Posted on 10/29/2004 12:00:07 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A remark from a U.S. Senate candidate that black males have a "genetic predisposition" for a lower life expectancy has created a new furor in what has been an especially tight — and nasty — campaign.
Black legislators Thursday blasted former congressman Tom Coburn, saying his remark implied that black males are genetically inferior.
In a television debate Wednesday, the Republican said black males are being penalized by the Social Security system "because they had a genetic predisposition to have less of a life expectancy."
In a statement, Democratic state Sen. Angela Monson, chairwoman of the Black Legislative Caucus, said blacks are insulted by anyone suggesting "that they are genetically inferior and thus predisposed to die before they reach retirement age."
State Democratic chairman Jay Parmley called the remark racially insensitive, but Coburn's spokesman John Hart defended the assessment.
"Social Security, as it is structured today, discriminates against African Americans because they have a lower life span," he said. "The reality is there are a lot of facts that lead to a low life expectancy. The legacy of discrimination itself has led to inequality."
He dismissed criticism from black lawmakers as "an 11th-hour character attack" to help Coburn's Democratic opponent, Rep. Brad Carson.
Coburn and Carson are locked in what has been an especially nasty campaign to replace Sen. Don Nickles, an Oklahoma Republican retiring after 24 years.
Polls have shown the pair about even in a contest that will help determine control of the Senate, where the GOP now holds a majority of 51-48 with one independent.
Does that mean it's anti-Semetic to say that Jews have a genertic disposition toward tasac disease?
Uh, is it true or not true... do black people have a lower life expectancy? If so, they are being cheated out of Social Security benefits.
Out of the 1 million black pregnancies each year, roughly 400,000 are aborted. I'd say that a 40% mortality rate prior to birth is a lower life expectancy. Include higher rates of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes for those who are actually born (excluding homicide), and there is a significantly lower life expectancy. In Africa, some nations have populations with a life expectancy in the mid-30s due to AIDS. If anything, Dr. Coburn understated the issue.
Note the typical leftist jackassery here. She injects things he didn't even imply. Saying they have a lower life expectancy is not saying they are inferior - and they do have lower life expectancy. As of 2001 the life expectancy of African American males is 68.6 years compared to 75.0 years for white males. Doesn't mean they're inferior, it just means they face higher health risks - specifically with heart disease and prostate cancer.
Doh, there I go again - expecting a leftist to look at actual fact ;)
It's true: male and black equals a higher risk for heart disease and hypertension. Male alone is a risk factor.
Blacks have a lower life expectancy because of environmental and social factors predominantly. Social factors include dietary issues among others.
Yeah... you say something politically incorrect and the Democrats play the "race card."
I can agree with that, but then there's also sickle cell anemia.
Coburn should never have used the term "genetic". Had he left that element out, no one would have taken offense.
Is Coburn dumb enough to not know that using "Genetic" in a discussoin involving race is like nuclear war? Where does he live? under a rock?
That being said, he is correct, nobody gets a worse deal from Social Security than African Americans and most Republicans are too dumb to even notice that this is a 50-megaton issue for them (to keep the atomic theme going). There is no reason that the pubbies shouldn't get 40% of the black vote, but they have to ask for it and that requires getting out of their comfort zone. And politicians DO NOT like doing that.
That's a minor problem.
Regarding health issues, the black community has a much higher rate of smoking, as well as suffering from what all Americans suffer from: high sodium and high fat diets including too much red meat, lack of exercise, and a high consumption of processed food.
It's a prescription for heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes and cancer. Throw in the disproportionally high incarceration rate (black men), drug use and the like and you've got a lower life expectancy.
"Uh, is it true or not true... do black people have a lower life expectancy? If so, they are being cheated out of Social Security benefits."
It is true and Larry Elder cites this as a good reason for why black taxpayers SHOULD favor social security personally directed investments.
It is a way for black families to save and pass net worth wealth on to next generation, for instance.
I see nothing racist in a discussion of racial differences, particularly when the discussion is aimed at providing better results for citizens and taxpayers.
I guess whatever racial demographic that lives very long perhaps benefits from current setup.
Sorry, but i didn't read anything racist about this statement. I'm no doctor, but I understand black have a higher rate of diabities than whites. Seems to me that this guy was defending blacks, not trashing them.
re: Tasacs and Jews - Is that a rhetorical question?
Your statement strictly relates to epidemiological statistics, Mr. Coburns is just dopey.
Demographic disposition? Statistical tendency?
Posters have mentioned sickle cell, diabetes, etc.. but these are genetic tendencies which affect the average life expectancy. Other factors might be.. ohh homicide, fetal death due to the parents condition and pre/postnatal care, job related deaths, diet and excercise. With all external factors being equal, perhaps the numbers would come out different. Left-handed people allagedly have a shorter life expectancy, but is it genetic, or a causal relationship?
It's not glaringly racist, just stupid.
Where are their handlers? While I do not think any one of these guys on either side means to error, they are all under a microscope and ANYTHING they say will be looked from front, backwards, hidden meanings I mean the gambit.
Bush has made a few gaffs in the last week, I would want to quit. You were so hard, that it is not putting on a different face, it is not giving the side any room for openings that they can and WILL use against us.
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