I've often wondered why race in this country ended up being something that qualified as a 'Diagnostic Tool' in medicine.

Especially considering the following -

Clinical "risk factors" were organized by skin color, and certain diseases were described as if they only belonged to specific groups. The reality was that the actual forces shaping risk, often a person's zip code, the air they breathed, or the structural barriers to resources, were often left out of the conversation. At the time, I didn't have the real understanding and confidence to push back. Race was presented to us as an objective, biological truth rather than the sociopolitical construct it is and has always been.

https://www.blackagendareport.com/southern-reckoning-medical-myth-race-diagnostic-tool