They Say / I Blog

Skin deep: Linda Villarosa on race-based myths in medicine

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.

Villarosa, “Myths about physical racial differences were used to justify slavery—and are still believed by doctors today”

No thanks: Kate Miller on farmers and gratitude

Perhaps you’ve seen the message on a bumper sticker; there are a lot of them around. It says something like, ‘If you’ve eaten today, thank a farmer.’ Kate Miller, an Arkansas rancher and beef producer, explains why she won’t be thanking a farmer in this March 2019 essay published in Pork, a Farm Journal magazine.

Miller,  “I will not thank a farmer”