Health cuts across party lines, genders, classes, religions, regions, and races. Health care is universally a common denominator of concern, yet health care appears to be one of the most divisive and contentious issues in modern politics. While there are several arguments as to why healthcare has become so polarizing, this compelling essay argues that in the healthcare sphere, racial bias is visibly indicative of views about healthcare accessibility. While other factors may be influential, racial bias encompasses these factors, revealing that bias is the underlying cause of the extreme polarization of health policy positions over the past decade. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While overt racism may or may not be in play, subconscious racism can manifest itself politically by showing disapproval of public policies that most benefit minorities. This is measured in “symbolic racism,” which is the role that white attitudes play in politics. In this way, the political implications of subtle racism reach beyond the individual and into the sphere of public policy. Universal healthcare exemplifies a public policy that especially benefits minorities, as in 2011 non-Hispanic whites are uninsured at a rate of 11.7 percent, while blacks are uninsured at nearly double the rate of 20 .8% and Hispanics even higher at 30.7%. Visible differences in access to healthcare highlight the impact race has on access to healthcare across the United States. Additionally, whites are much less likely to support welfare than blacks. It is clear that a racial divide exists, so it is imperative that we understand why such extremes have become racially polarized. The stark contrast in the percentage of uninsured blacks and Hispanics compared to whites is also reflected in whether or not different racial groups supported or opposed universal health care. Racial prejudice was found to be a crucial indicator of whether citizens support healthcare reform or not. White American citizens who harbored a higher-than-average level of racial resentment toward Black American citizens were found to be extremely less likely to support health care reform initiatives (Heatherington and Weiler). Such an example demonstrates that racial resentment polarizes voters regarding their opinions about public policies, particularly policies that have profound racial consequences. Polarization due to racial attitudes is further illustrated when citizens attribute universal health policies to a white man instead of believing they were instituted by a black man. Man. In a 2009 research study, participating researchers with higher implicit bias had a much more negative view toward health care reform ideas proposed by Obama, while they had a more positive view when the same health care reform ideas appeared to be proposed by Obama. Bill Clinton. These findings highlight that racial bias plays a role in signaling citizens which policies to support or resent, a counter to claims that race has nothing to do with how citizens view Obama's health care reforms. Racial polarization may not just be due to white Americans. , Although. While theRacial resentment has influenced the positions of white citizens on public policies, racial identity has also influenced the positions of black Americans. Black Americans identify more with certain policies that Black Americans are most affected by, and therefore support policies that benefit other Black Americans. When asked whether they favor welfare policies, black Americans are 20% more likely to be favorable. Black Americans are equally polarized on this issue, though for different reasons than racial resentment. Surely one cannot argue that race plays a considerable role in determining attitudes toward health care without taking other controls into account. A study conducted tested attitudes toward health care between 2008 and 2010 with controls such as levels of partisanship and political ideology, general racial resentment, resentment toward blacks, resentment toward other nonwhite races, income levels, worry for the cost of health care, age, gender and education. Through this investigation, it was found that race and racial attitudes were the only factors that explained changes in health attitudes. Not only have there been changes in public opinion about health care, the changes have been immensely drastic. The study found that Americans with high levels of racial resentment were 29 percent more likely to have a negative view of health care reform between 2008 and 2010. While this study focuses on racial resentment due to a rather black politician than on the subtly racist opinions that shape public opinion. political opinions, the impact of racial resentment on public political opinions is still clear. While these studies make visible the implications of racial bias influencing white people's views on health care, there has been a considerable amount of rebuttal. Opponents argue that opposition to any form of welfare is due to middle-class Americans' hostility toward paying taxes into programs that benefit only the poor, as well as the notion that many American citizens believe in initiative and individual responsibility. More generally, those who resist the idea that racial biases play a role in opinions about welfare programs such as health care are out of self-interest and individualism. While these views may be an interpretation of the data presented, the lack of findings on links to racial prejudice is largely due to the fact that most studies that have reached such conclusions have not tested measures of racial prejudice since 'start. There may well have been ties to participants' views about race, but they simply ignored that race could have been a factor to begin with. Health care is not simply public policy rooted in core values ​​and hypothetical outcomes; in cases in the United States, it can be a matter of life and death. The results of the observed studies led me to two normative conclusions: that racial influences have catastrophic outcomes for people of color, primarily blacks and Hispanics, and second that it is dangerous how divisive an issue can be simply when a person of color is in charge is the basis of a policy. The evidence presented provided tangible evidence that racial resentment has evolved into public policy, which in itself is alarming. In an ideal world, opinions on politics would be the most indicators.