> This isn't a racial issue - the decline of Middle America is not the decline of white America. There is no reason to focus on race per se, much less one race

> This isn't a racial issue - the decline of Middle America is not the decline of white America. There is no reason to focus on race per se, much less one race in exclusion to others. Really? Because as someone from Middle America, lack of diversity is consistently brought up in conversations about about this area in every other context. Why is the Midwest dying? Why is the Midwest an "undesirable" place to live? Why is the Midwest conservative? Why does the Midwest support Trump? Lack of racial and cultural diversity is brought up in every single one of these conversations without fail. So it seems appropriate that, in the context of the decline of Middle America, and in in the context of exacerbated declines in health outcomes particularly for white people, we at least consider the racial aspects as well.