PolitiFact threw a “False” flag at Scott Jennings for suggesting on CNN Newsnight with Abby Phillip "There are like almost 5 million able-bodied people on Medicaid who simply choose not to work.” But that is less shocking than this “factual” website rushing to defend former Rep. Jamaal Bowman saying on that CNN show a few weeks ago that black people have worse health outcomes because there are all these people calling them the “N-word.”
There was no “Truth-O-Meter” rating on this one. But Ella Moore’s article the very next day was titled
Former congressman’s CNN comment on racism, Black health drew criticism. But research supports link
"I'm a Black man in America," Bowman said during the June 25 segment. "The reason why heart disease and cancer and obesity and diabetes are bigger in the Black community is because of the stress we carry from having to deal with being called the N-word directly or indirectly every day." Of course, Abby Phillip didn't interrupt or seek to correct this in any way.
Scott Jennings accurately citing a Congressional Budget Office figure on people losing Medicaid over imposing work requirements was "False," perhaps because he said people "choose not to work." Phillip pounced on that. That offends liberal sensibilities. But the liberals love to underline America is horribly racist. PolitiFact noted Bowman's comment was ripped by conservatives, and then "corrected" it:
"Jamaal Bowman gives INSANE excuse for obesity in Black community," right-wing media outlet the Daily Caller wrote in a YouTube caption.
"CNN gave him a platform to peddle race-based hysteria," conservative talk radio host Larry O’Connor wrote.
But public health researchers have long connected racism with health disparities.
Other than Native Americans, Black people face the lowest life expectancy of all racial groups in the U.S. and are the most likely to die from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease among all Americans. Research has shown that stress caused by experiencing racial discrimination, combined with other challenges such as socioeconomic and environmental disparities, worsens Black Americans’ health and contributes to their ongoing health disparities when compared to other racial groups.
It is clearly bizarre that you can NOT say there are lazy people who won't observe work requirements for government benefits, but you CAN say black people facing obesity or diabetes or cancer can be directly blamed on "N-words" that you don't have to prove anyone actually said. "Science" has spoken?
Naturally, then, the liberals at PolitiFact don't just blame supposed N-word throwing for worse health outcomes, but they roll out leftist experts to hit the predictable note of systemic racism:
Racism and discrimination create disparities that affect health outcomes
Courtney Boen, Brown University assistant professor of sociology in the Population Studies and Training Center, emphasized the significance of acknowledging the variety of factors besides perceived discrimination that can influence health outcomes.
"Much of this research focuses on instances of interpersonal discrimination, where people believe they are treated unfairly when they interact with others, but misses so many other forms of discrimination and racism, including institutional policies and practices that are both implicitly and explicitly discriminatory," Boen wrote in an email to PolitiFact.
