Health crosses party lines, genders, classes, religions, regions and races. Health care is universally a common denominator of concern, but it appears to be one of the most contentious and controversial issues in modern politics. Although there are several arguments as to why health care has become so polarizing, this compelling essay argues that in health care, racial bias is visibly indicative of opinions about health care accessibility. Although other factors may be influential, racial bias encompasses these factors, revealing that bias is the underlying cause of the extreme polarization of health policy positions over the past decade. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay While overt racism may or may not be at play, unconscious racism can manifest itself politically by displaying disapproval of public policies that primarily benefit minorities. This is measured in “symbolic racism,” which is the role that white attitudes play in politics. In this way, the political implications of subtle racism extend beyond the individual and into the sphere of public policy. Universal health care illustrates a public policy that primarily benefits minorities, given that in 2011, non-Hispanic whites are uninsured at a rate of 11.7%, while blacks are uninsured at nearly the same rate. double the rate of 20.8%, and Hispanics even higher at 30.7%. Visible differences in access to health care highlight the impact of race on access to health care across the United States. Additionally, whites are significantly less likely to support welfare than blacks. It is clear that a racial divide exists, so it is imperative to understand why such extremes have become racially polarized. The stark contrast between the percentage of blacks and Hispanics who are uninsured compared to whites is also reflected in the question of whether or not different racial groups supported or opposed universal health care. Racial bias has been shown to be a crucial indicator of whether citizens support health care reform. White American citizens who had higher than average levels of racial resentment toward Black American citizens were found to be extremely less likely to support health care reform initiatives (Heatherington and Weiler). Such an example illustrates that racial resentment polarizes voters on their opinions regarding public policies, especially policies that have profound racial consequences. Polarization due to racial attitudes is further illustrated when citizens attribute universal health care policies to a white man instead of believing they were instituted by a black man. man. In a 2009 research study, participating researchers with higher implicit bias had a significantly more negative view of Obama's proposed health care reform ideas, while having a more positive view when the same ideas on health care reform health care seemed proposed by Bill Clinton. These findings highlight that racial bias plays a role in signaling to citizens which policies to support or reject, a juxtaposition with claims that race has nothing to do with how citizens perceive Obama's reforms in health care. health care. Polarizationracial bias may not be solely due to white Americans. , However. If racial resentment has influenced the positions of white citizens on public policy, racial identity has also influenced the positions of black Americans. Black Americans identify more with certain policies that affect them more and therefore support policies that benefit other Black Americans. When asked if they favor social policies, Black Americans are 20% more likely to be in favor. Black Americans are also polarized on this issue, although for reasons different from racial resentment. It certainly cannot be argued that race plays a significant role in determining attitudes toward health care without taking other controls into consideration. A study conducted tested attitudes toward health care between 2008 and 2010 with controls such as levels of partisanship and political ideology, general racial resentment, resentment toward blacks, resentment toward others non-white races, income levels, concern about health care costs, age. , gender and education. Through this investigation, it was discovered that race and racial attitudes were the only explanatory factors for changes in health care attitudes. Not only has public opinion toward health care changed, but the changes have been extremely drastic. The study found that Americans with high levels of racial resentment were 29 percentage points more likely to have a negative opinion toward health care reform between 2008 and 2010. Although this study focuses about racial resentment due to a black politician rather than the subtly racist opinions that are formed in public. Although these studies highlight the visible implications of racial bias influencing white people's views on health care, there have been many rebuttals. Opponents argue that opposition to any form of welfare is due to the hostility of middle-class Americans to paying taxes on programs that only benefit the poor, as well as the concept that many American citizens believe in individual initiative and responsibility. More broadly, those who object to the idea that racial bias plays a role in opinions about social programs such as health care are due to self-interest and individualism. While these views may be one interpretation of the data presented, the lack of findings on links to racial bias is largely due to the fact that most studies that have reached such conclusions have not tested measures of racial bias. There may well have been connections to participants' views regarding race, but they were simply unaware that race might have been a factor in the first place. Health care is not simply public policy rooted in core values ​​and hypothetical outcomes; in any case in the United States, it can be a matter of life and death. The results of the observed studies led me to two normative conclusions: that racial influences have catastrophic consequences for people of color, primarily blacks and Hispanics, and second, that it is dangerous to see how much a question can simply divide when a person of color is in power. is at the origin of a policy. The evidence presented provided visible proof that racial resentment has morphed into public policy, which in itself is alarming. In.