Dying of Whiteness
Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland is a 2019 nonfiction work authored by Jonathan M. Metzl, a Vanderbilt University professor specializing in sociology and psychiatry. The book is based on research conducted between 2013 and 2018 in Missouri, Tennessee, and Kansas.
Overview
Metzl’s book explores the unintended health repercussions stemming from conservative political backlash on issues such as taxation, gun legislation, social welfare programs, and healthcare access—policies targeting vulnerable white populations in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Drawing from interviews, empirical studies, and public health statistics gathered during his fieldwork, Metzl uncovers how some white Americans place political allegiances linked to racial identity above their own health and longevity, often at considerable personal detriment.
Background
A Missouri native with a medical degree from Kansas City, Jonathan Metzl conducted extensive research over five years across Southern and Midwestern states including Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee. His investigation focused on the health effects of what he terms "backlash governance," demonstrating that racial animus among lower- and middle-income white Americans shaped policies related to gun control, the Affordable Care Act, and reductions in social services and education funding. These policy decisions have contributed to increased suicide rates, firearm-related injuries, declining life expectancy, and elevated school dropout rates in these areas. Metzl advocates for white Americans to reject racial hierarchies that ultimately harm collective societal health.
Metzl holds a Guggenheim fellowship and serves as a professor at Vanderbilt University in sociology and psychiatry. He earned his PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan and has authored several prior works including The Protest Psychosis (2014), Against Health (2010), and Prozac on the Couch (2003).
Critical reception
Both Esquire and The Boston Globe listed the book among their most eagerly awaited titles of 2019. The Globe emphasized its thorough examination of why certain segments of the American electorate endorse policies that counteract their own interests, particularly highlighting the impacts of right-wing backlash such as support for gun rights and cuts to education and healthcare programs.
The Star Tribune commended Metzl for blending clinical insight with clear prose, describing the book as an insightful yet accessible read devoid of technical jargon or ideological polemics.
During a launch event held in April 2019 at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C., white nationalist protesters briefly interrupted before being removed by security. Despite this disruption, all copies at the bookstore sold out. The owner had anticipated such protests due to a nationwide increase in demonstrations targeting politically sensitive books.
The New York Times featured the book on its list of recommended antiracist literature.
Media interviews
Appearing on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Metzl contended that policies championed by the Make America Great Again movement have exacerbated health disparities among working-class white Americans, resulting in poorer health outcomes and reduced life expectancy. He cited his seven years of Southern research to illustrate how opposing healthcare reform while enacting significant tax cuts created health hazards comparable to exposure to asbestos or secondhand smoke. Metzl also discussed findings from focus groups about the ACA during an appearance on The Brian Lehrer Show, sharing the case of Trevor—a man who died from preventable liver disease but opposed ACA enhancements due to fears his taxes would support Mexican immigrants or so-called "welfare queens."