Author and activist Linda Villarosa spoke about the environment and environmental justice at Stony Brook University's President's Lecture on April 25 at the Charles B. Wang Center.
Mr. Villarosa, former editor-in-chief essence I am currently contributing to a magazine. new york times magazine It explores themes of race, inequality, and public health. She talked about her latest book. Beneath the Skin: The Hidden Cost of Racism on American Lives and the Health of the Nationdetails the deeply disturbing story of racial health disparities in America and reveals the toll racism takes on individuals and public health.
The event, hosted by President Maury McInniss, was the latest presidential address in Answering the Call: A Special Series on Climate Change.
“Tenacity, intelligence, fierce dedication to facts, and the ability to express anger easily,” MacInnis began his opening remarks. “handWhat is this guardian What was said recently are the main characteristics of a great journalist, and more specifically, the characteristics of Linda Villarosa. In her vast, incisive and courageous career. ”
Ms. Villarosa said that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s quote, “Of all forms of inequality, health injustice is the most shocking and inhumane.'' He mentioned the impact it had on his work.
“We are the richest country in the world,” she said. “We spend more on health care than any other country. But money doesn't buy health in this country. Of all the wealthy countries, we have the lowest maternal mortality and infant mortality rates. It has the highest life expectancy, the lowest life expectancy, and far worse when COVID-19 arrived, especially in the beginning, despite spending so much more on health care than other wealthy countries. , why do we get such bad results?”
The mystery is hidden in plain sight, Villarosa said.
“Our health care system is based on capitalism and we have to pay for it,” she said. “That in itself becomes unfair.”
Even if the United States had universal access to health care, Villarosa said, we would still see the same forms of inequality.
“Black Americans have the worst health outcomes from birth to the end of their lives,” she says. “Our country has the highest maternal mortality and infant mortality rates.”
Villarosa said black women are three to four times more likely to die or nearly die during childbirth than white women, and black babies are 2.5 times more likely to die before reaching one year of age. It pointed out.
“Additionally, the average life expectancy for black people is six years shorter,” Villarosa said. “Previously, it was three and a half years, and there was a trend of improvement, but due to the impact of COVID-19, Black people's health has deteriorated, and the gap in life expectancy has widened to six years. , if the problem of poverty were solved, things would be much better for black people.”
But Villarosa said poverty is not the only cause of inequality, noting that in 1959, 60 percent of black people lived below the poverty line, compared to about 18 percent today. Poverty levels have fallen, but there has been no corresponding reduction in health outcomes, and in some cases, health outcomes have even worsened.
“If this was a poverty issue, health outcomes would improve,” she says. “But health outcomes don't match improvements in wealth. There's something else going on.”
Villarosa's book focuses on three elements: 1) How the lived experience of being Black in America and how society treats us relates to poor health outcomes in Black communities. 2) Racism sanctioned by governments, banks, and other entities that contribute to poor health in Black communities, and: 3) Discrimination within the health care system itself.
She proposed the idea that the lived experience of being black is itself harmful to the body.
“Arlin Jeronimus, a professor and scholar at the University of Michigan, coined the term 'weathering,'” Villarosa said. “It refers to what happens to your body every time you're treated badly. But it's even more likely to happen if you're constantly exposed to toxic stress over and over again. It causes premature aging called weathering. .”
Ms. Villarosa described her family's experience moving from Chicago to Denver in 1968 in search of a better life.
“My parents had lived in Chicago their whole lives and had had enough,” she said. “They bought a house in Denver, packed our car and moved in. My sister and I were so happy to get our own room.”
Unfortunately, that hopeful journey came to an end when the Villarosases pulled up to her new home and discovered someone had scrawled “Go home with the N-word” on the garage door. Ta.
“It turned out that the twins I ended up spending all of my school days with were twins who lived two doors down,” she said. “I think about how awful it was to live for so many years in a community where we felt we weren't wanted. Years later, when I got pregnant, I was doing everything right. I was a health editor essence at that time. And then I gave birth to a small baby. Thankfully, she's fine now, but I often think about whether my early experiences influenced my own pregnancy. ”
Villarosa also described her experience visiting her mother's childhood home in rural Mississippi and the effects of redlining.
“The town my mother grew up in was redlined and black people couldn't get mortgages,” she said. “If people can't own a home in this community, you understand that without wealth, there is no health.”
Despite these challenges, Villarosa is hopeful for meaningful change.
“I feel hopeful when people hear stories like this and want to learn more, and I feel hopeful when I talk to medical students today,” she said. “There are a lot of people who are trying to turn 'care' back into 'health care.' Let's think about how we can take care of ourselves and each other. And how we can challenge a system that isn't so good for us.” Let's think about it.''
– Robert Emplot
