In the United States the average life expectancy for whites is 78.9 years; for African Americans average life expectancy is 73.8 years in the U.S. This major gap proves there is a problem when it comes to racial inequality in health. Even birth rate is unequal for different races. Someone is a middle class household who is African American is still more likely to have a baby with a low birth weight than a white woman in a similar income home. What are the reasons for these discrepancies? Our book says the high correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) and race. However, even when the social status is the same for both races, African Americans still have worse average health than whites. Our book also says that African Americans in every social class tend to be more stressed than white people because of racism in our nation. African Americans are unequally poor when compared to whites. The stress of being poor can cause health issues. Middle class and upper class African Americans can be subject to racism and stereotyping which leads to stress which in turn leads to health issues. In conclusion, stress from racism or stereotyping seems to be a reason for the gap in life expectancy between whites and African Americans in the United States.
2009. Cooley. You May Ask Yourself.
This is so interesting! I never thought that racism would affect someone's life expectancy. The degrees of socioeconomic status greatly affect the help someone is able to get if they get ill or need a doctor's assistance. The United States needs to come up with a greater health care plan in which all Americans, lower class included, have some sort of health insurance. Until then, the life expectancy of some groups will continue to be lower than others.
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