Taylor Scott (Southern University Law Center - Southern University Law Review) has posted Unhealthy Inequalities: A Discussion on the Intersection of Health, Racism and Food Inequality for Black Americans and How Rights Based Laws Can Promote Health Equity and Social Justice on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Discriminatory laws in America have systemically robbed African Americans of their right to life and health through inadequate food access. These laws have affected how African Americans live in America since slavery and can be linked to common health inequalities within the Black community. These prevailing disparities have kept different groups on inequitable playing fields. Federal laws affecting slavery, sharecropping, black codes, housing, food access, and healthcare contribute to the health inequality in America today. Since our nation’s inception, the federal government has played a role in implementing and supporting discriminatory policies and is responsible for making laws that promote health equity. Although there is no explicit right to health in the U.S. constitution, the U.S. Constitution provides a framework for a just society for all its citizens. This article suggest that ,“the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”, as the World Health Organization describes the right to health, can be realized through a less narrow interpretation of constitutional amendments such as the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments whose original purpose was to protect the rights of former slaves and evolved to protect the fundamental rights of everyone. This article suggest that these laws can promote health equity because health injustice is a civil rights issue.
To determine how Congress and the Court can promote health equity through a less narrow interpretation of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment, the author researched studies and surveys regarding health inequality, supermarket access, life expectancy, and disease in America. The author also looked at laws dating back to slavery and how those laws played a role in instituting these inequalities. Additionally, the author considered the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and their ability to reduce health inequalities that have been perpetuated since slavery. Lastly, the author reviewed congressional bills that were introduced in the last ten years addressing healthy food access and questioned their lack of success regarding passage. The author concluded that lawmakers, public health officials, activists, and lawyers have a mandate to advocate for the creation of laws and the interpretation of existing laws that promote health equity and makes legislative recommendations for Congress to create a more just society for all.
