New Books in American Studies Joseph L Graves, "Why Black People Die Sooner: What Medicine Gets Wrong about Race and How to Fix It" (Columbia UP, 2025)
Dec 14, 2025
Joseph L. Graves, Jr. is a prominent scholar of race and public health at North Carolina A&T State University. In this engaging discussion, he delves into the reasons behind the disparities in life expectancy between Black and white populations. Graves dismantles the notion that genetics are to blame, linking health issues to environmental factors and societal racism. He addresses misconceptions about diseases like sickle cell and hypertension, and critiques how systemic inequalities exacerbate health outcomes. His vision for reform emphasizes the urgent need to confront medical racism.
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Social Causes, Not Genes
- Genetic differences between Black and white Americans are minuscule and cannot explain major lifespan disparities.
- Joseph L. Graves argues social structures, not genetics, drive morbidity and mortality gaps.
Sickle Cell Is A Geography Story
- Sickle cell trait frequency maps to historical malaria exposure, not 'race'.
- Graves shows the allele appears across Mediterranean, African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian populations.
Hypertension Myths Debunked
- The salt-retention hypothesis for Black hypertension lacks historical and genetic support.
- Graves notes hypertension risk alleles are more frequent in Europeans, undermining the 'African salt' theory.
