Kennedy’s hearing signifies how close a man with medically racist beliefs is to becoming the US’s leading health official
Someone just say the racist old man is a racist old man with racist views. But then they would be the target of attacks for “not being civil” to the racist. This country sucks.
RFK Jr is the embodiment of unscience. If there was ever a god of unscience RFK Jr would be its avatar.
It’s just super old school racism is what it is. I’m talking like 17th century racism.
Is RFK talking out of his arse? Most likely. But there is a lot more MHC variation amongst Africans, I don’t know if that extends to African-Americans because they were mostly taken from a small area. So there are undeniable, medically relevant differences between ethnicities when it comes to the immune system.
the insistence on there being differences between the racists is central to Fascism.
they NEED it to be true to bolster their ideas and goals.
I think you made a typo, and meant to say “races”.
They need the racists to be different too.
When they wipe out whoever the majority hates, diversity in racism means there will be new groups hated by the majority that can be wiped out. And then another group the majority hates.
Turn everyone against everyone else, and everyone becomes disposable.
how it started with the jews back in the day.
Actually how it start with black people. Classical race science was invented to prove how black people had thicker skulls and felt less pain in order to excuse slavery.
Fun fact “The origin of species” is only half of the name of Darwins book. Don’t ask about the other half.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
Do you think Darwin meant this in an aspirational or observational way?
Darwins was pretty bullish on white surpremacy and sexism.
https://wng.org/roundups/darwins-racism-1617223432
After religion took a nosedive it was very convenient that slaves and colonies suddenly turned out to be “biologically inferior” humans.
During Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Senate confirmation hearing on 30 January, Angela Alsobrooks, a Democratic senator from Maryland, pressed the nominee on his past claims that Black people have a stronger immune system than white people and thereby, should receive vaccines on a different schedule than them. “What different vaccine schedule would you say I should have received?” Alsobrooks, who is Black, asked the health secretary nominee. Kennedy then referenced a “series of studies” showing that “to particular antigens, Blacks have a much stronger reaction”.
I randomly rewatched The Help and one of the racist white ladies was talking about how black people have different germs. “How ridiculous,” I thought. And yet here we are.
Again.
They were still telling students in med school as recent as the past 4 years that black ppl need less painkillers because we, “Tolerate pain better than other races.”
Ppl surprised by this rhetoric haven’t been paying attention
Pretty fucked up if they were teaching that despite a lack of evidence.
That said, the concept itself isn’t completely far fetched… Red heads need more anesthesia than everyone else for some genetic reason. Another group needing less for genetic reasons seems plausible.
Redheads need a lower opioid dose than the general population to achieve the same effect. At least those who are redheads because of a mutation in their MCR1 gene, which is about 75%, IIRC. Interestingly, the same mutation group also have worse tolerance of cold, which seems odd given that scotland is the global redhead centre!
It’s a bit complicated, both because some studies just asked people if they are ‘natural redheads’ and didn’t actually test whether they have the MCR1 mutation and because it depends on the mechanism of action of the drug. Some sedatives are less effective, so need higher doses, but the majority of opioid based pain control drugs require lower doses in redheads.
Redheads are probably less genetically diverse than the rest of the population, iirc it’s mostly caused by a recessive gene. So if someone is a redhead, then the chances are high that they share other special genes with other redheads.
Africans on the other hand are more genetically diverse than people from other continents. It’s possible that some African population groups require different levels of medications, but you won’t be able to tell those population groups apart by the color of their skin.
I’ve heard that about redheads, but never about black people.
I think the redhead thing is that they have a higher resistance to anesthesia. Just doesn’t work as well.
Red headed black people shouldn’t need painkillers at all.
(I bet I could write a 5 sentence research paper and send it to this dipshit and he’d quote it)
It’s well documented that black people get less care and are prescribed less painkillers because of this myth, as well as the racist assumption that block people seeking out pain relief are just after drugs
Elect Republicans, get racists.
Pretty simple.
Trump doesn’t give a shit about this fool. RFK jr withdrew from the race and he’s lucky that trump even nominated him rather throwing him aside like a burger wrapper.
I mean, he already said covid was engineered not to be as bad for Jewish people. We knew who he was.
Is it really too much to ask for Secretaries to at least have some experience or education in the industries they are the head of?
Nah, educated people don’t agree with conspiracy theory nonsense enough to be useful tools.
Monkey’s paw curls
Okay, now you’ve got a fracking company CEO as Secretary of Energy.
spoiler
(Never mind that “DoE” is historically really more of a euphemism for the “nuclear department” and thus a fossil fuels dude isn’t actually as “qualified” as he might seem at first glance anyway.)
It’s all in Project 2025. They’re purging everyone. Qualifications don’t matter, as long as you’re a Trump bootlicker.
It’s much more important that they are loyal to the orange dickhead and his agenda of destroying America.
It’s apparently too much to ask for Secretaries to not be super fucking racist.
Or super fucking rapists
shhh, DEI is the real source of unqualified positions
Poe’s law, ffs. Is this sarcasm? Then use the label
It’s pretty obvious sarcasm with the “shhhh” part.
thanks, “shhh” or “wait, i thought” already presents it as sarcasm without diluting the joke as much as “/s”
Thanks for clarifying
This is what is known as scientific racism. The US has always been the world’s #1 producer or it
Sickle Cell Anemia: This is more common in individuals of African, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian descent. The condition is caused by an inherited defect in hemoglobin, which affects red blood cells and can cause pain and other serious complications.
Cystic Fibrosis: This genetic disorder is more common in people of European descent, especially those with Northern or Central European ancestry. It affects the lungs, digestive system, and other organs.
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure): Hypertension is more prevalent in Black Americans than in other racial groups. The reasons for this are multifactorial, including genetics, socioeconomic status, and environmental factors. African Americans are also at higher risk for complications from hypertension, such as stroke and kidney disease.
Type 2 Diabetes: This is more common in Native American, Hispanic, and African American populations. Genetic factors play a role, along with lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity levels.
Lactose Intolerance: People of East Asian, West African, Native American, and Mediterranean descent are more likely to be lactose intolerant, meaning they have difficulty digesting lactose, a sugar found in dairy products. This is due to lower levels of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose.
Breast Cancer: While breast cancer affects women of all races, African American women are more likely to develop certain aggressive forms of breast cancer, such as triple-negative breast cancer, which tends to have a poorer prognosis. On the other hand, white women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer at an earlier age.
Prostate Cancer: Prostate cancer is more common in Black men, who are also more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age and experience more aggressive forms of the disease.
Asthma: Asthma is more prevalent among Black and Hispanic children in the United States. Environmental factors, such as exposure to air pollution, and socioeconomic factors, like access to healthcare, contribute to these disparities.
Skin Cancer (Melanoma): While melanoma is more common in people with lighter skin, such as those of European descent, it tends to be diagnosed at a later stage in people with darker skin, such as Black and Hispanic individuals, due to lower awareness and delayed diagnosis.
Thalassemia: A blood disorder more common in individuals of Mediterranean, African, or Southeast Asian descent. It involves the body making an abnormal form of hemoglobin, leading to anemia.
Tay-Sachs Disease: This genetic disorder, which leads to the progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, is more common in Ashkenazi Jewish individuals but also affects people of French-Canadian, Cajun, or certain Eastern European origins.
This is pretty disingenuous, the vast majority of sickle cell cases are non-hispanic blacks. Hispanics and whites also get sickle cell. If you’re grouping all those ethnicities in there, you might as well include whites too.
First of all, you are confusing ethnicity and race. Second, most of your examples are entirely caused by social factors.
So nothing regarding RFK’s ideas about black people and immune response or pain sensitivity?
You are correct.
And what, pray tell, is the use case for this information
That’s a nice list of red herrings. Those are all facts supported by evidence gathered through research. The point of the article is that RFK Jr has made, and continues to make, claims of fact that have no evidentiary basis, and in many cases directly contradict the available evidence.
Then why did Hobbes_Dent complain the list didn’t have enough examples of Caucasian issues?
Then why did Hobbes_Dent complain the list didn’t have enough examples of Caucasian issues?
I don’t care, and neither should anyone else. The fact that there are genetic propensities for disease that are more prevalent among ethnic groups is not relevant to the substance of the article.
It’s also expected, that’s how separate populations of a species tend to behave. See things such as hair color, eye color, ability to digest lactose far into adulthood ect. The fact these differences exist doesn’t mean you can make random claims with no evidence, or in spite of the evidence. That last one is called lying for those in the back.
African Americans have a long history of mistrust in the medical system, rooted in legacies of abuse and mistreatment, including unethical experiments on Black people. Examples include the Tuskegee syphilis study, the gynecology malpractice of J Marion Sims on enslaved Black women and the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks for cancer treatment, all which violated the principles of research ethics. The basis of these events stemmed from exploitation upheld by the idea that race is biological. In 2003, the Human Genome Project found that there is no genetic basis for race and that the term “race” is not biologically meaningful, meaning statements like Kennedy’s are not only outdated, but also false.
Throughout history, two enduring physiological myths – that Black people have a higher pain tolerance and weak lungs that could be strengthened through hard labor – have circulated within the medical community and continue to influence modern medical education and practice. Research has shown that many American physicians, medical students and residents hold incorrect beliefs about biological differences between races, which contribute to racial bias and disparities in pain perception and treatment recommendations. A 2016 survey revealed that of 222 white American medical students and residents, nearly 60% thought Black people’s skin is thicker than white peoples, and 12% thought Black people’s nerve endings were less sensitive than those of white people. Neither is true.
“Spreading false rhetoric that Black people have stronger immune systems recalls this notion of a super-humanization bias, which claims that Black people’s bodies function and endure pain differently,” said Zoé Samudzi, a visiting assistant professor at Clark University. Samudzi, who holds a PhD in medical sociology, fears the rise in misinformation will roll back recent progress across health fields. “Race-based medicine should not be the means of addressing the disparities in health outcomes that fall on the lines of race,” she said.
Not at all what the article is referring to, but you do you.
What’s your point? If you read the article, the point is that the data doesn’t support his claim. Nobody us claiming that race can’t have an affect on how people respond to diseases. Honestly tho, you’re more likely to see differences from individual to individual. This is why we do double blind studies with placebo.
I think their point is not to conflate scientific racism with the actual medical needs of different ethnic backgrounds. Nor to conflate either with scientific misinterpretation, or plain immorality, which is more what Kennedy is advocating for.
The author of the study sums it up quite nicely: the results of this study so not support inequitable vaccination. If we just claim Kennedy is trying to sort humans into different subspecies, that’s just going to muddy the argument that his stance is wrong and immoral.
How dare you come in here with your facts. These people need to be angry about scientific racism!
Next you’re gonna tell me that because I have blue eyes that I am much more sensitive to bright lights than someone with darker colored eyes. You’re just eye racist!
Nah, the problem is extrapolating that into “dark eyes don’t need sunglasses”.
… I never said that? I said blue eyes are more light sensitive than darker eyes. This is verifiably true.
Everyone should have polarized sun glasses, but the level of discomfort someone with blue eyes and someone with brown eyes will have while dealing with the same sunny conditions will be quite different. I have very light blue eyes. Some have called them “icey”. I cannot deal with pretty much any sunlight and I can also have reflections trigger horrible migraines. It’s well documented that lighter colored eyes tend to struggle more often with brightness levels. Kinda like how putting some dark paint on your upper cheeks helps significantly while working outside as it cuts down on the light being bounced into your own eyes by your cheeks.
The problem is that RFK is essentially saying that, not that you said it. Genetic differences shouldn’t be used as a “reason” to deny people proper medical care.
…and you think generic differences should be a reason to deny people proper medical care?
Am I misunderstanding your comment? I have a bit of a headache right now and I feel like I am reading your comment wrong. Please clarify.
Your example of blue eyes not being scientific racism came across as defending RFK’s stance, so my apologies if I misread. I am against denying care to anybody for any reason.
Where are the facts about Caucasian propensities for disease and genetic issues in the list? Partial points for the light skin point.
Incomplete facts. Science huh.
Anything to justify it.
Cystic Fibrosis was listed.
There are genetic diseases more common in each (previously isolated) population. It’s a fact which can be used to target screenings in a way that minimizes residual risks.
Many things in the list are different for socioeconomic reasons as well as genetic reasons. That doesn’t mean the genetic differences don’t exist or that scientific racism is behind them.
Racism is when you treat individuals not according to their own characteristics, but the characteristics (correctly assessed or not) attributed to their race. But public health efforts are not about individuals and often need to use racial background to help provide the care most likely to succeed.
Personal genomics will help us move to more individualized medicine, but it’s not ready or affordable enough to apply to every case at the moment.
And if you think the gaggle of idiots running the country right now (up to and including RFK Jr.) has any intent to make personal genomics affordable to anyone but themselves, I’ve got a fucking bridge to sell you.
I do not. I don’t trust RFK Jr to do anything right except possibly by accident.
Just reinforcing the point that there are legitimate and non-racist uses of race information in medicine.
Edit: Keep in mind that the comment I replied too seemed to take issue with a list of conditions related to genetics that have different propensities in different races. There are racists like Kennedy on the one side and then there are idiots on the other who think that any credence given to nature over nurture is indicative of racism and could not possibly be backed by objective facts.
