Bear with me while I invoke a few hypotheticals for consideration...
A couple decades ago, I remember reading a study in a
Scholarly journal in which the author presented a correlation between lead
exposure and violence. The author further implied that inner city areas, where
older buildings, contained greater quantities of lead paint and lead plumbing,
could be significant factors in explaining higher crime levels there.
Given that these locations have a higher probability of
being home to underprivileged, and the U.S. Black population tends to be
concentrated in larger cities, and has a higher ratio of underprivileged, is it
possible that much of the significantly higher levels of violence in the Black
community could be attributed to lead poisoning?
Stretching deeper into hypothetical territory – African
Americans have a substantially higher rate of sickle cell anemia. (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sca/atrisk)
what if there is a correlative genetic component which makes
one more sensitive to the effects of lead toxicity?
All hypothetical, yes, and increasingly so at the end, but
what if?
What if the disparity in violence between the black
population and other populations in the U.S. could be drastically reduced by
simply eliminating the lead paint, the lead plumbing, any other sources of lead
from the geography?
Is keeping the focus and resources on “Racism” (more
specifically White racism) diverting resources and attention from other,
potentially more effective approaches to the problem (environment, poverty, culture, ...) ?
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