The Tattooed Teacher

You didn’t really make this clear, and a lot of people don’t know that the prevelance of lactose intolerance is much, much higher among non-caucasions. Here are the numbers from http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2002/june/lactose.htm

“In his article Milk Allergy and Lactose Intolerance (May 2002), Dr Steinman gives the following figures for lactose intolerance for children over 5 years old: “90-95% of black individuals and 20-25% of white individuals throughout the world”. In fact, the picture is much more complicated. Many Asian populations, especially people from Far East, have rates of lactase deficiency approaching 100%. Additionally, there are a few groups in Africa, such as the Fulani, who have relatively low rates of lactose intolerance (around 20-25 percent). Conversely, some European populations like the Swedes are almost completely lactose tolerant (apx. 4% deficiency). Given that most of the world does not fall neatly into ‘black’ or ‘white’ categories, such variation is important. In fact, the world average for lactose intolerance is probably much closer to the 90-95% range given for ‘blacks.’ Therefore, we were very surprised to see this condition described as a “disease”. Elsewhere we have seen it described as a “disorder”. Why should this be when most adults in the world are lactose intolerant, clearly making this the normal adult condition? The perception of lactose intolerance as a health problem is a rather narrow Western view.”

The ability to digest lactose after the aproximate age of five (after a child would be weaned) is a mutation. The continued pushing of milk in schools, especially predominatly minority schools, without regard to the health problems that it causes amounts to institutional racism. And giving what I like to call petroleum juice as the only other option is horrible. (The artificial colors in these “juices” come from petroleum. They are known to cause behavioral and emotional problems in many people.)