Race and Ethnicity: A Compelling Research Agenda

TO THE EDITOR:

I have just finished reading, with some dismay, the editorial by Dr. Nickens [1]. The author makes an excellent point regarding the need to focus attention on questions of race and sex in relation to certain health outcomes. Unfortunately, he introduces his editorial with a political point: support for affirmative action policies. He correctly surmises that those opposed to the concept of affirmative action believe “that race is not a relevant way of distinguishing persons from one another.” He then cites three articles in recent issues of Annals [2-4] that show racially different health outcomes, and he (incorrectly) implies that such disparities prove that race is relevant in making distinctions between persons. Dr. Nickens has created the classic “apples and oranges” situation, comparing a medical problem with a sociopolitical one. No one will deny the validity of investigating the reasons for disparate health outcomes that occur along racial lines (a medical problem deserving of editorial airing in Annals). However, to use this medical information and claim that it justifies affirmative action (the making of employment decisions on the basis of race) is a conclusion that is neither addressed nor supported by the data. We must address the questions raised about minority health issues, but we should do so in an arena of scientific integrity, not in the service of a political policy that is widening, not narrowing, the gaps in understanding between persons of different races.