We have been hearing from so-called ‘healthcare experts' that the greatest threat to black health is white nationalism, injustice and oppression caused by white (and potentially other non-black) people. [ See: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/health/health-care-open-letter-protests-coronavirus-trnd/index.html ]
Now, if this were true, then why is this?: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-african-american https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_African-American_population
The top 4 states for Black life expectancy are:
- Minnesota (79.7 yrs) - Black population: 4.57% (rank #33*)
- Massachusetts (78.81 yrs) - Black pop: 8.1% (#27)
- Connecticut (77.78 yrs) - Black pop: 10.34% (#23)
- Washington (77.53 yrs) - Black pop: 3.74% (#38) *Adjusted ranks by 1 to remove Virgin Islands, which is not a state and no per-race life expectancy data is available
The bottom 4 states for black life expectancy are:
- Washington DC (71.61 yrs) - Black pop: 50.08% (#1)
- Arkansas (72.16 yrs) - Black pop: 15.76% (#13)
- Mississippi (72.4 yrs) - Black pop: 37.30% (#2)
- Louisiana (72.44 yrs) - Black pop: 32.4% (#3)
I.e., a black person, on average, is expected to live 8+ years longer in Minnesota (4.6% black) than Washington DC (50.1% black).
For Black men in particular (who, according to the media, are supposedly at higher risk of being targets of oppression, racism and brutality at the hands of other races, specifically white people), the correlation is starker: [ See: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-african-american-male ]
Top 3 black male life expectancy states:
- Minnesota (77.03 yrs) - Black proportion of population: 4.57% (#33)
- Massachusetts (75.75 yrs) - Black population: 8.1% (#27)
- Washington (75.21 yrs) - Black pop: 3.74% (#38)
Worst 3 black male life expectancy states:
- Washington DC (66.53 yrs) - Black pop: 50.08% (#1)
- Arkansas (68.67 yrs) - Black pop: 15.76% (#13)
- Louisiana (68.70 yrs) - Black pop: 32.4% (#3)
Black men live, on average, a whopping 11 more years in Minnesota (4.6% black) than in Washington DC (50.1% black)!
I will concede that Black people (specifically males) live shorter lifespans than Whites in America, but a lot of that has confounding variables related to poverty, education and even dietary & smoking habits. What about the fact that Black Americans clearly live far longer in states where they make up a smaller proportion of the population? What would be the confounding variable there, if white people pose such a great risk to black people's health?
If black lives truly matter to the media and other visibly concerned parties, then why are they not addressing the fact that disproportionately greater threats curtailing black peoples’ lives exist in states that have the highest proportions of black population? Clearly, this indicates that the proportion of white and other non-black people correlates not only with higher black lifespans, but also a reduction of these risks.
I have repeatedly tried posting the above on reddit, Facebook and Twitter (a summarized version), only to have it pulled down. Can someone either find the holes in the above or share it on your broader social media venues for an open discussion?
You should have taken the hint from your other rejections. You set up a straw man with CNN bullshit and then mis-used data. You used states, not cities or other variables. such as causes of death which matter. Half-assed and smelling of racist agenda
The CNN-mentioned letter is far from a 'straw man'; people are using this same letter (outside of CNN) to justify protests while still allowing COVID-related lockdowns to adversely affect the economy.
As far as insinuating that this is part of a racist agenda, you're the one attempting to draw conclusions from this accurate data. The fact is that I'm discrediting the notion that issues caused by white people are the greatest threat to black people's health.
This is even before adding granularity as to the causes of death (such as black-on-black crime, the negative effects of living in a ghetto, etc.). Even at the broadest level, this has too strong of a correlation to be explained by random chance: the fact that states with higher proportions of black people have lower life expectancies for black people. If you break this down by cities vs townships in suburbs, you will likely end up seeing the same.