RFK Jr’s claim about Black people’s immune systems is ‘unscientific and terrifying’
RFK Jr’s claim about Black people’s immune systems is ‘unscientific and terrifying’
Kennedy’s hearing signifies how close a man with medically racist beliefs is to becoming the US’s leading health official
Kennedy’s hearing signifies how close a man with medically racist beliefs is to becoming the US’s leading health official
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During Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Senate confirmation hearing on 30 January, Angela Alsobrooks, a Democratic senator from Maryland, pressed the nominee on his past claims that Black people have a stronger immune system than white people and thereby, should receive vaccines on a different schedule than them. “What different vaccine schedule would you say I should have received?” Alsobrooks, who is Black, asked the health secretary nominee. Kennedy then referenced a “series of studies” showing that “to particular antigens, Blacks have a much stronger reaction”.
I randomly rewatched The Help and one of the racist white ladies was talking about how black people have different germs. "How ridiculous," I thought. And yet here we are.
Again.
They were still telling students in med school as recent as the past 4 years that black ppl need less painkillers because we, "Tolerate pain better than other races."
Ppl surprised by this rhetoric haven't been paying attention
Pretty fucked up if they were teaching that despite a lack of evidence.
That said, the concept itself isn't completely far fetched... Red heads need more anesthesia than everyone else for some genetic reason. Another group needing less for genetic reasons seems plausible.
Redheads need a lower opioid dose than the general population to achieve the same effect. At least those who are redheads because of a mutation in their MCR1 gene, which is about 75%, IIRC. Interestingly, the same mutation group also have worse tolerance of cold, which seems odd given that scotland is the global redhead centre!
It’s a bit complicated, both because some studies just asked people if they are ‘natural redheads’ and didn’t actually test whether they have the MCR1 mutation and because it depends on the mechanism of action of the drug. Some sedatives are less effective, so need higher doses, but the majority of opioid based pain control drugs require lower doses in redheads.
Despite there being other studies showing that it's factually untrue, and this perception comes down to different levels of empathy. (I know, what a surprise)