Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle March 13, 2024
Challenging People to Shape
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Opinion
OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More
Bernie Foster
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olitical
provocateurs
are determined to stir
up controversy over De-
fense Secretary Lloyd
Austin’s failure to tell Pres-
ident Biden about his treat-
ment for prostate cancer. Yet,
his desire to keep the matter
private—and out of the public
eye—is in line with what many
men, particularly men of col-
or, have done for decades. The
reticence to share details of a
medical condition is under-
standable, but prostate cancer
is a silent killer in the Black
community and the time has
come to give it a voice.
In the words of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., whose son
Dexter recently passed from
prostate cancer, I ask: How
long? How long will Men of
color suffer in silence and die
alone? How long will too many
brothers hide their plight?
When he finally commented
publicly about his condition,
Austin offered regrets about
keeping silent and then made
an important pledge. He said
that by not initially disclosing
his diagnosis, he “missed an
opportunity to send a mes-
sage on an important public
health issue,” while noting the
prevalence of prostate can-
cer, particularly among Black
men. Encouraging all men to
get screened, Austin prom-
ised, “You can count on me to
Hamil R.
Harris
Guest
Columnist
set a better example on this
issue today and for the rest of
my life.”
Any cancer diagnosis is a
private matter. But men like
Dexter King and Austin can
help so many others who
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Black men have a 70 percent high-
er rate of developing prostate
cancer than White men
are prone to prostate can-
cer. Keeping the surgery and
treatment a secret would only
have continued to add to the
stigma surrounding prostate
cancer. That would have been
a disservice to the thousands
of men of color diagnosed an-
nually.
Indeed, data from Mount
Sinai Medical Center in New
York City shows that more
than 13 percent of African
American men between the
ages 45 and 79 will develop
prostate cancer in their life-
times. And Black men have a
70 percent higher rate of de-
veloping prostate cancer than
White men. The American
ity between Black and white
men exists – decades of struc-
tural racism, environmental
issues, certain comorbidities,
different molecular pathways
in the body of Black men – a
great deal of the reason comes
down to the fact that Black
men are disproportionately
not being screened for pros-
tate cancer as early or as reg-
ularly as White men.
A recent study published
in JAMA Oncology by a team
at the University of Michigan
Rogel Cancer Center found
that Black men get fewer PSA
(prostate specific antigen)
screenings; they are more
likely to be diagnosed with
later stage cancer; they are
less likely to have health in-
surance; and they have less
access to high-quality care
and other disparities that can
be linked to a lower overall
socioeconomic status.
Given his platform as Sec-
retary of Defense, I am happy
that Austin recognized his
duty to be open and honest
about his battle with this dis-
ease. And in doing so, he now
joins groups and individu-
als who are already working
on spreading awareness for
prostate screenings who can
act as guideposts.
For example, Mount Sinai
Medical Center recently un-
veiled the Robert F. Smith
Mobile
Prostate
Cancer
Screening Unit, which will
visit New York City neighbor-
hoods where men could be at
a higher risk of developing
prostate cancer. The mobile
home sized bus is named af-
ter the African American
philanthropist and venture
capitalist who donated almost
$4 million to launch the pro-
gram.
Thankfully there are indi-
viduals like Smith and now
Austin to use their platforms
to spread awareness for this
deadly – yet very treatable
– form of cancer and ensure
that more people don’t die
needlessly.
Highway Robbery in Alabama
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Cancer Society also shocking-
ly predicts that Black men are
more than twice as likely to
die from prostate cancer than
their White counterparts.
These figures are appalling
when considering that pros-
tate cancer is one of the most
treatable forms of the disease
with the five-year survival
rate for men diagnosed with
it being greater than 99 per-
cent if the cancer is detected
during the early stage.
While there are numerous
reasons for why this dispar-
magine the neighborhood
your family has lived in for
more than 150 years being
turned into a deteriorating
flood zone. Now imagine the
flooding was caused by the
state. That is what is happen-
ing to the people of Elba, Al-
abama’s historic Black Shiloh
community.
Thanks to the construc-
tion of an elevated highway
through the community in
2018, residents are watching
their homes be destroyed by
flooding caused by the high-
way project.
“My house has already sunk
two feet into the mud. I see my
inheritance and my childrens’
American
Dream
being
washed away and stolen,” says
Pastor Timothy Williams.
Pastor Williams is a rever-
end and the owner of a restau-
rant and cleaning business.
Like many other Shiloh res-
idents, his family has been
on this land dating back to
Reconstruction. Now he and
others in the community see
their generational wealth dis-
appearing before their eyes
from property devaluation as
well as the physical destruc-
tion of their homes.
Just eight feet away from
Pastor Williams’ home, in
the direction it is sinking, is a
Southeast Gas Company natu-
ral gas pipeline. He has been
told there is a possibility the
sinking house could hit the gas
line and blow the house up.
Ben
Jealous
Executive
Director of
the Sierra
Club
Pastor Williams’ story of-
fers but a glimpse into the
nightmare Shiloh residents
are facing.
Part of the highway project
– one of the earliest phases
– involved directing storm-
water drainage pipes into the
community. Now, picture the
“
I see my in-
heritance and
my childrens’
American
Dream being
washed away
elevated highway essentially
placing the neighborhood in a
bowl. There did not used to be
flooding. Now it is rampant.
And the state will not even
own up to its highway expan-
sion being the cause.
In addition to causing
floods, the highway also cut
off access to the neighbor-
hood’s only fire hydrant. In
2020, there was a fire. Some-
one burned to death in their
home. Residents believe their
neighbor’s death would have
been preventable with access
to the hydrant.
This is not merely an exam-
ple of poorly executed urban
planning. It is reckless envi-
ronmental racism. The same
kind that has been respon-
sible for creating so-called
“sacrifice zones” across the
country. Sacrifice zones are
populated areas that bear a
disproportionate brunt of
health and environmental
hazards due to their close
proximity to sources of pollu-
tion and development. They
are most often communities
of color and low-income com-
munities.
Residents of the Shiloh com-
munity are educated … they
are business owners … many
of them are veterans. They
have advantages that people
in some other neighborhoods
sacrificed to development do
not have. But simply by speak-
ing up and advocating for
themselves, Shiloh residents
have become targets of racist
hate. There have been inci-
dents of racial harassment
ever since the community
started receiving news cov-
erage of their plight. A chill-
ing reminder of what white
supremacy looks like in the
deep South.
Pastor Williams has seen
it firsthand. His restaurant’s
clientele is mostly white. One
customer told him that he and
others had been told to boy-
cott the eatery because Wil-
liams had been vocal about
the crisis facing the Shiloh
community.
Elba, Alabama also happens
to be the hometown of Dr.
Robert Bullard. Dr. Bullard is
known as the “Father of Envi-
ronmental Justice.” He literal-
ly wrote the book – actually
many books, including one ti-
tled “Highway Robbery” – on
environmental racism. And
his extensive scholarship
has earned him a spot on the
White House Environmental
Justice Advisory Council.
Now, Elba has become a text-
book example of the environ-
mental harm of racist zoning
and transportation policies
Dr. Bullard has taught so
many of us about. More than
a mere twist of cosmic irony,
it shows how pervasive the
problem of environmental
racism is – that the hometown
of our nation’s great warrior
for Environmental Justice,
who has helped countless
people and communities, is
still vulnerable to its impacts.
Ultimately, the Alabama De-
partment of Transportation
and Governor Kay Ivey are
the ones who have the ability
and responsibility to fix it and
compensate the community’s
residents for all they have
lost. So far all they have done
is deny wrongdoing and dupe
Shiloh residents into signing
away their rights.
Read the rest of this commentary at
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