Notorious xenophobe, white nationalist, and self-loathing antisemite Stephen Miller is suing the state of New York for allegedly prioritizing non-white COVID-19 patients for treatment.
Miller’s suit is based on a memo from the New York State Department of Health, released on Dec. 27, which states that “treatments are authorized for patients who meet certain criteria,” and one of the criteria is patients “having a medical condition or other factors that increase their risk for severe illness.”
The memo outlines that “non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity should be considered a risk factor, as longstanding systemic health and social inequities have contributed to an increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.”
Miller appeared on Fox’s Tucker Carlson Tonight Tuesday, alleging the “American experiment is dead” if treatment discriminates on the basis of race.
“In the context of New York, we are seeing decisions about life and death medical care being made according to race and skin color," Miller said. "If this is allowed to survive, if this policy is allowed to endure, then in a very real sense our Constitution ceases to be the supreme law of the land and instead becomes the relic of a fallen civilization. That’s how big the stakes are in this fight.”
Miller added: "If you get to a point in this country where your health care for your loved ones, for your family, your children, your grandparents, will be decided based on what country your ancestors come from, what they look like, what their skin tone is, then the American experiment is dead,” Miller said.
This comes from someone who has consistently refused to accept the concept of systemic racism. If you don’t accept the idea that this country was colonized by white people and designed for white people to get and keep power by any means necessary, then you can never understand that certain groups (Black and Latino in this case), are in fact, at a higher risk of dying during a pandemic.
COVID-19 is an X-ray into our society. And data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lay it out clearly. Death rates among Black and Hispanic/Latino people are much higher than for non-Hispanics in all age categories.
The Brookings Institute reports that “death rates among Black people between 55-64 years are higher than for white people aged 65-74, and death rates are higher for Black people aged 65-74 than for whites aged 75-84,” and so on. In every age category, Black people are dying from COVID-19 at roughly the same rate as white people more than a decade older. Age-specific death rates for Hispanic/Latino people fall in between.
Miller, like Trump, like many MAGA supporters, will never understand racial disparities, in the economy, jobs, wealth, and certainly in health.
The Southern Poverty Law Center credits Miller with “shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump, which include the zero-tolerance policy, also known as family separation, the Muslim ban and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.”
“Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border,” an outside White House adviser told Vanity Fair.
Miller has a long and sordid history of racism. He worked with far-right hate groups as a student at Duke University, even collaborating with his classmate Richard Spencer, one of the country’s most successful young white nationalist leaders.
“I knew him very well when I was at Duke. But I am kind of glad no one’s talked about this because I don’t want to harm Trump,” Spencer told Mother Jones in 2016.
My question is how in the world can the healthcare system in this country ignore the systemic racism that exists? And why shouldn’t Black and brown folks take priority when it comes to treatment if this community is dying at higher rates than those in the white community, per capita?
Miller’s suit is based on a memo from the New York State Department of Health, released on Dec. 27, which states that “treatments are authorized for patients who meet certain criteria,” and one of the criteria is patients “having a medical condition or other factors that increase their risk for severe illness.”
The memo outlines that “non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity should be considered a risk factor, as longstanding systemic health and social inequities have contributed to an increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.”
Miller appeared on Fox’s Tucker Carlson Tonight Tuesday, alleging the “American experiment is dead” if treatment discriminates on the basis of race.
“In the context of New York, we are seeing decisions about life and death medical care being made according to race and skin color," Miller said. "If this is allowed to survive, if this policy is allowed to endure, then in a very real sense our Constitution ceases to be the supreme law of the land and instead becomes the relic of a fallen civilization. That’s how big the stakes are in this fight.”
Miller added: "If you get to a point in this country where your health care for your loved ones, for your family, your children, your grandparents, will be decided based on what country your ancestors come from, what they look like, what their skin tone is, then the American experiment is dead,” Miller said.
This comes from someone who has consistently refused to accept the concept of systemic racism. If you don’t accept the idea that this country was colonized by white people and designed for white people to get and keep power by any means necessary, then you can never understand that certain groups (Black and Latino in this case), are in fact, at a higher risk of dying during a pandemic.
COVID-19 is an X-ray into our society. And data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lay it out clearly. Death rates among Black and Hispanic/Latino people are much higher than for non-Hispanics in all age categories.
The Brookings Institute reports that “death rates among Black people between 55-64 years are higher than for white people aged 65-74, and death rates are higher for Black people aged 65-74 than for whites aged 75-84,” and so on. In every age category, Black people are dying from COVID-19 at roughly the same rate as white people more than a decade older. Age-specific death rates for Hispanic/Latino people fall in between.
Miller, like Trump, like many MAGA supporters, will never understand racial disparities, in the economy, jobs, wealth, and certainly in health.
The Southern Poverty Law Center credits Miller with “shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump, which include the zero-tolerance policy, also known as family separation, the Muslim ban and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.”
“Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border,” an outside White House adviser told Vanity Fair.
Miller has a long and sordid history of racism. He worked with far-right hate groups as a student at Duke University, even collaborating with his classmate Richard Spencer, one of the country’s most successful young white nationalist leaders.
“I knew him very well when I was at Duke. But I am kind of glad no one’s talked about this because I don’t want to harm Trump,” Spencer told Mother Jones in 2016.
My question is how in the world can the healthcare system in this country ignore the systemic racism that exists? And why shouldn’t Black and brown folks take priority when it comes to treatment if this community is dying at higher rates than those in the white community, per capita?