The racist misinformation infecting systems of care

Journalist Antonia Hylton exposes how a centuries-old myth has taken hold in the U.S. today.

Chatbots and artificial intelligence tools gobbling up toxic social media and spitting out questionable, polarizing information may prove a doozy for people trying to discern good intel from bad. But misinformation that creates confusion and sows division is nothing new. In fact, America is built on it. For centuries, powerful men have spun myths into language and laws that shape U.S. culture. Primary among them: that Black people are biologically different than White people and, therefore, less deserving of care.

There are no biological differences by race, yet an inaccurate, insidious narrative about White supremacy has played out in U.S. policies affecting health coverage and access to care. To build better political, social and economic systems, we must expose the misinformation they’re based on.

Journalist Antonia Hylton does this in her new book, Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum. The Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist sifted through white-washed archives an…