Analysis Of Camara Jones's Article, Levels Of Racism

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In the article, Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener’s Tale, by Camara Jones explained how racism is present in the current health institutions. Jones begins by talking about the three different levels of racism: institutionalized racism, personally mediated racism, and internalized racism. Institutional racism is defined as differential access to goods, services, and opportunities of society based on someone’s race. It is seen in the quality of education, housing, employment, medical facilities, and the environment. Institutional racism, according to Jones, is seen in the history of the United States when looking at the socioeconomic status of minority groups. Personally mediated racism is prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice …show more content…

It is also their job to be able to examine the potential effects of racism in causing race-associated differences in health outcomes. This article Jones uses a story about a gardener and growing flowers. She explains that there are two flower boxes and the first box had rich, fertile soil, the other poor, rocky soil. Jones explains that the gardener prefers red flowers to the pink so the red was planted in the rich soil while the pink was planted in the rocky soil. Over time, the red flowers grew and flourished and even the flowers that looked like they would not make it grew to a decent height as well. The pink flowers did not flourish and only a few grew to a decent height. Jones noted that the gardener was extremely happy she said initially loved red flowers. Jones explains that the three levels of racism are present in this story. Institutional racism is present because of the historical nature of neglecting the poor, rocky soil and not trying to fix it. The other insult is seen in the overall preference of the red over the pink flowers. Personally mediated racism is seen when the gardener gets rid of the pink flowers before they even get to blossom. The third level, internalized racism, is explained with the bee pollinating the pink flowers but the red ones rejecting the …show more content…

The first step is addressing the internalized racism and making sure the pink flowers know they are “beautiful”. Even if that does happen, that does not address the state of the soil so it is unlikely any change will occur. To address the personally mediated racism, Jones explains that the gardener will need to attend workshops to convince her that pink flowers are equally as good as red ones. Again this might convince the gardener to let the flowers grow but the gardener has not fixed the rocky soil yet. Jones states in order to correct the issue is to address the institutional racism. The gardener will either need to break down the two boxes and mix the soil together or create rich soil out of the poor. If the both groups of flowers grow equally as well, no one will think one is better than the other. This will ultimately teach the children of the gardener that one is not better than the other and they are unlikely to develop a preference for one or the

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