ArmchairPhilosopher
Banned
It is Black History Month, which has me thinking of a really big WI that would have a profound impact across American society and public policy: what would it take to make black health significantly better in an alternate time-line? How do you get black rates of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and the various smoking-related diseases in line with, or at least close to, those of other races?
Some thoughts to kick around here when planning out PoDs to make this work:
--A lot of this is from poverty, but not all. It is my understanding that poor blacks suffer from higher rates of the above conditions than poor whites. I don't think most of this is genetic; it probably comes from lifestyle/environmental differences.
--African American urban residents tend to live in unsafe areas; how much does the constant stress of such contribute to reduced health?
--Hispanic health tends to be intermediate between black and white health of the same income level; does this reveal anything for us, or not really?
--A number of initially marginalized, impoverished ethnic groups in America (Irish, Jews, Japanese, etc.) started out with many of the disadvantages of blacks, but never appeared to suffer ethnic-specific diseases as a result (that I know of).
I am going to say we need three PoDs to bring this about. In no particular order, they are:
--Find a way to prevent "gangsta" culture from taking hold in predominantly-minority urban environments.
--Produce an early civil-rights leader that is as passionate about health and fitness issues as he is civil rights. I do not think a white health crusader will find much resonation in the black community.
--Accomplish desegregation much earlier than IOTL, like during reconstruction itself. Prevent Jim Crow from taking hold. To make the task even easier, make said desegregation extremely smooth and painless for all parties and prevent any and all resistance to it.
ArmchairPhilosopher
Some thoughts to kick around here when planning out PoDs to make this work:
--A lot of this is from poverty, but not all. It is my understanding that poor blacks suffer from higher rates of the above conditions than poor whites. I don't think most of this is genetic; it probably comes from lifestyle/environmental differences.
--African American urban residents tend to live in unsafe areas; how much does the constant stress of such contribute to reduced health?
--Hispanic health tends to be intermediate between black and white health of the same income level; does this reveal anything for us, or not really?
--A number of initially marginalized, impoverished ethnic groups in America (Irish, Jews, Japanese, etc.) started out with many of the disadvantages of blacks, but never appeared to suffer ethnic-specific diseases as a result (that I know of).
I am going to say we need three PoDs to bring this about. In no particular order, they are:
--Find a way to prevent "gangsta" culture from taking hold in predominantly-minority urban environments.
--Produce an early civil-rights leader that is as passionate about health and fitness issues as he is civil rights. I do not think a white health crusader will find much resonation in the black community.
--Accomplish desegregation much earlier than IOTL, like during reconstruction itself. Prevent Jim Crow from taking hold. To make the task even easier, make said desegregation extremely smooth and painless for all parties and prevent any and all resistance to it.
ArmchairPhilosopher
