a charitable contribution, and attend one of their community workshops—whether in person or virtually. The Institute seeks to organize diverse networks of people in order to understand and undo racism on a personal and global level.
Watch The Essentials documentary that addresses health equity and immigrant health at the Center for Health Progress website.
GET EDUCATED
By Hannah Edmondson (she/her)
In the United States, great expectations within the healthcare sector are not endowed to everyone. Black and Brown populations have continued to fall behind the average life expectancy of white populations—a chasm that has widened considerably in the wake of COVID-19. Though recent years saw a shrink in the gap between Black and white lifespans in the U.S., the pandemic brought the difference to its widest breadth since 1998 (Intelligencer). In 2020, the average life expectancy for white Americans decreased by 0.8 years, but Latino and Black populations dipped more notably, losing 1.9 years and 2.7 years, respectively (NPR). This shocking statistic does not boil down to genetics or biological fitness, but rather economics.
The pandemic has killed one in every 645 Black Americans, but as of March 1, only seven percent of COVID-19 vaccine recipients have been Black (Now This News). This goes to show that access to medical care is not dictated by actual need; instead, it is a matter of privilege, leaving Black and Brown Americans to scramble for resources that should be readily available. There are several factors behind the burgeoning lifespan disparity throughout the pandemic, but they each share a common denominator: racism. Insufficient access to healthcare in the United States is bemoaned by working-class citizens across the board, but the brunt of its effects are absorbed by Black and Brown families.
Sickle cell disease sheds a light on the deeply entrenched prejudice that plagues the U.S. healthcare system. The disease predominantly affects Black individuals; on average, one in thirteen Black children are born with the sickle cell trait (CDC). The disease is inherited and requires intensive, regular care in order to be treated properly. In this way, it is similar to cystic fibrosis, a disease which occurs most commonly among white Americans. However, cystic fibrosis receives significantly more funding and national attention, with new treatments being approved regularly over the past decade. The issue at hand is proven to be a matter of access rather than intel as a majority of sickle cell patients are forced to go without even the earliest sickle cell treatments (KHN).
According to a study conducted in 2009, the average life expectancy of Black men and women was seventy-five years of age, mirroring the average life expectancy of white populations in 1979 (Business Insider). The fact that Black American lives are set back nearly thirty years when compared to the well-being of white counterparts is telling. The gap in life expectancy cannot be chalked up to violence or mere coincidence, though, as this lag in Black survival is largely a product of the U.S. healthcare system. The evidence shows a marked swell in the gap between Black and white life expectancy during the 1980s, demonstrating the dramatic impact of the AIDS crisis on communities of color. The latest national health crisis—the COVID-19 pandemic—has similarly ravaged BIPOC while leaving white populations with significantly fewer fatalities.
While the difference in life expectancy between ethnic groups has gradually grown less severe, the underlying cause remains. Black and Brown communities are too often barred from receiving quality care on account of financial setbacks and discriminatory legislation. Residential segregation leaves Black and Hispanic neighborhoods without conveniently-located hospitals and healthcare facilities (TCF). Most U.S. cities and suburbs reflect the racist tactics of city planners throughout the twentieth century. Nonetheless, these geographic barriers stand strong to this day, effectively keeping white communities comfortably within their privilege.
The economic inequality that has plagued BIPOC since America’s origination ultimately leads to health inequality, perpetuating the lower life expectancy among non-white persons (Intelligencer). Adequate healthcare requires ample funding, and Medicaid patients are rarely prioritized over wealthy clients able to fully cover their medical expenses. The United States continually shirks the possibility of socialized healthcare in favor of maintaining privatized, for-profit institutions, making it exceedingly difficult for low-income patients to receive proper care. On average, Black families devote twenty percent of their annual household income to medical expenses; that portion is only half as much for most white families (TCF). Systemic racism in the U.S. works to ensure that the nation’s lowest-income communities are disproportionately Black and Brown. Until this economic inequality is dissolved, non-white citizens seeking decent healthcare will be consigned to the bottom of the waitlist.
The economic challenges facing BIPOC undoubtedly heighten the risk of health issues, as proper nutrition and safe housing are simply not affordable. The dog-eat-dog ideology that has come to undergird the American Dream serves only those who are currently in power—namely, affluent white people. Furthermore, unemployment insurance rates are significantly lower in Southern states with high concentrations of Black inhabitants. This practice of state-controlled unemployment benefits dates back to the New Deal; Southern politicians rallied to keep Black workers within their home states oppressed, crafting their unemployment rates to withhold vital government funds from non-white laborers (RAND). This long-standing power imbalance leaves people of color with little upward mobility. Proper healthcare, then, is a luxury reserved for those at the top. This discrepancy is why Black women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women (TCF). Non-white lives are treated with less reverence because the racist foundation of the United States insists upon the preservation of one population at the expense of all others.
Statistics continue to prove that this antiquated, bigoted ideology is not yet weeded out of the healthcare system; moreover, it steals Black and Brown lives in staggering numbers. In spite of the grim reality, the Affordable Care Act has made a noteworthy stride towards equality. The ACA extended coverage to over twenty million Americans, 2.8 million of whom are Black (AJPH). While this shows a step toward improved medical access regardless of race or class, it is only one minor victory amid a war that will likely drag on for decades to come. Major changes are required in order for society to represent and protect all of its members equally. Privilege should not determine one’s right to survival, but in America it certainly seems to be the case.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
COVID-19 has brought attention to the inequality of U.S. healthcare–a system which has never adequately served minority populations.
The life expectancy gap between BIPOC and white Americans is a result of the social and economic policies that have oppressed non-white citizens for centuries. This gap, contrary to popular belief, cannot be shrunk by the determination of working class individuals alone.
In order to wage a social contract that protects people of every race and economic standing, the existing institutions that govern American society should be deconstructed and purged of their racist tactics.
A healthcare system that benefits all people equally will not be implemented without major political action.
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