“Roger’s doing a great job” - Lawsuit alleges NFL explicitly discriminates against black players in concussion settlements

[The Brandon Five]

So the NFL’s guidelines for concussion settlements explicitly discriminate by race. Two lawsuits have been filed. Good material to have being discussed during SB week in a year where awareness of racial injustice is top of mind.

Clinicians fear NFL's concussion settlement program protocols discriminate against Black players

“The NFL has embraced a racially discriminatory scheme for adjusting these test scores,” Smith told ABC News. “That's what Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport have in common with hundreds or thousands of other Black retired players under the settlement agreement.”

 

[1960Pats]

It would be great to have an open discussion about racism.

Let me see if I have this straight. The black players are being judged for the harm to their brains by using a lower test standard and are therefore being denied benefits because they didn't fall as far as white players who normally test higher?

 

[jah]

It would be great to have an open discussion about racism.

Let me see if I have this straight. The black players are being judged for the harm to their brains by using a lower test standard and are therefore being denied benefits because they didn't fall as far as white players who normally test higher?

This is kind of similar to something my mom (who works in healthcare) described to me recently. Minority (largely black) patients often receive worse care/less concern than white patients when they receive the same exact test results. The reason is because, for actuarial reasons, there are different "acceptable limits" for certain measurements that are meant to adjust for race.

So a result that sets off red flags about a white patient could fall into the "normal" range for a black patient and less or no action could be taken despite taking the same toll on both patients' bodies.

The only way the idea makes any sense is if you subscribe to the idea that these minority populations are inherently less healthy on a biological level. Otherwise, it's just circular logic/a self fulfilling prophecy.

 

[BTTA]

The only way the idea makes any sense is if you subscribe to the idea that these minority populations are inherently less healthy on a biological level. Otherwise, it's just circular logic/a self fulfilling prophecy.

It doesn't even makes sense then. If it is about health care disparity, based on poverty and prior health care access, then measure that directly. Race is a manufactured idea that has no relevance to health care.

 

[captain stone]

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[Kontradiction]

This is kind of similar to something my mom (who works in healthcare) described to me recently. Minority (largely black) patients often receive worse care/less concern than white patients when they receive the same exact test results. The reason is because, for actuarial reasons, there are different "acceptable limits" for certain measurements that are meant to adjust for race.

So a result that sets off red flags about a white patient could fall into the "normal" range for a black patient and less or no action could be taken despite taking the same toll on both patients' bodies.

The only way the idea makes any sense is if you subscribe to the idea that these minority populations are inherently less healthy on a biological level. Otherwise, it's just circular logic/a self fulfilling prophecy.

Would this be due to blacks being underrepresented in trials (like, say, a Cancer trial)? Or would it be a trickle down effect of the disparity between being insured vs uninsured, by race?

 

[RobertWeathers]

While we are working to end systemic racism can we end systemic stupidity as well?

 

[1960Pats]

It doesn't even makes sense then. If it is about health care disparity, based on poverty and prior health care access, then measure that directly. Race is a manufactured idea that has no relevance to health care.

Is normal the same for everyone?

 

[1960Pats]

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Can you be more specific?

 

[1960Pats]

While we are working to end systemic racism can we end systemic stupidity as well?

Both racism and stupidity are unequal among races. Asians are more racist but appear to be more intelligent, unless it's just their culture that makes it appear that way.

 

[The Brandon Five]

While we are working to end systemic racism can we end systemic stupidity as well?

I'm all in favor of replacing most of the people at 345 Park Ave, especially the Dummkopf-in-Chief.

 

[jah]

Both racism and stupidity are unequal among races. Asians are more racist but appear to be more intelligent, unless it's just their culture that makes it appear that way.

Do you think that's a genetic thing or is it a product of culture and circumstance?

 

[jah]

I noticed that a solid 100% of all the posts in here challenging the claims of the lawsuit don't actually address/debunk a single specific point. Is it just a reflexive dismissal of any suggestion that a system might be racist?

 

[carmelo15]

You f course it’s about race

 

[Pape]

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Not Bullsiht ... especially because it causes goodell grief

 

[The Brandon Five]

If the league was really interested in “social justice” they would have realized that at the very least this doesn’t look good and on its face seems patently unfair.

 

[XLIX]

It would be great to have an open discussion about racism.

Let me see if I have this straight. The black players are being judged for the harm to their brains by using a lower test standard and are therefore being denied benefits because they didn't fall as far as white players who normally test higher?

My interpretation:

The NFL assumes black players are dumber - whoops, excuse me, I mean they have a "lower level of cognitive functioning" - at the start of their careers than white players. As such, on the back end, they have to demonstrate they are even more dumb to qualify for the settlement and get equal payouts than white players do.

For example, suppose "cognitive functioning" was a scale of 0 to 10, and 5 is average. A retired white player and retired black player each measure a 4. The white player gets paid because he probably lost cognitive function. The black player doesn't get paid because he was probably a 4 all along.

Sure sounds pretty obscenely racist to me.....

 

[Ring 6]

I noticed that a solid 100% of all the posts in here challenging the claims of the lawsuit don't actually address/debunk a single specific point. Is it just a reflexive dismissal of any suggestion that a system might be racist?

And therein lies the truth. It would be impossible for a person without sufficient scientific training, intimate knowledge of testing procedures and the rationale for demographic adjustments, and who has thoroughly studied and analyzed the cases and date to form a reasonable opinion especially after reading one article. So people claiming to know what has happened and why are full of crap.

My interpretation:

The NFL assumes black players are dumber - whoops, excuse me, I mean they have a "lower level of cognitive functioning" - at the start of their careers than white players. As such, on the back end, they have to demonstrate they are even more dumb to qualify for the settlement and get equal payouts than white players do.

For example, suppose "cognitive functioning" was a scale of 0 to 10, and 5 is average. A retired white player and retired black player each measure a 4. The white player gets paid because he probably lost cognitive function. The black player doesn't get paid because he was probably a 4 all along.

Sure sounds pretty obscenely racist to me.....

Well clearly that is not how it works. If you read the article, adjusting baselines due to demographics evidently is a common research practice. In this case it is argued that such practice results in a potential negative impact for black players.
Without volumes of more facts there is no way to draw a conclusion but no they don’t measure on a scale and assume black players were stupid to begin with.

 

[Tony2046]

Can you be more specific?

 

[PatsWSB47]

A baseline for any medical diagnosis is important to determine a prognosis. Someone with a congenital heart defect needs that fact to be used in the equation. Where that patient is 10 years later is going to be different than a person that started with a healthy heart is. The question is what to degree each person has declined from where they started. Why wouldn't that also be true with cognitive abilities?