Jesus take the wheel. They are building another muthafreaking Walgreens in my neighborhood (or shall I say my mom’s neighborhood). Man… there is a Walgreens on damn near every corner; as a matter of fact Walgreens is becoming a staple in the black community. Walgreens is joining the ranks of liquor stores, Churches Chicken, payday loan stores, title loan stores, beauty supplies, gas stations and churches.
Seriously, Walgreens stay packed….. it does not matter that there are at least 25 within a fifteen mile radius of each other. I started asking myself why….why is Walgreens becoming so focused on black communities.
Here is my theory…
Blacks account for more HIV and AIDS cases, people estimated to be living with AIDS, and HIV-related deaths than any other racial/ethnic group in the U.S.
Overweight and obesity is even higher among blacks (estimated at over 75 percent) than the national average according to a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers.
Black Americans are at greater risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) than Caucasians or other racial groups. Although researchers do not know the exact reason for this finding, they point out that black Americans tend to have an unusually high number of risk factors for high blood pressure. These risk factors include diabetes, high stress levels and increased salt intake and sensitivity.
Cancer rates are still higher among black Americans compared to their white counterparts, according to recent statistics released by the American Cancer Society.
Rates among black men are higher by more than one-third over whites, and the rates for black women are higher by 18 percent. Blacks will represent almost 63,000 of the estimated 560,000 deaths of cancer in 2007, the ACS reports. They also will represent 153,000 of 1.7 million new cancer cases in 2007
Black heart attack patients have worse outcomes than their white counterparts in large part because of preexisting chronic health conditions and socioeconomic factors, according to a study published in the March issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, Reuters Health reports.
Do you see where I am going with this? Walgreens does not make money selling you bath soap, pantyhose, milk and eggs: they make their money selling prescriptions. The black community is a cash cow for this company…we are not a healthy group of people. Our misfortune has become their golden ticket. Until the last 6-8 years you could barely find a Walgreens in the hood. In most cases there would be one Walgreens on each side of the city. But the doctors and pharmaceutical companies has allowed them to board the money train.
It actually pisses me off because instead of helping us and giving us access to proper health care there is an entire industry banking on our people staying sick. Of course there is a class and socioeconomic aspect to our failing health. Most people obtain health insurance through their employer. However, with higher dropout rates, criminal records and lower skilled based training blacks are disproportionally represented in many work places that offer insurance benefits. Not to mention you must be half way dead before the government offer most adults health care. So if you are struggling with getting healthy remember there are people profiting from your illness. Push away from the table, let that salt go, eat more vegetables, take a walk around the block and for petes sake get that damn kids away from the playstation, kids need exercise too. All kidding aside try to focus on living a healthier life… one small step at
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