Cultural Identities and US Health Care Reform (Discussion Question)

Debates over health care, and politics in general, often come from what the citizens of the country culturally identify with. Many times we are able to dissect demographics of the country and off of previous experience, estimate what they stand for. People of different racial groups, ages, genders, and classes will approach major decisions differently.

In this particular debate, I feel that identity plays a significant role in the way people approach health care. Many different factors and identities are present in the health care debate but in my opinion, class, race, and gender are the most prominent identities found in this dispute.

The biggest divide in the health care debate is between classes. People in the mid to upper class systems are most likely against health care reform. Why? Because they already pay for health insurance and feel that they will eventually be paying for universal health care for people that do not deserve it. This also divulges into racial identity as well. Many white people continue to hold onto the perception that many of the lazy, welfare-ridden people are black. In their eyes they think that black people are unfairly taking advantage of the health care system, and using their tax money to do so. It doesn’t surprise me that the picture that Professor Hayden used in correlation with this discussion question was of a health care reform protest, complete with white southerners yielding a confederate flag on their chest. Also, gender identities get involved in the debate, because according to Michelle Obama, “Eight in 10 women, mothers, report that they're the ones responsible for choosing their children's doctor, for getting them to their checkups, for managing that follow-up care” and “[w]omen are affected because, as we heard, in many states, insurance companies can still discriminate because of gender.” By hearing these statements, as a woman, I would of course take an interest in health care reform.

There are many different genres of what we identify with. In choosing a particular identity, we are affected in certain ways that other identities are not.