RFK Jr’s claim about Black people’s immune systems is ‘unscientific and terrifying’

Ok, lets apply the paradox of tolerance to islamic views on women and lgbtq people. I remember clinton meeting with the taliban while everyone thought ferengi were hilarious. Im that old. and modern misogyny is no fucking surprise. They called the misogynistic ads ironic, and sending kids child porn was ironic, and 4chan racism was ironic. None of it was ironic and the stupid assholes in society have only been strengthened by the internet. Freedom of speech allowed nazis to walk the streets of america and now you have the result.

Also don't forget Rush Limbaugh. He was a big advocate of 'civility' and 'politeness' but he absolutely did not consider racism, racist jokes, or telling someone they can't do something because of their race, to be uncivil or rude.

The answer to this of you hear someone say this earnestly is: Why would they have a slightly lower GPA? If anything usually when equally qualified candidates go head to head the white person still has a statistical advantage, even with organizations that have DEI in their mission. This would imply people in disadvantaged groups usually have to be more qualified to get hired.

Can we just have the most qualified doctor regardless of race in place of the unqualified heroin addict? I'll take that. They can be a black trans lesbian (or not for any/all of those) for all it matters, so long as they actually know their shit.

Like RFK has already blown his stopped clock moment, and it was about food additives - can we get someone who will still do that bit but is also otherwise competent?

This is a huge problem, the stats are way worse for nurses as I recall. Even some textbooks still claim that black people have higher pain tolerance and need less medication. Black people are denied opioids and treated as “drug seeking” far more than white patients. They can have problems accessing treatment for opioid use disorders too.

In 2021, maternal mortality rates for black women were about 2.6 that of non Hispanic white women. Its not hard to see why.

Some of the dumbest people I've ever met have been doctors and nurses, the more the specialize the worse shit to, they are so hyper focused on their jobs they just fall into the stupidest shit.

They need the racists to be different too.

When they wipe out whoever the majority hates, diversity in racism means there will be new groups hated by the majority that can be wiped out. And then another group the majority hates.

Turn everyone against everyone else, and everyone becomes disposable.

Don't forget the "science" of things like drapetomania.

Yes, certain people who were actual medical professionals in their day argued that not wanting to be enslaved was a mental illness if you were black.

Yea, along the old meme of Black people being fast runners by default.

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

Do you think Darwin meant this in an aspirational or observational way?

First of all, you are confusing ethnicity and race. Second, most of your examples are entirely caused by social factors.

You left out Maple Syrup Urine Disease which is both not a thing I made up (despite how it sounds) and also mostly a thing among the Pennsylvania Dutch (aka Amish) that causes the body to be unable to break down several amino acids.

This is pretty disingenuous, the vast majority of sickle cell cases are non-hispanic blacks. Hispanics and whites also get sickle cell. If you're grouping all those ethnicities in there, you might as well include whites too.

That's a nice list of red herrings. Those are all facts supported by evidence gathered through research. The point of the article is that RFK Jr has made, and continues to make, claims of fact that have no evidentiary basis, and in many cases directly contradict the available evidence.

From Wikipedia:

Before the mid-20th century, scientific racism was accepted throughout the scientific community, but it is no longer considered scientific. The division of humankind into biologically separate groups, along with the assignment of particular physical and mental characteristics to these groups through constructing and applying corresponding explanatory models, is referred to as racialism, racial realism, race realism, or race science by those who support these ideas. Modern scientific consensus rejects this view as being irreconcilable with modern genetic research.

Scientific racism misapplies, misconstrues, or distorts anthropology (notably physical anthropology), craniometry, evolutionary biology, and other disciplines or pseudo-disciplines through proposing anthropological typologies to classify human populations into physically discrete human races, some of which might be asserted to be superior or inferior to others.

From the article:

African Americans have a long history of mistrust in the medical system, rooted in legacies of abuse and mistreatment, including unethical experiments on Black people. Examples include the Tuskegee syphilis study, the gynecology malpractice of J Marion Sims on enslaved Black women and the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks for cancer treatment, all which violated the principles of research ethics. The basis of these events stemmed from exploitation upheld by the idea that race is biological. In 2003, the Human Genome Project found that there is no genetic basis for race and that the term “race” is not biologically meaningful, meaning statements like Kennedy’s are not only outdated, but also false.

Throughout history, two enduring physiological myths – that Black people have a higher pain tolerance and weak lungs that could be strengthened through hard labor – have circulated within the medical community and continue to influence modern medical education and practice. Research has shown that many American physicians, medical students and residents hold incorrect beliefs about biological differences between races, which contribute to racial bias and disparities in pain perception and treatment recommendations. A 2016 survey revealed that of 222 white American medical students and residents, nearly 60% thought Black people’s skin is thicker than white peoples, and 12% thought Black people’s nerve endings were less sensitive than those of white people. Neither is true.

“Spreading false rhetoric that Black people have stronger immune systems recalls this notion of a super-humanization bias, which claims that Black people’s bodies function and endure pain differently,” said Zoé Samudzi, a visiting assistant professor at Clark University. Samudzi, who holds a PhD in medical sociology, fears the rise in misinformation will roll back recent progress across health fields. “Race-based medicine should not be the means of addressing the disparities in health outcomes that fall on the lines of race,” she said.

Not at all what the article or Wikipedia is referring to, but you do you.

So nothing regarding RFK's ideas about black people and immune response or pain sensitivity?

And what, pray tell, is the use case for this information

How dare you come in here with your facts. These people need to be angry about scientific racism!

Next you're gonna tell me that because I have blue eyes that I am much more sensitive to bright lights than someone with darker colored eyes. You're just eye racist!

Or super fucking rapists

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.

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)