(no subject)

So. Infant mortality. I'm sure I sound naive and sanctimonious and middle-class and White in my surprise and anger. Not being directly, personally affected by it, you read all these statistics about the results of racism, about mortgages and glass ceilings and whatever, and it all seems so abstract; and then one figure smacks you between the eyes like a shovel. Piles of dead babies tend to have that effect. That's what racism is, what sexism is, what war is, what it always has been. The most vulnerable human beings, like miner's canaries, tumbled into mass graves, dead of greed.

*takes a deep breath*

Meanwhile in Australia:

Forced to live in hunger: a study of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory (infant mortality: 16.7) finds they can't afford to eat healthily - or sometimes at all. Researchers suggest short-term help (eg fruit and vegetable hampers) but also long-term change. Lemme see if I can find the full report online.

(no subject)

OK, this is fascinating. The huge Black infant mortality in the US isn't explained by poverty, although that contributes. Nor is it genetics, though that contributes. Control for income and education and so on, and the rate is still higher. Guess what researchers think is the cause missing factor? The sheer bloody stress of living with racism.

Lookit:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20099.html

No, seriously, read it. It's not long.

This may seem vague or abstract to you, but it makes perfect sense to me. If the constant harassment and insults I experienced at high school screwed with my mental and physical health, as it generally does with bullying victims, then it's only logical that the constant pressure African-American women live under would screw with theirs.

(I should be able to get my paws on the journal article at work.)

(no subject)

WHY YES, I AM HYPOMANIC, WHY DO YOU ASK?

Always seems to happen when I am Having a Woman's Period. Maybe it's just me sprinign back to my normal shape after the PMS, like an unsquished Nerf ball.

Dear Dead White Men :)

In a moment, a summary of those research findings. But first, a message for my various pale male pals whose politics are somewhere to the right of my own:

You keep me honest.

Srsly, there's nothing more dangerous than only hearing your own voice reflected back at you. You guys challenge me and you don't let me get away with stuff. We may not always convince each other, but you help me test and refine my arguments - without the panic, malice, and sheer blockheadedness that characterises so much online debate.

So thank you. Keep it up. :)

(no subject)

Ok doke. The news item I linked to earlier, Racism may affect infant mortality rates, is based on this journal article:

David, Richard and James Collins Jr. Disparities in Infant Mortality: What's Genetics Got to Do With It? American Journal of Public Health 97(7) July 2007 pp 1191-1197.

(AJPH is a major peer-reviewed journal published by the American Public Health Association. The article is a "review" - that is, a survey of recently published research.)

Let me try my best to summarise the reviewers' findings. Very briefly: there's evidence that African American women's experience of discrimination is stressful enough to shorten their pregnancies, leading to higher infant mortality.

( Read more... )

If you're White like me, it can be really hard to accept that POC's experiences of racism are real. If these studies are right, we have tangible, powerful evidence that they are real - and that they do real damage.