Social and Behavioral Issues in Public Health 
Jessica Blain
November 5th 2014
Response Paper #3
“Race And Class” or “Race Or Class”?
With American being known at the “melting pot” of the world, is it actually possible to have that all societies, communities, ethnic groups be looked upon as equal without racism? Since there are currently so many different health disparities and issues throughout each community in the United States, there must be some factors that have unknowingly been neglected when creating different policies order to increase everyones overall well-being (especially those with lower qualities of life). On a national scale, black Americans and white Americans generally have very different health disparities. This could be contributed by many different factors, like for example, the place in which individuals live, whether it is the actual built environment or the socioeconomic environment. For example, in an low-income community, there may be less housing available and what is available may subject the individuals to increased exposure to health risks. In the study performed by T. LaVeist, et al. (2011), Place, Not Race: Disparities Dissipate In Southwest Baltimore When Black and Whites Live Under Same Conditions, the authors sought out to learn if the racial health disparities that are reported in nationally still remain when black and white Americans live in integrated settings. This study was performed in Southwest Baltimore, Maryland, where both black and white Americans lived in the same socieconomical, social, and environmental conditions. The participants that participated had about the same statistics (35% black males, 35% white males, medium income of .85 and 1.15 between both races, and high school graduation rates between .85 and 1.15). Data was collected on nationally significant reported health disparities of hypertension, diabetes, obesity among women, smoking and use of health care services. When compared to national data, almost all of the disparities either
November 5th 2014
Response Paper #3
“Race And Class” or “Race Or Class”?
With American being known at the “melting pot” of the world, is it actually possible to have that all societies, communities, ethnic groups be looked upon as equal without racism? Since there are currently so many different health disparities and issues throughout each community in the United States, there must be some factors that have unknowingly been neglected when creating different policies order to increase everyones overall well-being (especially those with lower qualities of life). On a national scale, black Americans and white Americans generally have very different health disparities. This could be contributed by many different factors, like for example, the place in which individuals live, whether it is the actual built environment or the socioeconomic environment. For example, in an low-income community, there may be less housing available and what is available may subject the individuals to increased exposure to health risks. In the study performed by T. LaVeist, et al. (2011), Place, Not Race: Disparities Dissipate In Southwest Baltimore When Black and Whites Live Under Same Conditions, the authors sought out to learn if the racial health disparities that are reported in nationally still remain when black and white Americans live in integrated settings. This study was performed in Southwest Baltimore, Maryland, where both black and white Americans lived in the same socieconomical, social, and environmental conditions. The participants that participated had about the same statistics (35% black males, 35% white males, medium income of .85 and 1.15 between both races, and high school graduation rates between .85 and 1.15). Data was collected on nationally significant reported health disparities of hypertension, diabetes, obesity among women, smoking and use of health care services. When compared to national data, almost all of the disparities either