ABC Attacks 'Very Real Fact of Racism' In 'This Country'

Alex Christy
February 21st, 2026 12:11 PM

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For the latest edition of the left’s “Everything is Racist” campaign, emergency room physician Dr. Adjoa Smalls-Mantey stopped by ABC’s Saturday edition of Good Morning America for its segment on what the chyron labeled “Black History Month & Your Health.” According to Smalls-Mantey, “the very real fact of racism and bias” in healthcare and America at large is one reason for any racial disparities in the healthcare system.

Alluding to disparities in the prevalence of certain diseases, co-host Whit Johnson wondered, “We have been reporting on this more and more recently, but why the continued disparity?”

Smalls-Mantey began her reply with possible explanations that have nothing to do with race, “So, some of the reasons for those disparities are you might live in an area that doesn't have as many doctors in their hospital, you might live far away from the hospital, but there's also the economic cost of healthcare.”

 

 

Things then got racial when she added, “Black people tend to be in jobs that may not offer healthcare benefits, or you might not have health insurance. And so if you don't have health insurance, you're less likely to have a primary care doctor that you're following up with, and then even if you do have a regular doctor that you're following up with, the cost of the actual treatment can be very high for people. There's also the anxiety of knowing what you have, so people might have symptoms and not want to see a doctor, but it's important to go find out. It could be nothing, but also, if you have something, there's treatment.”

Smalls-Mantey then sought to include "the very real fact of racism and bias in healthcare, and just in this country, we've seen many examples of people having—going to the doctor, having their concerns ignored, and it's important to remember that you're entitled to healthcare. So, go and get a second opinion.”

According to a 2022 MITRE-Harris poll, 52 percent of all Americans claimed to have had their concerns “ignored, dismissed, or not believed.”

The Kaiser Family Foundation, which endorses the basic belief that Smalls-Mantey espoused, nevertheless also found that 19 percent of black patients and 15 percent of white patients claimed a doctor “ignored a direct request you made or a question you asked.” Similarly, they found 15 percent of blacks claimed a doctor “refused to prescribe pain medication you thought you needed” compared to 9 percent of whites.

Those aren’t massive gaps. They certainly aren’t big enough to claim that the country, as a whole, is racist.

Here is a transcript for the February 21 show:

ABC Good Morning America

2/21/2026

9:13 PM ET

WHIT JOHNSON: And we have been reporting on this more and more recently, but why the continued disparity?

ADJOA SMALLS-MANTEY: So, some of the reasons for those disparities are you might live in an area that doesn't have as many doctors in their hospital, you might live far away from the hospital, but there's also the economic cost of healthcare. Black people tend to be in jobs that may not offer healthcare benefits or you might not have health insurance. And so if you don't have health insurance, you're less likely to have a primary care doctor that you're following up with, and then even if you do have a regular doctor that you're following up with, the cost of the actual treatment can be very high for people.

There's also the anxiety of knowing what you have, so people might have symptoms and not want to see a doctor, but it's important to go find out. It could be nothing, but also, if you have something, there's treatment. And then the very real fact of racism and bias in healthcare, and just in this country, we've seen many examples of people having—going to the doctor, having their concerns ignored, and it's important to remember that you're entitled to healthcare. So, go and get a second opinion.

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