Roland Fryer’s Salty Negro Theory
In blogging about the CNN Black Family series I mentioned that Fryer had a couple of theories that have been debunked…or tried to at any rate. The “Acting White” argument I dealt with some time ago. But the salty negro theory–which posits that black hypertension rates are high because we retain more salt than our white counterparts–is particularly pernicious. Over at Rustbelt Intellectual Tom S. takes a much longer look at this, using the work of my colleague Thomas LaViest. Required reading. Given the plethora of social scientists working on this issue, as well as that of educational outcomes, I don’t fully understand why those responsible for the show didn’t take a little more time to make a few phone calls.
