Understanding Ethnic and Gender Differences is Survival

I keep seeing people wave off gender and racial differences as  “social constructs.” This would be fine if the people asserting the words “social constructs” didn’t also seem to use this phrase to imply that people should move through life as if they do not matter because ultimately they aren’t essential to life, well-being, and survival.

This is false and the medical and other sciences community knows it.

Our Beloved Teacher and Ethnic-Specific Diseases

In grade school, I had a great science teacher. Mr. Bates.  Mr Bates was a small-statured, quiet but sure-spoken Black man.  As small as he appeared, only a few of the boys with their brand-new surging testosterone tried him. 

There was never a repeat though because Mr. Bates did not play regarding consequences and accountability.  I also recall that my 8th grade year Mr. Bates was absent many more days than most of the other teachers.  Mr. Bates had sickle cell anemia.  

When the class learned about this we were stunned. He was the one who taught us about diseases that are prevalent among certain ethnicities. It was from him that we learned about how debilitating these population-preventable illnesses can be.  How it can shorten their lifespans.

We buzzed about it among ourselves.  

Then we sat quietly with it.  

Our Black middle-aged male teacher, Mr. Bates was living with sickle cell anemia….and had been living with it for a very long time.  

These conditions demonstrate that genetic factors and ethnic background can significantly influence the prevalence of certain diseases in different ethnic groups. 

On a recent eye exam, I made the doctor aware that I needed to be screened for an eye disease that a close family member has.

The Asian doctor asked: “Oh, does your family have a Mediterranean background?” 

I looked at her and laughed, “Who knows? I’m Black American so….”

We shared that laugh and smirked together. History.

She went on to explain what doctors before and after her remind me.  The disease I continue to get screened for is mostly found in a specific ethnic group, but the close family history connection makes it necessary to get screened regularly. 

Early detection. Possible better outcome. 

I say all of that to say this. 

I have known for a long time that, even if I do everything “right”, like other people from other groups my biological reality puts me at a greater risk for certain health conditions.  

I know that when I visit a doctor, gathering all of this information about my kin and me is not a “hateful” act, but a fact-finding mission that helps medical providers tailor my care to my real needs. 

Facts and fact-finding are not hate.

I realize that some people lean heavily on the theory of sex and race being a social construct. Everyone has different ways of making sense of the world. But as for me, the health and safety and me and those I hold dear lean on facts. The quality of our lives depends on facts.

I’m learning more every day about deploying fact and faith when it comes to, in my case,  familial visual impairments or even higher prevalence for diseases like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.

Being blind to differences in sex carries dangers as well. We think about it in terms of genuine and proven danger from others and we can remember that there are health dangers to living this way too. 

That’s just real. My survival depends on keeping it real. At all times. 

Some folks call it “hate”. 

By necessity, some of us know that our life, wellness, and healing depend on us dealing with truth. Call it what you want. Some of us call it survival.