“When it comes to affluent white patients you can take care of moral blame using a biological explanation,” she said. These families often feel freed by the idea that an illness is no one’s fault. “But when it comes to Black and brown and poor patients, that same biological explanation is used to deflect blame away from the societal forces that brought them where they are. Because there is moral blame: the blame of having disinvested in people’s communities by doing things like taking away affordable housing or protection for workers.” She said that her patients have found it therapeutic and
...more
