The profound wear-and-tear of stress
The extraordinary stress of ordinary life in an unjust society – that’s the subtitle of Weathering by Arline T. Geronimus. The book goes into deep detail about the day-to-day stress of being in a racialized (her term) or stigmatized group, such as people in poverty. And it traces the path from humiliating incident to chronic and fatal illness.
Here are my favorite quotes and ideas from the book (so far)
“ . . . too much fat and sugar in the bloodstream creates plaque in our arteries, which sets the stage for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack and stroke. . . no matter your diet, chronic, repeated, unremitting stress sets you up for these same conditions.”
African American mothers’ risk of dying in childbirth rises steadily from age 20 on; white mothers’ risk does not rise significantly until age 40.
The odds of a young person in a high poverty area reaching age fifty are only 50%. (This is true for both Black and White people.) If you were one of these young people, you would know this by seeing what happened to your parents, uncles, aunts, and so on. Decisions that are judged harshly by higher-income people make perfect sense when your future is shortened by poverty.
Having a baby at age 18 or 19 is sensible if your mother and grandmother (and other elders) get ill or disabled in their 40’s. If you had a baby later, you’d have to count on other people to help raise your teenage children.
It’s an unusual book and I recommend it highly. Let me know what you think.
