In everyday English, to say that someone is thin-skinned means that they’re easily insulted or offended, and it’s usually not a compliment. The opposite, thick-skinned, is said about someone who is not deterred or troubled by criticism, a favorable characteristic. But these metaphoric phrases have been—and continue to be—applied literally and with opposite values in the service of racial discrimination and biased medical treatment. Linda Villarosa, writer, journalist, educator, and New York Times contributor, examines the history of beliefs about skin depth and other physical features and traces how those beliefs influence US health care today. Her August 2019 essay is part of the 1619 Project, an initiative of the New York Times.
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