The Washington Post (6/24/98) reported that the top doctor for Montgomery County, Maryland apologized for saying that anatomical differences between black and white women contribute to the higher infant mortality rate among blacks. In a letter to the county executive, Carol Garvey said she regretted her "insensitive comments" adding that "I, too, treasure our county's diversity, and am deeply sorry that my comments may have suggested otherwise."
Note, however, she only said that anatomical differences "contribute" not "cause" the differences in infant mortality.
Today's Post contains a letter to the editor pointing out that, according to obstetrics textbooks, spontaneous vaginal delivery is more difficult when there are prominent bony marks in the mid-pelvis and when there is a narrow outlet at the pubic bone site -- both characteristics of the anthropoid-type pelvis. The textbooks further point out that about half of nonwhite women have the anthropoid pelvis while only one-fourth of white women do.
So her comments were not really off base, especially since she used the term "contribute," leaving plenty of room for additional socio-economic explanations.
Just this week, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study reporting that blacks metabolize nicotine differently than whites and this could explain the higher mortality among blacks from smoking--a claim far less grounded in observation than Garvey's statement.
Will JAMA and the study's authors be forced beg forgiveness for transgressing against the politically correct institution of diversity? Or is diversity expendable when the target is some other political correctness?
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