“On most health measures, blacks fare much worse than whites – differences that have largely been attributed to socioeconomic factors, access to healthcare and discrimination by doctors in the treatments they prescribe. But if there were a health system in which all patients basically got the same care, would the disparities still exist?
“It turns out there is such a system: the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. And a new analysis of nearly 3.1 million patients in the VA system has found a different kind of racial divide: Blacks do significantly better than whites. Over a nine-year period, researchers found that the adjusted mortality rate of African Americans was 24 percent lower than that of whites, according to a study published this month in the journal Circulation.
However, politicians would not be what they are if they didn’t try to use scientific and other kinds of breakthroughs to their own advantage (or rather, for their own personal agendas). Maine State Senator Michael Willette has a long history of online hate and bigotry, so it is hardly a surprise that his recent Facebook post uses the aforementioned medical discovery to put forth his personal views.
“Well, how about that? Blacks are actually physically more advanced than white people. Apparently, they heal quicker, have more stamina and, according to a recent decade-long study, live longer than white people. That’s exactly why they shouldn’t be allowed to have the same health care access as white Americans. This country was based on equality. So, we must do what we can to make sure all of its residents live equally. #ProlongWhiteLives,” Willette posted on his Facebook profile.
Having realized what a firestorm his post instigated across the Internet, Willette issued a half-hearted apology. In an interview with Newslo, the Republican from Aroostook County, Maine stated that the sole intention of his post was “to turn the nation’s eye to the fact that we must work together on more equality for all of America’s residents, not just particular groups.”
“So, nature has blessed them with many advantages over white people; what are we to do?” Willette stated. “I’ll tell you what we can do – even Mother Nature messes up sometimes, and when She does, it’s up to us humans to make things right. So, what I propose we do in the best interest of equality in this country is make sure white people get much better health care.”
Asked whether he realized that such a move would go against the very principles set forth by the Forefathers, the Maine Republican replied: “You’ve got it all wrong – we should do that precisely because of those principles of equality. Look at it this way: if black people can heal better and faster and live longer than white people, than we can save money by giving them less-than-the-best of healthcare. That way we’ll save money and at the same time, we can raise the age limit for the retirement of black people. If they live longer, they can work more and retire later. That’s the way America should go in the future. I guarantee that we’ll never be in recession again with that approach.”
