"Lifestyle Choices" Doesn't Explain Why Black Americans are Dying Younger | Big Think

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With more than 30 years in public health in America and Africa, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Mary Travis Bassett says that the same diseases - heart disease, stroke, and cancer of all kinds - that are killing white Americans are killing black Americans younger and in higher numbers. Historically, public health has tended to "blame the victim," pointing the finger at lifestyle choices like diet. But, says Bassett, the conditions that lead to those choices, and other environmental factors contributing to the disparity, are often beyond the control of the people at risk.
It's not about making poor choices, says Mary Bassett. It's about the fact that people in the hardest hit neighborhoods (like Brownsville, Brooklyn) don't have enough options to choose from.
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MARY BASSETT:
Dr. Mary Travis Bassett was appointed commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in January 2014. With more than 30 years of experience in public health, Dr. Bassett has dedicated her career to advancing health equity. After Bassett completed her medical training, she moved to Harare, Zimbabwe, where she served on the medical faculty at the University of Zimbabwe for 17 years. In that role, she developed a range of AIDS prevention interventions to address one of the world’s worst AIDS epidemics. She later served as the associate director of Health Equity at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Southern Africa Office, overseeing it Africa AIDS portfolio.
In 2002, Dr. Bassett was appointed deputy commissioner of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she directed key initiatives, including bans on smoking and trans fats in restaurants and the requirement at chain restaurants to post calorie counts. She also established the department’s District Public Health Offices (DPHOs) in East and Central Harlem, the South Bronx and North and Central Brooklyn to lead targeted health and communication strategies in these communities that experience an excess burden of disease. Each office advances community health through home visiting programs, free exercise programs, efforts to increase access to healthy food, meetings with area doctors and coordination with local coalitions.
Most recently, since 2009, Dr. Bassett served at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation as program director for the African Health Initiative and more recently has led the Child Well-being Program. Both portfolios have focused on strengthening systems to support health improvement.
Dr. Bassett grew up in New York City, received her B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University, her M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. She served her medical residency at Harlem Hospital Center, and has a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Washington. She served for many years as an associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Mary Bassett: What is killing blacks in higher numbers at younger ages are the same things that kill all of us. Mainly cardiovascular disease, that means heart disease and stroke, and cancer of all kinds. So the same thing that takes people prematurely is the same burden that’s borne by all of us. It’s not a set of exotic or special diseases. Well New York has gotten healthier and healthier in recent years and our life expectancy now exceeds that of t.......
To read the transcript, please go to bigthink.com/v...

[@alienzenx]

Life expectancy of black female in New York: 80.29 years. Life expectancy of white male in New York: 78.13 years But let's focus on race of course. Big Think indeed.

[@crystalxo4159]

To be fair women have longer life expectancy across the board.

[@alienzenx]

Crystal Xo It was for comparison.

[@alienzenx]

AwoudeX www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy

[@alienzenx]

+AwoudeX It's also noteable that whites are in the middle between Latinos and African Americans. The gap between whites and African Americans is 3 years. The gap between Asians and whites is *8 years*

[@alienzenx]

***** Actually I forgot, when men die earlier it's because men don't go to the doctor enough and take risks blah blah...also testerone makes people die early. Except when black people have higher testosterone, then saying that testosterone makes people die early is of course racist.

[@Paint]

Ironically big thing has some of the most small minded subscribers. The comments on this are abysmal.

[@Shankabottomus]

+Paint we probably need some enlightened black gay progressives to moderate them, huh?

[@oXGODLESSXo]

+Shankabottomus Or a self loathing paternal white guilt riddled regressive will do just fine.

[@DeannaJacksonDJsDelectables]

Agreed, Paint.

[@Shankabottomus]

Deanna Jackson Oh thank God youre here. I was just talking about how we needed someone just like you to tell us how to not wrongthink. Please explain to us who don't agree with the speaker in this video, how black people are not responsible for themselves. Tell us how their life choices are not even a primary factor in the outcomes that they experience. Tell us how weak and subjugated all the minorities are compared to the oppressive all powerful white race in order for them to not even be in control of their own destinies.

[@s.flanders]

+Shankabottomus Maybe you don't want to hear from a white guy three days late, but I'll take a stab anyway. *Tell us how their life choices are not even a primary factor in the outcomes that they experience.* Of course choices are a factor (arguably the primary factor), but it'd be a big mistake to discount all other factors. In the U.S., one of those factors (which has a huge effect on the kinds of choices that black people can and want to make) is (mostly subconscious) racism, as well as the lingering effects of hugely discriminatory (and government-supported) treatment of black people. Yes, it's possible for individual black people to escape the vicious cycle that has them lagging in achievement (and that should be encouraged), but to put the entire burden on them while ignoring the obstacles that they have to get over for simply being black is really ignorant. It honestly takes very little research to find definitive proof that black people are discriminated against in nearly all walks of life in the U.S. (and elsewhere), and these kinds of things can add up to form significant barriers. Those who inherently benefit from being seen as superior to black people have a responsibility to at least acknowledge the unfairness of the situation and to try to do something to make it a little better.

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

People don't realize how much poverty plays in someone's health. If you're malnourished, uneducated, depressed, overly stressed, overwork, and can't afford Healthcare, you're gonna have a bad time. In much the same way, poverty plays a huge role in crime. It's infuriating when a presidential candidate (such as Clinton) blames only the justice system for so many blacks being in prison. Although the justice system has its flaws, the real problem is poverty. Why is such a high percentage of blacks in poverty?

[@Synthminator]

+David S. Cause a large percentage of them are illiterate or functionally illiterate, for a start. In detroit it was abysmal. Illiterate people cannot function properly in a high tech economy like the one in the USA. We in Portugal had the same problem 2 generations ago, most of people, white, were illiterate so the country is still one of the poorest in europe.. p.s. im not blaming them, just stating facts.

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

ThePreciseMoment Illiteracy (no matter the race) is most likely a result of poverty (i.e. poor education).

[@Synthminator]

David S. Its both cause and result. Poor people cannot afford decent education, or books even, and poorly educated people cannot grow out of poverty because by themselves they dont know how to. If you give them money but not education they will still be illiterate (welfare trap and such, low skilled work, etc..), if you give education but no money, it probably wont work either because of what you said in your original comment.

[@TalsetFireSeed]

Children running across highways doesn't explain them dying when a bus runs them over.

[@BreezusSneezus]

+SteelBadger13 And then you ask yourself something along the lines of "Why are these children running on the highway? I definitely never played anywhere even close to highway growing up. Could it be because they don't have access to safer places to play?" and you realize that these kids aren't doing dangerous things because they're just naturally stupid or something, but they're doing these things because kids naturally want to play and if they're disadvantaged to the point that they don't have safe places to play then they'll probably resort to playing in unsafe places, just like all children would.Or something like that, right?

[@BreezusSneezus]

Kurt Clothier Alrighty, you're running into a huge contradiction here Kurt. Either you played in those super dangerous ponds, fields, and "highways" despite being "taught not to do stupid things," meaning that you survived because of luck. Or you were never told that said areas were so incredibly dangerous (if only you'd had intelligent adults around!) and again, you survived because of luck. Or you had other, safer places to play than some children, meaning that you survived because of your privilege. Or those places aren't really as dangerous as the environments that some children live in, meaning (again) that you survived due to your privilege. Give me another reasonable option here and you'll easily change my mind, but those are all I can think of. Or do you honestly believe that all children have equal access to safe places to play? If that's the case I'd suggest seeking help because you're suffering from a delusion.

[@BreezusSneezus]

So you've pretty much conceded? You're right, no child should only have the option of playing near a busy street (or other dangerous area) because of a lack alternatives. You feel like the word has degraded, but that's because you lack knowledge of the dire situation that others face. It is (unfortunately) a privilege to have a house and yard to play in, because there are literally millions of children in this country who don't, nor do they have a safe alternative (like a decent park or community center) nearby. I understand that acknowledging your privilege is hard, because it doesn't feel like it SHOULD be a privilege to have a safe place to play. But unfortunately, it is. If you think that all children should have a safe place to play, you need to be fighting for that instead of fighting against privilege and how it does or does not apply to you.

[@Stefanuslol]

I am not American, but the thing its government should be ashamed of is that despite being one of the richest countries in the world, they are the only country whose healthcare system is privatized.

[@hikariheir]

+Stefan Petrovic This is largely due to many Americans valuing freedom above all else. While I personally like the idea of socializing healthcare, doing so in America would actually come with a number of injustices to a large number of people. As you probably know, America has the highest obesity rate in the world by far, and it's just a fact that people who do not take care of their health (highly obese people for example) require healthcare more often, and require more expensive medical procedures than people who take care of themselves. If we continue to allow the freedom to eat whatever you want and be as unhealthy as you want, then how exactly can you justify forcing people who actually take care of themselves and almost never need medical treatment to share the burden of a system they do not use, for the sake of people who choose to live a life that requires more medical attention? Many of us simply do not believe that individuals should have to pay for the choices made by complete strangers. This same principal applies to other things such as our lack of paid extended maternity leave. Women have a multitude of birth control options, there is no such thing as an accidental child now. If you have a child, it's because you chose to, so why should your employer have to pay you for time you chose to miss work? It's common sense that that burden will only be placed onto the other employees, once again making individuals pay for the choice made by someone else.

[@nikolaiiscoolguyproduction4807]

It comes from an idea called "Laissez faire"

[@A_SEGA_Dremcast]

+Stefan Petrovic LOL. Our healthcare system is barely "privatized". The government subsidizes healthcare greatly. A substantial amount of the federal budget pays for Medicare and Obamacare, with the latter leaching from funds from Medicare and Social Security. Both of those systems are crumbling. Healthcare plan choices are also thinning due to the mandates our congress and President have instituted. NOT having health coverage is actually a fineable offense in the US now. Historically, one would get coverage thru their *employer*. Those unable find work or coverage by other means find themselves applying for Obamacare, and the high costs associated with that, or they're paying the fine. It's a joke, especially now that younger folks generally don't incur a great deal of medical expenses and either having very basic or no coverage works for many. Now we're paying for everyone. Dunno about others here, but my insurance coverage has only gotten more expensive since Obamacare became law...

[@firebornliger]

+666sigma Now, be fair. He could just be a well educated idiot. The Left stands on people not looking into the actual costs and effects of their programs, and merely voting on feels. Then, of course, if it doesn't work, it is simply the fact that we didn't throw enough of other people's money at it.

[@hikariheir]

firebornliger I find that a lot of far left authoritarian progressives these days are actually OVEReducated idiots. They've spent their whole life so far in an education system that, quite frankly, feeds them a lot of lies and teaches them not to question what the progressive left says, even when presented with proof that they're wrong. The result being that they haven't got a clue about what real life is like, especially for people less privileged than them who couldn't afford to go to college.

[@happytx1860]

Stress plays a big part in a shorten life span. Some people feel ground down on a daily basis. Sad.

[@Akerfeldtfan]

+Happy TX This is one of the main explanations for racial differences in health, actually. In 1992 Geronimus pitched an idea of a "weathering hypothesis" that expected that the accumulation of stress with age was a big determinant for black's health determinants. It's got a lot of empirical support, especially when you look at things related to low infant birth weight and maternal health.

[@alienzenx]

+Happy TX Yet asians who apparently endure the most stress live by far the longest.

[@Akerfeldtfan]

+alienzen Actually, Asians are similarly at risk of stress related negative outcomes too, like low birthweight babies. pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/1/e20.short . Life expecancy improvements do partly go back to lifestyle and differences in class and opportunity- many asians in the USA tend to selectively immigrate the the USA and already have higher levels of education to begin with. When you look at a more fine grained assessment of where "asians" immigrate from life expectancy vary much more than than just the average would imply. Add to this the important distinction that it's not just stress on its own that is harmful. What's really bad for you is stress that is chronic and is not coped with or rewarded. Those last two points help to get at why high stress for asians or rich people is less harmful than high stress for the poor.

[@alienzenx]

Akerfeldtfan Can you explain why Latinos have a higher life expectancy than whites despite having lower incomes?

[@dancepro67]

+alienzen lack of stress probably,

[@mre521]

She basically implies that black Americans are forced to live in "poor segregated neighbourhoods" because "no one picks a neighbourhood, you know, because they want to feel unsafe there" and "no one picks a neighbourhood where there are no grocery stores or supermarkets that carry a range of vegetables that allow them to make the healthy choices." I guess this is why they die younger then. Who is she to say that black Americans have no choice in the matter? She is literally stripping personal agency away from them by saying things like that. If I was black I would be insulted by this...

[@SCI_WALKER]

+mre521 Personal agency is not a thing that can be "literally stripped away" by someone making a youtube video. I see no point in your whining.

[@mre521]

Maybe I should have said "figuratively stripping away." She makes it out as if individuals in the black community as a whole have no agency because they are "forced" to live where they are and that is why they live shorter on average. If you are an American citizen no one is forcing you to live in a specific place against your will, unless you are a criminal in prison. Because of this, her claims that "no one picks a neighbourhood, you know, because they want to feel unsafe there" and "no one picks a neighbourhood where there are no grocery stores or supermarkets that carry a range of vegetables that allow them to make the healthy choices" can not be the only determining factors for where certain groups of people choose to live. If black Americans live in such a place then it is, at least in part, their decision. She tries to indicate that it's not. She refers to "poor segregated neighbourhoods" as if someone other than the individuals congregating in those neighbourhoods is causing such segregation, referencing historical mistreatment of black Americans in the United States. America does not have "segregation" today as is was historically realized so I think it is dishonest to use the word in an identical manner as it was used under mandated racial segregation historically. Neighbourhoods that are still racially segregated today are only such because those living there choose to live in such a neighbourhood. No one is forcing them to be there. No one is going to lynch a black family for moving to a "non-segregated" neighbourhood. If the neighbourhood is truly the reason why black Americans live shorter on average then it is at least partially their responsibility. To respect someone includes the recognition that the individual is in control of their own life. To assert that someone can not make decisions for themselves when they actually can is to disrespect them. (In my opinion).

[@hikariheir]

+D. Poul Jack Their use of the word literally was honestly the only problem with what they said though. If you tell a person something over and over, they will gradually start to believe it. So when you have scores of videos and speakers saying that black people have no agency, women have no agency, etc, then more and more of those people will begin to believe that there's nothing they can do to improve their situation. The truth is yes, improving your life IS hard, but it's hard for fucking everyone who wasn't born into a wealthy family, not just blacks, and not just women. And if you keep telling certain groups that there's nothing they can do about it because the system is against them, then of course the people you don't constantly tell that there's nothing they can do are going to do better than the groups that have been taught they can't succeed on their own. Facing hardship is how you grow as a person and improve upon yourself, doing nothing to improve your situation just leads you to stagnation and a wasted life.

[@07derka]

I'm always hesitant to watch these sort of videos because of how strongly they divide audiences. Comment sections on these videos are always toxic and devoid of any meaningful commentary, and it's a shame really, especially considering this video in particular is on the "Big Think" youtube channel, i would expect subscribers to this channel to be mature and willing to have real discussion, but i'm sadly mistaken apparently.

[@Shankabottomus]

+Derek Kirwan people react negatively to pulling the race card in this day and age. hardly surprising, honestly.

[@BreezusSneezus]

People react negatively to the "race card" (or "noting that systematic oppression does still exist and it isn't right" as I like to call it) because it makes them feel less special. People want to believe that everything they've accomplished has been the direct result of their hard work. Acknowledging that they were given advantages that others weren't feels like someone saying "your success isn't really your doing." People freak out when they think that's what's being implied and can't move past it enough to even begin trying to see the situation clearly and fairly. It's a psychological failing that some people aren't able to get over for some reason.

[@Shankabottomus]

Breezy0215 rofl. maybe someday you'll stop making excuses. probably not, far easier to complain about the white man keeping you down. what a fucking joke.

[@BreezusSneezus]

***** Let me explain my situation, rather than allow you to assume. I'm an educated, fairly attractive, able bodied white female from a middle-class family, so I'm not making excuses for myself. In fact, I'm soaked in privilege, which I very much acknowledge. Does it mean I didn't earn my accomplishments? Of course not, I've worked my ass off, pulled all nighters, dealt with other's bullshit, and come out on top. But what it does mean is that if I'd been born with a different set of traits, say a different race or gender, the amount of work I put in would have had different yielded different results. The reality is that we live in a world that caters to a very specific type of person. All the ways that you fit the "ideal" you are rewarded for, and all the ways that you fall outside of this ideal you're punished for. A person who has privilege in one area may be oppressed in another area. This acknowledges that there's no one-size-fits-all notion of oppression and privilege. I know it's sometimes hard to see the ways different components interact with one another, so I'll forgive you for seeing this issue as being black-and-white.

[@BreezusSneezus]

relo999 You're right, in some parts of the country, it is harder to be a poor white male than a poor black female. That's because privilege and oppression are complicated (refer to my previous comment). Also, affirmative action was a response to the racist laws that had existed before it, making it harder for people of color to receive education or obtain a job. It's the very definition of systematic. Meaning, components of the system interact with one another to create an overall atmosphere. So you've really disproven your own point there. Best regards, A white female (which has nothing to do with anything unless you think that you can speak for a varied group of people as if they were one. And as you already put it, "how stupid must you be?" Right?)

[@Skip2MeLou1]

Can someone explain the downvotes to me? She didn't say anything controversial in my view.

[@firstroundsonme472]

+Jaimie Knox Look up any video about black people on Big Think and you will see tons of downvotes.

[@Skip2MeLou1]

Yeah, I think it's warranted on some of their videos but not this one. I could be wrong but I feel like a lot of people just see "Race" in the title and immediately downvote it.

[@GearheadVO]

+Jaimie Knox Because the video never mentioned race in its content. She never alluded to the colour of anyone's skin. Some fuckwit made it that way with the title. The video was actually very good, just some arsehole had to go there and make it "black vs white".

[@schitlipz]

The annotations give me that knee-jerk reaction of thumbs down.

[@firstroundsonme472]

Jaimie Knox The comments sections on these videos look like they were pulled off Stormfront. Unfortunately, the dislikes don't seem to have anything to do with the content of the videos. More to do with the prejudice perspective of the viewers.

[@fumblewolf]

Sounds like there's a lot of conjecture in this.

[@RowmanSailor]

Despite the large presence of bigotry in the comments here, keep doing what you do, Big Think!

[@Realthx]

+RowmanSailor Show me one instance of biggotry. Or are you complaining for the sake of complaining.

[@Ruairoquai]

+RowmanSailor Criticism is bigotry? Differing opinion is bigotry? Honestly, fuck you. And fuck people like you. You have no interest at all in rational discourse, in hearing out the other side, you just want to jam your fingers in your ears and pretend you're in the right and the ones you disagree with are in the wrong. What a simpleton you are.

[@Ruairoquai]

+Realthx He won't be able to show you any example of bigotry as you or I understand it. To people like him, bigotry has a different definition; anything that goes against his worldview.

[@Ruairoquai]

JUDALATION You're not doing a very good job of proving my point wrong.

[@Ruairoquai]

JUDALATION My comment was about people like you presupposing others to be racist bigots, and lo and behold, your first reply to me is to say that I'm masking my hate with differing opinions.

[@themuslimatheist7578]

Any video that mentions blacks get a quick downvote from some people. People barely watch the content these days, they just down vote it. Disgusting, considering big think is made for open-minded audience.

[@themuslimatheist7578]

relo999 but the face it at a higher rate. Black baby is like to be Berlin into poverty five times more than a white baby, and a white baby is like to inherit more than a black baby.

[@themuslimatheist7578]

relo999 I didn't say that, I just said poverty overtly affects blacks more than any other group. I think we should help all the poor too. So don't put words into my fucking mouth.

[@daviddelancey9162]

+relo999 Have you considered the possibility that black people are disproportionately poor because race is actually a factor?

[@daviddelancey9162]

relo999 So you haven't even considered the possibility? So much for an open mind

[@nappybiscuit]

It is hard to move past the words, "Black Americans" and "Lifestyle Choices", in order to listen too the message you are conveying. Oh I so look forward to the day when Black and White are simply colors and not profiles or concepts that as a child I knew nothing of.

[@HeirOfGlee]

Shes right, in brownsville I literally have to travel far to get my vegetables and all the healthy stuff I need and want. this is after my cancer scare and I realize how hard it is just to get the good stuff.

[@unambitious]

+666sigma Can't believe I'm agreeing with a bunch of '666' weirdos, but supply and demand. Fruity pebbles and koolaid wouldn't be there if people didn't buy them.

[@komi-creative]

+COSH666 Yeah but you do know that even if the demand is there, the price point is still too high for said neighbourhood's demographic. So, it's not just a *simple* case of supply and demand - ever.

[@unambitious]

+soulscion Bro, a bag of potatoes and bananas is cheap enough and WIC will subsidize it if you meet the poverty criteria. There really is no good reason as I see it.

[@Ewarne]

Literally the message I took from this was "Black people don't choose to grow up in dangerous area's, they choose to eat unhealthily and that is why they have twice the death rates as white teens their age." To quote the Mom from Step-Brothers: What the fucking fuck?

[@4relevants]

But scientists say that lifestyle choices determine overall health.

[@socabwai]

I would be happy for her to be my professor and grade my paper and fail me because I would not be able to keep up, but, i would enjoy listening to her.

[@Atheistbatman]

People live in poor areas because they are poor. People live with filth and roaches because they don't clean their shit up. I'm poor. I don't live in filth with roaches.Oh, but people don't have enough choices...wha? There are only 2 clean up around you or live in unsanitary conditions.Excuses...

[@rnickens1999]

My Mother and Father are from Brownsville Brooklyn NY. I'm now in my 40s and I can confirm from the time I grew up there to now there are few if any positive choices for food, housing, education etc. What made the difference for me and my immediate family is that we able to leave. Currently I live in southern New Hampshire which is a world away from the poverty and limited access to resources like schools and multiple positive life choice options.

[@eliehasteiner3167]

No matter what income bracket one is in, everyone needs to strive towards self-subsistence. Home-grown fruits/veggies, community gardens in public spaces and abandoned areas, co-ops, seed exchanges, tool libraries - all the health and poverty issues decrease immensely when people live healthy lives in strong, healthy communities. Food is free.

[@Peeper747]

The assertion she makes that it is not about choice is not right. If I want to act a fool during my younger years and not get educated, decide to be a victim and take then by default I will wind up living in poor areas and that will by default lead to a continued cycle of poor living standards. You study hard, make the best decisions you can at the time, work for the future and not always today then you can have a decent life without un-necessary grief.

[@ethan199303]

lifestyle choices has everything to do with your life expectancy, don't make it about race

[@ott1186]

I'm currently living in a poor neighbourhood in Madrid. Plenty of healthy food which is always much cheaper than going to the kebab shop.

[@dancepro67]

stress, access to health services, education

[@ColegaBill]

Guess how many rich people actually goes here to toss some hate. So yeah, poverty destroys even mental health.

[@Peteristrate]

Nobody denies poverty is the leading cause of death. Why is she assuming we don't recognise this ? of course poverty is the main factor..., but why are some people poor ? Exactly. Because of their own choices. Only a few exceptions really have no choice(maybe if they are disabled or suffered accidents or similar sudden trauma).

[@akram4179]

The title of this video should have been - Lifestyle "Choices" Doesn't Explain Why Black Americans are Dying Younger Not - "Lifestyle Choices" Doesn't Explain Why Black Americans are Dying Younger Very misleading

[@aaleahmarshon3946]

I enjoyed this video. I see in the comments that some people missed the over arching point. When the speaker said, "They don't have enough choices," it seems that everyone became super quick to judge and state how THEY are able to make their choices. Saying that that's unacceptable because they can drive 30 minutes to a better store, or that they have family members that have cars that can help them, or that they bus 2+ hours to their physical activity class. While all of that is great, and. it's cool that people are able to find things that work for them, not everyone can. It's easy to tell someone to find time for stuff, when time isn't a big luxury that they have. It's easy to tell someone to do this or do that, when they can't because of either economic factors or or whatever. Its always so easy and simple to tell someone to do something, especially when you're not in their shoes. People don't know how hard they've tried to find ways to live healthier lifestyle. Yes, buying fruits and veggies and eating them seems to be the simple easy fix. But, when you have limited funds and resources, work very long hours (sometimes multiple jobs), to sustain a family, it's not that simple. I understand where everyone in the comments is coming from and what you're trying to say, but I think being a little more open-minded is the key here. Because think, if it's a simple as y'all are making it seem, don't y'all think this wouldn't be such a prevalent issue?

[@bradhozuki8903]

Black people live in poor neighborhoods because of degeneracy. Work, become educated, build experience, and better your own life. It's nobody else's fault and you're not a victim. Take responsibility.

[@carrion6667]

maybe humanity should start eating healthier by cutting down on meats and stress can lead to heath problems.

[@oopsallmemes]

...And don't forget the abysmal healthcare system. Unlike people from richer descent, they do not have the money to pay for medical treatments that they need.

[@AmishTerror]

Why are Black Americans dying younger? Simple, they have a larger population in poverty. It's not a matter of racial discrimination, poorer genetics (which tends to be poorer for whites seeing as how we get skin cancer way easier), or some other form of race specific identity. Rather, it's just simple fact of poverty. The poorer you are, the less likely you can afford to have medical treatment / decent food intake / decent shelter, and the more likely you are to either resort to a criminal life in order to survive, or get killed via criminals / cops because you can't afford to live in a decent neighborhood. Poverty kills. "Poverty is the worst form of violence" - Ghandi.

[@Iowa2006]

I saw: Big Think video about Black people potentially dealing with issues to the Black community. I hypothesized: The dislikes will outweigh the likes, because that's what happens with Big Think videos like these (and videos about women issues), regardless of the content. I Clicked Video: Hypothesis confirmed.

[@oliverpine319]

I would imagine it has to do a lot with diet. I know a lot of black people with diabetes, where I know very few whites with diabetes and I know a lot more whites. Where blacks live and quality of life surely would have something to do with it, but you might be overestimating how awesome poor white people live in comparison. Also, you do not choose where you are born, but you can choose to move later. If all your neighbors are jerks and the living conditions are horrible you can actually move to where other poor people live without as many problems.

[@unambitious]

+Oliver Pine Yep, my hometown and financial situation isn't great, but it has low crime and decent people. Honestly, it's a relatively good return on investment with how nice it is for the money.

[@thijsjong]

The food must e available for an affordable price. This is time and money. If you are working 2 jobs there is no time to go to the grocery store every day. Even less if it is not close by. So fresh produce gets bought less. Canned or frozen has a longer shelflife and is cheaper to buy. And cooking is also something you have little time or energy for. If you are well of you can eat out. Order at better restaurants. Have a better kitchen. Have someone cook for your or get your groceries delivered. Money gives more options.

[@qhack]

People choose to be in poverty. They see it as easier than doing what it takes to be successful. It doesn't help that there is a huge gap between what people earn on welfare and what people need to earn above minimum wage to get out of the welfare cycle, but it's is still a choice.

[@forrestphillips6035]

Capitalism: God's way of determining who is smart and who is poor.

[@postmodernityarmageddon]

This is an important topic. Reactionaries, hold back your spite. The United States is a very large place. It's necessary to keep in mind that we are not homogeneous, and while as a whole we are the richest nation in the world, there are large swaths of territory that look much more like a developing nation. It's more surprising to think that even within a highly well off city there could be a patch of the population whose standard of living compares closer to that of a country we would look down upon. For those who accuse the speaker of being antiracist, she's speaking from her experience as a New Yorker. This effects you too, assuming you're living in the bible belt. Little of the South is developed, and much of it falls at the bottom of the States in any assessment you can think to make.

[@What_was_wrong_w_jst_our_names]

and breast cancer is more common in black women. breast cancer is confirmed raciest.

[@rumorcontrol7873]

3:00 Lady ur talking about New York fucking city here, where it's so damn expensive to live it's obscene. They don't make the choice to live in fucked up conditions because they don't have the option to NOT to live in those conditions. Ur class privilege is showing. If wealthier individuals actually CARED maybe they'd do something to help, or maybe some crowd funding to alleviate impoverished neighborhoods. Poverty is no joke

[@jojojorisjhjosef]

So essentially you din't had to make a video about it yet you did.

[@myendlessdefiance9967]

Really? I drive 30 minutes to buy good quality groceries , your telling me that black people aren't allowed to leave their neighborhood to drive to a better than grocery store to by those quality groceries? Or are they just complacent with the grocery store next to their house? Or do they care enough about their health to drive to another part of town to buy groceries? I don't think insinuating that someone somehow has taken choices away from them is really a good idea. No one is stopping anyone from going anywhere. So if they had a better grocery store to go to they would? Well then why don't you tell them about the grocery store on the other side of town that's better? This video really seems like it's pushing an agenda underneath somehow because that's just not a logically thought out explanation. Because she is basically saying that people live that way not by choice. That their aren't any other options. CORRECT ANSWER there aren't any other options on THAT side of town.

[@h10134h10134]

so poverty=stupidity?

[@lazaroastudillo6787]

Lower income in general will kill u stress..

[@MalcolmRandall]

.....strange, All this time I thought it was *Lead Poisoning* >_>

[@hikariheir]

You know, all this shit in the comments probably could have been avoided if they'd just fucking title the video "Lifestyle choices doesn't completely explain why blacks are dying young." But they chose to phrase it in a way that implies that lifestyle choices have NO effect on life expectancy. Or they could have just fucking left race out of it and been honest about the fact that it's about income, not race. It was fucking race baiting and they know it, doing shit like this draws the relatively few actual racists out of the woodworks and into the comment section so they can use that as evidence of "rampant racism".

[@codediporpal]

That's kind of seemed like a "no duh" conclusion to me. You're not helping anybody by framing this in terms of racial identity though.

[@benjaminwylie7067]

But the life expectancy is an average

[@schitlipz]

Why do we keep blaming cancers and stuff, when it's the failure of the immune system / stress.

[@sole__doubt]

Yes it does explain why.

[@Squinglo]

Genetics are!

[@voyalbonbon]

This channel... Is... Bleh now

[@Hoerkelis]

Black mothers should start to breastfeed, that might help too!

[@schitlipz]

It might help if their dads stuck around too.

[@hikariheir]

+schitlipz Or, you know, if the mothers actually put some damn effort into finding a partner who they want to be with and who wants to be with them. Instead of just getting pregnant by basically any guy so they can collect child support and welfare so they don't have to work. And I don't just mean black mothers btw, any woman who does that shit should be fucking ashamed, but the problem is that they have no shame. We've been holding all single mothers up as saints for too damn long. Yes, there are mothers who are single because the father died or just left, but there are A LOT more who choose to be single mothers of children from multiple men so they can collect multiple child support checks and stay on welfare their whole life. The welfare system is broken, and the people who abuse it like that are the reason why there are people who oppose welfare entirely. It was meant to help people keep their head above the water for short periods of time in between jobs or during serious medical problems, but it's getting used to completely support people (primarily women, simply because the system is designed to help women more than men) who are just too damn lazy to work.

[@schitlipz]

FrostyJack Without any reference to race, the "welfare moms" are a problem for sure. Guys aren't completely blameless though. Efforts by both the man and woman should be made to keep a family together through all sorts of normal problems.

[@hikariheir]

schitlipz Oh, I absolutely agree that both parties need to make an effort to keep the family together. The problem is that the current laws we have in place give default custody to mothers who want to be single, and force the father (and even a man who isn't the father in a number of cases) to pay the woman to raise the child on her own, even if he wants to be part of the family. Our legal system gives women like that all the tools they need to take a man's child away from him, AND make him still pay for it. So no, fathers certainly aren't universally blameless, but the system is rigged as fuck against the dads who want to be fathers but the mother doesn't want to be with them. Not to mention the system allows women like this to extort money out of men who never wanted to be fathers, even when it's known that the woman lied about being on birth control, or that the woman intentionally sabotaged the man's birth control for the sole purpose of extorting child support from him. I'm opposed to ANYONE having that kind of legally endorsed power over another person, regardless of gender.

[@schitlipz]

FrostyJack Good points.

[@XxLiveMusicxX]

america richest country ? hahahaha what.

[@IceCube8185]

these comments tho.. big think? some of you definately need to think bigger lol

[@LeriObba]

I bus 2 hours to go to my Tai Chi and martial arts classes, I get family members with cars to help me go shopping for groceries. Excuses are just that. Choice is choice.

[@nitekitten]

and unsubbed

[@r1w3d]

I'd rather have listened to a long winded fart than this rediculousness... unsub and disliked..

[@KGODSMACKC]

LFDY CBF