Wow, Xplisset! I am astounded by the way you open my eyes with your reporting. I am so overwhelmed by the truth of how black Americans are forced to live in this effin' "white america world" that is, in every way, to their own detriment.
I was raised in upstate New York and coastal Connecticut, and I was accustomed to having teachers of a few different skin colors other than my own. Our black American teachers were some of our best teachers. Other teachers had pronounced accents from other countries, but we students quickly learned how to translate "accents." Even the foreign-born teachers would laugh along with their students when we would eventually figure out what they were saying.
To learn about the ways black Americans have been denied ADEQUATE medical care (the grotesque belief that black folks don't experience the same pain as whites to using a person's race to determine proper kidney disease treatment) is horrifying.
It's horrifying and heartbreaking and it makes me wish racist white people would wake up one morning to find their skin color had inexplicably and permanently darkened to black. Has not one racist white jerk ever thought, "what if I had been born with black or brown skin?"
I just almost can't go on in this "new america." It sucks living here even if I have to acknowledge I have the effin' "privilege" of being "white." If all my neighbors cannot enjoy the same privileges that I have, then I don't want that so-called privilege.
Black people, captured from other continents and then "purchased" for slave labor built this country. They BUILT THIS COUNTRY!!
The white man is truly evil. There is nothing that can convince me otherwise. The genocide of the First Nations People and slavery of the black man are two offenses that will never be forgiven either by a god or by karma. And to realize it is still going on is crushing my soul.
I must go take a walk in nature now. My spirit is so troubled. Thank you for keeping me from my own ignorance.
Linda, listen to me, the sheer effort and feeling in your post made me divert from what I was doing and answer you right then.
What moved me is that you did not respond with distance. You let the truth trouble your spirit, and in this country that is much rarer than people admit. A lot of people want the data without the disturbance. You allowed yourself to be disturbed. Thank you for reading with that kind, this kind of moral seriousness and for refusing the cheap comfort of innocence. Thank you.
Xplisset, I worked over 40 years in urban area major medical center laboratories. As I'd review blood test results, besides the patient name and pertinent information, there would be a line for the diagnosis. If the patient came in through the ER, often the diagnosis would be precisely what the patient's complaint upon arriving was.
I will never forget one where the line said "couldn't afford diabetes meds". The glucose on this patient was so high, I thought to myself: now this person will have renal failure, go blind, and probably lose their feet. And if they are poor--which they undoubtedly were---the med center would write off millions of dollars of care each year, which was, in effect, paid for by all who had insurance.
I'd think "if only we had universal healthcare!" as all the preventative care would be SO MUCH CHEAPER than what this patient's care would cost!!
If our government TRULY wanted to lower costs, it would not only continue the social safety networks, but expand upon them.
Miselle, your response was so vivid and morally clarifying I had to stop everything I was doing and reply.
That line right here, “couldn’t afford diabetes meds,” is the whole American indictment in one sentence. Not laziness. Not irresponsibility. Just a human being priced out of staying alive until the system gets to bill everybody for the wreckage. You put your finger on the madness: we call prevention “too expensive,” then act shocked when catastrophe sends the tab through the roof. Thank you for bringing the witness of somebody who actually saw the bloodwork, the diagnosis line, and the human cost underneath all this policy talk. Thank you.
I read (as you do) Heather Cox Richardson's "Letter" today, and it depressed me so much, I had to abandon reading the comments which I usually spend at least an hour on. The amount of money spent on this war--what it could do to help people!!
Such great comments by Linda and Miselle. I might have written what Linda did...word for word, but I was too stunned and saddened to even comment right away.
...I was at a loss for words.
My spirit is also troubled. I have had so many wonderful relationships with Black people in my early years.
Thank you Xplisset, for shining the light so well. This is an especially depressing day for me. I will go out and sit on my front porch and watch the rain for a while.
"Finally, coverage too often treats coercive pressure as a partisan spectacle rather than as an erosion of democratic guardrails with predictable downstream targets."
"They" always miss the racial component because in their heart of hearts they do not see themselves as a potential target. In the famous words of David Byrne: "same as it ever was."
Wow, Xplisset! I am astounded by the way you open my eyes with your reporting. I am so overwhelmed by the truth of how black Americans are forced to live in this effin' "white america world" that is, in every way, to their own detriment.
I was raised in upstate New York and coastal Connecticut, and I was accustomed to having teachers of a few different skin colors other than my own. Our black American teachers were some of our best teachers. Other teachers had pronounced accents from other countries, but we students quickly learned how to translate "accents." Even the foreign-born teachers would laugh along with their students when we would eventually figure out what they were saying.
To learn about the ways black Americans have been denied ADEQUATE medical care (the grotesque belief that black folks don't experience the same pain as whites to using a person's race to determine proper kidney disease treatment) is horrifying.
It's horrifying and heartbreaking and it makes me wish racist white people would wake up one morning to find their skin color had inexplicably and permanently darkened to black. Has not one racist white jerk ever thought, "what if I had been born with black or brown skin?"
I just almost can't go on in this "new america." It sucks living here even if I have to acknowledge I have the effin' "privilege" of being "white." If all my neighbors cannot enjoy the same privileges that I have, then I don't want that so-called privilege.
Black people, captured from other continents and then "purchased" for slave labor built this country. They BUILT THIS COUNTRY!!
The white man is truly evil. There is nothing that can convince me otherwise. The genocide of the First Nations People and slavery of the black man are two offenses that will never be forgiven either by a god or by karma. And to realize it is still going on is crushing my soul.
I must go take a walk in nature now. My spirit is so troubled. Thank you for keeping me from my own ignorance.
Linda, listen to me, the sheer effort and feeling in your post made me divert from what I was doing and answer you right then.
What moved me is that you did not respond with distance. You let the truth trouble your spirit, and in this country that is much rarer than people admit. A lot of people want the data without the disturbance. You allowed yourself to be disturbed. Thank you for reading with that kind, this kind of moral seriousness and for refusing the cheap comfort of innocence. Thank you.
Thanks, Xplisset. I am still feeling my heart break. Got to go walking now.
My mom was one of the first 6 Black educators to graduate from Oswego! Some of my folks are from Albany and Watervliet.
Xplisset, I worked over 40 years in urban area major medical center laboratories. As I'd review blood test results, besides the patient name and pertinent information, there would be a line for the diagnosis. If the patient came in through the ER, often the diagnosis would be precisely what the patient's complaint upon arriving was.
I will never forget one where the line said "couldn't afford diabetes meds". The glucose on this patient was so high, I thought to myself: now this person will have renal failure, go blind, and probably lose their feet. And if they are poor--which they undoubtedly were---the med center would write off millions of dollars of care each year, which was, in effect, paid for by all who had insurance.
I'd think "if only we had universal healthcare!" as all the preventative care would be SO MUCH CHEAPER than what this patient's care would cost!!
If our government TRULY wanted to lower costs, it would not only continue the social safety networks, but expand upon them.
Miselle, your response was so vivid and morally clarifying I had to stop everything I was doing and reply.
That line right here, “couldn’t afford diabetes meds,” is the whole American indictment in one sentence. Not laziness. Not irresponsibility. Just a human being priced out of staying alive until the system gets to bill everybody for the wreckage. You put your finger on the madness: we call prevention “too expensive,” then act shocked when catastrophe sends the tab through the roof. Thank you for bringing the witness of somebody who actually saw the bloodwork, the diagnosis line, and the human cost underneath all this policy talk. Thank you.
Thank you, Xplisset, for responding.
I read (as you do) Heather Cox Richardson's "Letter" today, and it depressed me so much, I had to abandon reading the comments which I usually spend at least an hour on. The amount of money spent on this war--what it could do to help people!!
Such great comments by Linda and Miselle. I might have written what Linda did...word for word, but I was too stunned and saddened to even comment right away.
...I was at a loss for words.
My spirit is also troubled. I have had so many wonderful relationships with Black people in my early years.
Thank you Xplisset, for shining the light so well. This is an especially depressing day for me. I will go out and sit on my front porch and watch the rain for a while.
Thank you, Kathy, for letting me know I'm not the only person who feels this way. Sometimes I just feel so alone in this "new" america.
You are most definitely not alone....
"Finally, coverage too often treats coercive pressure as a partisan spectacle rather than as an erosion of democratic guardrails with predictable downstream targets."
"They" always miss the racial component because in their heart of hearts they do not see themselves as a potential target. In the famous words of David Byrne: "same as it ever was."