J. Phillip Thompson

TO DENIGRATE, IGNORE, OR DISRUPT: Racial Inequality in Health and the Impact of a Policy-induced Breakdown of African American Communities

In this article we seek to show that prevailing ideological viewpoints on Black health misinterpret Black behavior, and that dominant racial ideologies themselves have negative health effects on African American communities. Second, we show that public policies and practices reflecting prevailing ideological viewpoints harm African American communities. Together, these ideologies and policies undermine Black health by adversely impacting the immune, metabolic, and cardiovascular systems, fueling the development or progression of infectious and chronic disease. Third, we argue that health reform pursued within the same prevailing ideological viewpoints that misinterpret Black health problems have limited effectiveness. We argue for culturally appropriate public policies that value African American social perspectives and coping mechanisms. We suggest that substantive health reform is best pursued through a democratic movement that challenges dominant ideological commitments.

Place Matters, and So Does Race

Concerning the central thesis of Place Matters, I support the idea of regional equity and their analysis that place matters for people’s differing life prospects. However, to paraphrase Cornell West, I think “race matters” more than geography. It helps us understand why people of color, especially Blacks, are in places that became bad, and it is also why it is difficult to move Black people out of these places. Has the United States changed so much that White working-class suburbanites are ready to unite with Blacks and Latinos to force a more equitable distribution of resources from the wealthy suburbs? The current campaigns of Sanders and Clinton point in different directions on this question, yet it does not mean that the fight for regional governance can be avoided. Beyond the need to reduce gross inequalities within regions, regional governance and planning is sensible and effective from the perspective of transportation, health, housing, economic development, ecology, and politics.