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RACISM AND HEALTH 1

 Racism and Health: Reviewing
Camara Jones “A Gardener’s
tale”

Introduction
Presently there is extensive academic debate and controversy around critical race theory. Del-
gado (2017) defines Critical Race theory (CRT) to be discourse involving scholars and ac-
tivists in studying the rapport between race, racism, and power. This prompts us to differenti-
ate critical race theory from the traditional civil rights discourse; Critical race theory exam-
ines the foundation of equality theory and liberal order whereas civil rights discourse ex-
plores incrementalist progress from the societal climate in the 50s to the late 60s (Delgado,
2017).
Camara Jones is a biracial American, family physician, and epidemiologist that defines
racism to be "a system as opposed to an individual character flaw, personal moral failing, or
psychiatric illness” (Jones,2018). Thus her understanding of racism is rooted in her identity
and experience as a categorically black woman, presenting her ethos as a writer and allowing
the reader to understand her credibility (KCL:Online). By providing a critical review of
Jones: "A gardeners tale" this paper explores the ethos, logos, and pathos of Jones' research;
The thesis is: Jones' framework fails to address the complexities of racism.

Socioeconomic and political Context

Racial science was connected to building empire (Thorton, 1992;
Dikötter, 1998). The metropole had to justify the money and risk,
part and parcel to colonisation; Thorton (1992) ascertains that for
imperialist states, maritime routes required extensive resources; it
was easier to go from Europe to Africa than it was to go back due
to factors i.e. the high chance of "explorers" catching tropical dis-
eases; There was a risk that metropoles would get raided by other
empires and all in all, there was a high chance that colonisation
wouldn't work out (Thorton, 1992; UoZ: Online). This spawned
Eugenicists devising the social construction of race to justify their

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expeditions based on pseudoscience that "black" people were genetically inferior to white
people (Thorton, 1992b; Ktitowsky, 2017; Discovering Bristol:Online) This created a racial
hierarchy normalising imperialism in the eyes of white people. Such assumptions about ge-
netic differences between people of different races have had social and historical implications
globally, namely, slavery, the apartheid, and segregation (Street,2007). “Racism" created a
landscape that provides differential access to resources where privileged members have di-
verse access to coveted assets i.e. well-funded schools to safe and comfortable recreational
spaces and institutional structures including public servants (Police, hospitals, schools, pris-
ons) and even the threat thereof, are mechanisms for enforcing racial exclusion and control
( Jones,2012; Pollock, 2021).
Furthermore, Jones (2018) postulates that "The present is viewed as disconnected from the
past… current distribution of advantage and disadvantage is routinely viewed as happen-
stance despite the legacy of racism and its current manifestations". As racism doesn't mani-
fest in the extremities it did during historical periods i.e. the civil rights many have denied it's
existence (ibid,2021). Recent occurrences namely, the death of George Floyd have triggered
academic discourse into how racism manifests itself today (Barrie, 2020). Therefore the pre-
sentation of the legacy of imperialism is noteworthy as it is in congruence with Jones' logos
and relays how the past impacts the present/future.

Critical assessment
Jones' (2000) article contributes to CRT discourse by further postulating that racism can be
divided into 3 categories: personally mediated, internalised, and institutional, with institu-
tional racism having the weightiest impact. This provides the reader with a depth perception
of how racism manifests in quotidian life, while also presenting how the prejudices in the edi-
fices that underpin and supplement our society must be addressed for change. Jones (2000)
presents a compelling starting point for understanding how racial dynamics can shape health
outcomes; In "a gardeners tale" allegory Jones contrasts a gardener tending to red and pink
flowers, in two different boxes; the gardener intentionally nourishes the red flowers, whilst
the pink flowers are malnourished. The gardener is equated to the government and this pref-
erence of the pink flowers to the red flowers is equated to the differential treatment of white
over black people. It’s no surprise that over time the red flowers prosper and are healthier
than the pink flowers evoking pathos in the readers. This implicit preference is elucidated by
the fact that Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be overrepresented among the pop-
ulation in poverty, more likely to have: chronic illness and restricted access to healthcare than
their white counterparts (USDoT: Online). Though Jones (2000) herself doesn't provide sta-
tistics in her framework that could strengthen her assumptions.
Albeit this allegory paints a clear image of impoverishment as the gardener who represents
institutions actively deprives the red flowers of resources, Jones' allegory is an oversimplifi-

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cation of what translates in reality. Jones' (2000) analogy suggests that the perpetuated insti-
tutional racism is simply a matter of neglect as if pink flowers were tended to or could tend
themselves there would be equity… however, Institutional racism is more than just a matter
of negligence. Jones' assumptions fail to take heed of the implicit benefit the gardener gains
by the bankruptcy of pink flowers; in the United States, One in three black boys born today
faces a prison sentence compared to one in six Latino boys or One of 17 white boys
(NAACP: Online). There is a gain for the gardener and pink flowers who are inherently less
likely to be in a position where they are a part of a system of prison workers who produce
$11bn worth of goods and services annually with little to no reimbursement(ACLU: online).
This presents how the government actively reinforces barriers that hinder "pink flowers" from
flourishing.

Jones' (2000) metaphor has logical fallacy as it fails to explore the complexities and liminal
spaces of categories; for example, Jones' (2000) gardeners tale of racism suggests that every-
thing is black and white, whereas In reality there are grey areas. Namely, the intersectionality
of class; scholars argue that class is the biggest contributing factor to deprivation
(Wacquant,2010). This is seen where no person has a unitary identity (Delgado,2017). A
black person may be black and also may be upper middle class. Kant ( 1998 ) explores
epistemologies in terms of categories of understanding and rationality. We can see here that
categories can overlap/intersect. Jones logos follows a historically informed trajectory; Racial
passing was a notable phenomenon in the 1930s and 1940s which meant that people of mixed
heritage passed as white (Wald, 2000). Thus this denotes the fluid notions of race and shows
how Jones's tale of the pink versus red flowers is an over simplification.

Conclusion
This essay has provided an honest reckoning of the legacy of colonialism to understand how
it underpins the infrastructure of anti-blackness in society today. Despite the noted logical
fallacy, Jones framework provides a universal depiction of institutional racism and provides a
terminus quo for discourse on race related health disparities.

RACISM AND HEALTH 4

Reference list

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Delgado, R. and Stefancic, J., 2017. Critical race theory: An introduction (Vol. 20). NyU
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Jones, CP,. 2000 Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener’s Tale

Jones CP., 2003 Confronting Institutionalized Racism. Phylon;50(1-2):7-22.

Jones, CP,. 2018 Toward the Science and Practice of Anti-Racism: Launching a Na-
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Kant, I., 1998. of Pure Reason. Trans. and ed. P. Guyer and AW Wood. Cambridge:
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KCL: Online https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/camara-jones date accessed 13/11/2022

NAACP: Online https://naacp.org/resources/criminal-justice-fact-sheet date accessed
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Wald, G., 2000. Crossing the line: Racial passing in twentieth-century US literature
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ACLU: Online https://www.aclu.org/news/human-rights/captive-labor-exploitation-of-

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