My family always told me to take care of myself. Drink water. Eat fruits and vegetables and – no matter how much I dreaded sweating – exercise. Yet, no matter how much they emphasized healthy habits, high-calorie foods always made their way to Thanksgiving dinner tables. And while the menu for family dinners stayed the same, my family got smaller and smaller.
Whether heart attack or stroke, cancer or diabetes, some frightening disease always took the life of a loved one and was added to my family’s laundry list of health problems.
Unfortunately, my story is not much different than that of other African-American families.
According to the Center for Disease Control, African- Americans’ susceptibility and mortality rates to diseases like cancer and diabetes far exceed those of other ethnicities. What is even more critical is the legacy of distrust between the African American community and institutions of public health.
I had always wondered why members of my family were so adamant about not going to the doctor. That was until I read an article, describing years of medical experimentation on African-Americans The Tuskegee experiment denied syphilis treatment for African-American men treatment for experimental purposes. Slaves were subjects to experimentation and had no legal right to refuse participation. It is no wonder the distrust still remains today.
Many members of the African-American community do not accept medical advice, much less have insurance.
According to TheRoot.com, more than 20 percent of African-Americans are not insured, and are more likely to receive sub-par health care and less likely to have a primary care physician. Thankfully, with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in January 2014, that will change.
But diseases aren’t our only issue. Homicide is the eighth leading cause of death of African Americans between the ages of 10 and 24. On Nov. 6, 19-year-old Renisha McBride’s name was added to a roster of names – such as Jordan Davis, Ramarley Graham, Jonathan Ferrell, Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell and Oscar Grant – after being shot and killed following a car crash. In a supposedly “post-racial” world, African- Americans still have targets on their backs.
With that being said, it is time for the African-American community to start taking care of itself and wake up. During this holiday season, think of the well-being of you and your loved ones and if nothing else, be thankful for another year.