In his new book, “Aging While Black: A Radical Reimagining of Aging and Race in America,” Raymond Jetson, a former state lawmaker and health department official from Louisiana, says the United States can’t afford to ignore the problems of older Black Americans.
“It’s part of America’s story. How Black people age in America ultimately impacts how well America ages,” Jetson said in an interview with MarketWatch. “When a community or government opens the door for Black people, it opens the door for communities far beyond Black people. Something as fundamental as the civil rights laws that were passed in the ’60s — largely in the interest of Black people at the time — have benefited many other communities.”