Unmasking Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease: Nutritional, Socioeconomic, Cultural, and Health-Care-Related Contributions

Flack, John M.; Nasser, Samar A.; Goel, Apul; Flowers, Monica; O'Connor, Shannon M.; Faucett, E.

doi:10.1007/978-1-59745-410-0_3

Cited by 10 publications

References 105 publications

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Black Health

Ray

2023

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Why do American Black people generally have worse health than American White people? To answer this question, “Black Health” dispels any notion that Black people have inferior bodies that are inherently susceptible to disease. This is simply false racial science that has been used to abuse Black people since our African ancestors were brought to America on slave ships. A genuine investigation into the status of Black people’s health requires us to acknowledge that race has always been a powerful social category. Race largely predetermines individuals’ social and political power and access to resources needed for health and wellbeing. And as a group, Black people have been intentionally denied this power and access. Systemic racism, oppression, and White supremacy in American institutions have largely been the perpetrators of differing social power and access to resources for Black people. It is these systemic inequities that create the social conditions needed for poor health outcomes for Black people to persist. An examination of social inequities reveals that it is no accident that Black people have poorer health than White people, instead in America, almost every institution has been designed to withhold what Black people need for proper health and wellbeing. Black Health provides a succinct discussion of Black people’s health, including the social, political, and at times cultural determinants of their health. This book examines the ways that Black people’s multiple identities—social, cultural, and political—intersect with anti-Black institutions, such as housing and health care to determine their poor outcomes in pregnancy, pain management, sleep, and cardiovascular disease.

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