Race is a Fundamental Cause of Health and Mortality

Literature Review There are many factors which influence the health outcomes of individuals, and these factors develop as a function of differential exposure to risk factors in the society. Health and mortality bear a correlation to education achievements, economic status, and health access. The social economic status of individuals differs across racial lines. The racial differences in health outcomes may also be due to influences of different mechanisms, which may be individual or structural. Individual mechanisms include physician attitude and behaviors while structural mechanisms involve residential segregation. The health outcomes and mortality in all races is a result of deeply embedded perceptions based historical, traditions, sociocultural, and beliefs (Williams and Collin 356).

In the United States, the death rates of African Americans remain marginally high as compared to whites, with an estimated 100, 000 African Americans dying annually. In their study on social sources of racial disparities in health, Williamson and Jackson note that “race is a marker for differential exposure to multiple racial disparities in health” (327). The researchers found the death rates of African Americans to be about six times more than in the whites. The mortality rate for African Americans from heart disease and cancer was 30 percent more than in whites in the year 2000. To understand the racial disparities in health, William and Jackson considered the socioeconomic status, living environments and access to health care.

All the indicators of economic status such as income, education and economic activity are uniquely defined in the different races. The social economic status of individuals therefore contributes greatly to health disparities. When examining homicide rates, the researchers found huge margins between the African and Americans and the whites with same level of education.