Opinion | Your racism is killing you

In 2020, Eyal Press for the New Yorker went to Alabama to meet with women who were suffering from cervical cancer. All of the women he interviewed were unable to afford health care until it was too late, with many of them going years without regular checkups and gynecological visits. Doctors have recommended annual pap smears since the 1960s as they are one of the best ways to detect cervical cancer early, which is now considered a highly preventable cancer. 

However, the women in Press’ story could not afford these annual exams, and only when symptoms had spread elsewhere in their body to the point that they were physically ailing did they receive their diagnoses of cervical cancer, often in the fourth stage. Only with the diagnosis did these women receive Alabama’s Medicaid, and if they were fortunate enough to go into remission, their benefits would quickly be confiscated.

Alabama is one of 10 states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act. While anyone, anywhere in the country can sign on to be part of the ACA’s coverage, without a Medicaid expansion, many low-income people are left without benefits. A study from 2023 found that if the 10 states expanded their coverage, 2.3 million people would gain access to health coverage. Of these 10 states, nine lean Republican each election and eight have sitting GOP governors.

When I was younger, people primarily referred to the ACA as Obamacare. Even when I became more politically aware, it was still referred to as such. It is not lost on me that as soon as people started recognizing the benefits of the Affordable Care Act that the pseudonym Obamacare was dropped. They stopped associating it with our former Black president as soon as American citizens expressed interest in actually wanting health care coverage. And while it is slightly less of a divisive issue than it once was, with former President Donald Trump claiming during the debate that he is the reason the ACA wasn’t dismantled, it is still partisan beliefs and racial fearmongering that leave people all over this country without access not just to health care services but to preventative medicine that saves lives.

A key aspect of Press’ New Yorker article is the acknowledgement of the politics that have shaped Alabama’s public health care system. Many of the women he interviewed who were dying of cervical cancer said that they blame a lack of health care access on the current state of their illness, but they either didn’t actually go out to vote or they voted for the party that refuses to expand Medicaid to people like themselves. When discussing a male focus group in a low-income Tennessee town, Press noted that many participants acknowledged that they would be dead with their access to Medicaid or the VA. Yet when asked about the role of government in health care, many went off the rails in discussing undocumented immigrants and how they are abusing the health care system. 

Immigrants do not have access to Medicaid benefits without being some sort of qualified non-citizen, but the Republican party enjoys leading you to think the American tax dollar is covering millions of undocumented immigrants and that they are stealing your benefits from you. The GOP is no innocent bystander when it comes to the vilification of immigrants, as their former President Trump reminded the nation during his debate. From claims they are stealing Americans’ jobs, bringing copious amounts of drugs across the border or they are eating our furry loved ones, the racist rhetoric often pushed by far-right Republican leaders is leading low-income individuals to vote against their “biological self-interests.” They would rather die than think they are perpetuating an “open border” by voting for the party who actually wants to expand their health care access.

The spread of racial resentment, often by the hands of Trump-led Republicans, literally has deadly consequences. A quote from President Lyndon B. Johnson echos this reality perfectly —  “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” 

Voters, especially those in red states, are time and time again being misled into believing that minorities are draining their resources, when in reality, it is the very politicians they vote for that are cutting benefits off at the seams. These same voters, often themselves from low-income or underserved rural communities, end up choosing representatives who block their very needs and falling victim to the fearmongering that dehumanizes immigrants and perpetuates racism.

If you simply do not care that the GOP’s blatant racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric is harming minority communities around the country, at least consider the fact that it is harming you. And if not you, probably somebody you know or somebody you care about. When low-income voters are persuaded to vote based on fear rather than their own needs, they become complicit in a system that prioritizes the wealthy over the health care access that keeps us alive. The result of these actions are completely preventable — increased rates of preventable diseases, unnecessary death and financial ruin. By continuously voting for candidates who use fear to shape their campaigns but end up ultimately cutting life-saving coverage off from millions of Americans, we are literally allowing bigotry to kill us.

Livia LaMarca is the assistant editor of the opinions desk who misses using the Oxford comma. She mostly writes about American political discourse, US pop culture and social movements. Write to her at lll60@pitt.edu to share your own opinions!