End Racism’s Affect on Health in Dallas
“Recent events such as the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by the hands of police, along with the COVID-19 pandemic (which has hit Black and Hispanic communities across the nation at higher rates) have accelerated the need to address structural racism and its affect on health.
More on how racism has affected health and quality of life in Dallas, and what we need doctors and government to do to help stop it:
Social barriers created by structural racism contribute to higher rates of heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes in Black and Hispanic populations, and top leaders at the American Heart Association say they’re dedicated to stopping this cycle.
Mitchell S. Elkind, president of the Heart Association, which is headquartered in Dallas, said during a virtual conference on Tuesday that the existence of inequity between races has not changed in the last 100 years. Black adults are 45% more likely to die from stroke and 30% more likely to die from heart disease than white adults — and they’re more likely to be uninsured, he said.
“We recognize that not everybody thinks the same way about these issues as we do, but we’re convinced we’re doing the right thing,” he said.
The conference, which was more of a call to action, outlined the health disparities faced in minority communities.
These issues — which the doctors said stem from the effects of systemic racism — have also affected areas in Fort Worth, including residents who live in the 76104 ZIP code, which has the lowest life expectancy in the state, according to a 2019 study by UT Southwestern.
In a yearlong investigation, the Star-Telegram found that factors contributing to the poor health of that area included lack of access to health care, insurance, affordable healthy foods, safe places to exercise, and an overabundance of pollution.
Men there on average don’t live to see their 64th birthday. For women, their 70th. The No. 1 cause of death is heart disease and people die about 12 years before the national average death for the disease.
Dr. Justin Martin, Texas Health Fort Worth cardiologist and the Tarrant County board president for the association, said many residents in the county don’t realize how much their neighborhood affects their health.
“We have to take a stand and call it out as it is and begin to not only raise awareness of the issue but begin to make progress in how to eliminate it,” he said on Wednesday. “This is highlighted by this extreme differential in life expectancy from one ZIP code to another.”
Dr. Keith Churchwell, an AHA Board member, said the association has been working on solutions since 2017, but recent events such as the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by the hands of police, along with the COVID-19 pandemic (which has hit Black and Hispanic communities across the nation at higher rates) have accelerated the need to address structural racism and its affect on health.
Churchwell said redlining — a system backed by federal policies that allowed banks to deny mortgages to (usually Black) people — is the most glaring example of systemic racism affecting health.
“Although the practice was formally outlawed in 1968 with passage of the Fair Housing Act, the effects are still happening today,” he said. “The lingering effects include decreased property values, which impacts taxes and the quality of schools. Many grocery stores aren’t going to build in these neighborhoods because they are afraid they’re not going to get a return in their investment.”
Redlining maps of Fort Worth show that 76104 was deemed as “hazardous” area to give loans.
These effects have also been seen in 76104, which doesn’t have a grocery store. Residents rely on grocers in other areas of the town or one of the 11 corner stores that sell fried food, canned items and pasta along with snacks and other items high in sugar.
The association’s message is that leaders want to shift from reacting to health care issues to taking a front-lines stance in preventing them, Martin said.
“We’re dedicated to fixing this and we are a force for advocacy for access to better health care and supporting low cost to no cost clinics and hypertension check-ups and supporting this funding to make sure there is access to foods in communities and schools,” he said.
To do this, the association will fund research and solutions that address health disparities, it will provide scholarships for students interested in health and science, it will continue to support early career science and research programs for students at historically black college and universities, among many other initiatives.
(Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article247124136.html?fbclid=IwAR2pYyf0cgcnQyOw55GD51hKK65v-eRlpDiKuWmUTCgMycdFIsnD2FeU9Vo#storylink=cpy)
