One of the most significant issues for Barack Obama, both in campaigning and in actually presiding over the country, has been the revitalization and reform of the healthcare system. Putting it lightly, this is a touchy subject. In 2007, nearly 50 million Americans were completely uninsured with another 25 million underinsured (healthcareproblems.org) When Obama took office this past January, numbers were almost certainly far worse than that, with the tough economic times preventing many Americans from paying for their necessities. The problem now has become increasingly more sociological. While it is certainly true that the problems concering healthcare and the like know no boundaries and affect all facets of our nation, it is also undeniable that certain economic classes are vastly more affected than others. The sad nature of the American socioeconomic climate is that, more often than not, one's race dictates where they stand economically. One would be a fool to deny the fact that the overwhelming majority of the underclass are of African-American or Hispanic descent while the majority of the middle and upper classes are generally Caucasian. Obviously, there are exceptions but it becomes increasingly clear that economic classes are quite homogenous.
The healthcare issue becomes touchy for this preicise reason. Since the problem is infinitely more prevalent in the lower classes, it is also infinitely more prevalent in Black and Latino America (Literally, Latino America. NOT Latin America) For this reason, it is only natural to expect these individuals to associate their identity with the problems they are facing. In effect, the healthcare problem has become far more. It points to a greater divide that is magnified equally by social and economic stratifications. These days, one would be hard-pressed to have a debate on President Obama's healthcare plan without at least making or hearing a reference to the racial divide and how it applies.
Interestingly enough, however, it is not just those of the aforementioned economic class and races that feel strongly about the issue. It is only natural to expect those who do not have healthcare to advocate zealously so that they obtain it. However, it is a two-sided coin; there are just as many vocal people from the upperclass who feel that healthcare should not be universalized and should be kept in the private sector entirely. Once again, this points to the idea of IDENTITY. The vast majority of these people have long enjoyed the benefits that come with relative or outright affluence, not the least of which is normally healthcare being a certainty. For them, the universilization of healthcare perhaps poses a threat to the high quality of it they have always been accustomed to.
As far as this issue goes, there is hardly a "right" answer. Any time something is so deeply charged with racial and ethnic issues, one must approach it with a great deal of empathy and open-mindedness. What is right for me, a white male from an upperclass community in the suburbs of New York, is probably not right for an African-American contemporary of mine living on Rhode Island Ave in Brookland in Northeast D.C. It's just different, and its all tied back to our IDENTITY
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I hadn't previously considered the racial element, since I think the debate speaks more about the political identity of America than its ethnic makeup. However, in one passage, you bring up an interesting point. You state, "For this reason, it is only natural to expect these individuals to associate their identity with the problems they are facing." While racial issues alone do not decide much in the way of health care distribution, I like that you note the reverse of that, the effect that the health care debate itself has on preexisting conceptions of identity. It certainly is true that a population's comparative lack of resources, including health care, can effect cultural characteristics. One only needs to listen to popular music and notice the self-image portrayed by its followers to understand that they lack the familiar sense of safety and financial security that most middle- and upper-class Americans feel.
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