Review of The Color of Care

Thank you, Oprah!!! A few weeks ago, I talked to my doctor about the mathematical algorithm mentioned in this documentary. It's almost universally used in the US to "correct" black people's kidney test results. This wasn't a matter of me feeling like somebody maybe might have discriminated against me. It had appeared, in writing, in my lab results. Somehow, my kidneys are different because I have a certain level of melanin in my skin. I told my doctor that I did not want that "correction" used in my health care. The "correction" allows me to be sicker than a white person but makes my numbers appear to be better. The better numbers falsely indicate that I'm healthier than I actually am.

So how did we get to this algorithm? People from all over the western African continent were brought to the US as slaves, where they interbred with people from all over the world. Some of that interbreeding was voluntary, and some of it was not. All of the descendants of these people with widely varied genetic backgrounds are seen as being exactly the same. Statistically, that makes no sense.

It appears to be based on a belief that white people and black people are fundamentally different, so the numbers are cooked to reinforce that belief. Jim Crow laws were also based on the belief that white people and black people are fundamentally different. I thought that the country got past that long ago.