At the same time, they allow ~1 million mostly non-whites to legally immigrate every year.
I think insurance/medical industry lobbying is a far more consistent explanation. In general, if a story starts by bringing up racism from 150 years ago, it's more concerned with building a narrative than with explaining the current state of affairs.
Rather refreshingly, the NYT admits this: "It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are."
That is why I don't think the explanation holds water. Plus, Americans do support universal healthcare: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/28/most-americans-now-support-m...
I mean, I totally understand avoiding the subject because it leads to flamewars, because some people respond very poorly to the suggestion that racism exists and has practical effects today. But then you're better off not having a discussion about the topic at all than a skewed, censored one where one plausible answer is just too politically incorrect to be debated.
-Yes, racism still exists and, yes, it is a huge problem. We should work together to support all minorities.
-No, racism is not the primary or even a significant cause of every single bad thing that happens.
It's like the people in the story of the boy who cried wolf; hearing "racism" being trotted out by one-note progressives as a response to any question about the United States' woes (particularly when it's not even very plausible) is viewed as tiresome and unconstructive. And I say this as a minority who has experienced racism!
"Why doesn’t the United States have universal health care? The answer has everything to do with race." https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/univ...