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Disparity in Health Care Between Blacks and Whites in the US
Disparity in Health Care Between Blacks and Whites in the US
History of racism in America
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Ani Turner, a Co-director at the Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending, wrote an essay called “The Business Case for Racial Equity” that provides an economic impact analysis that offers an alternative to the neoliberal creeds of free market supremacy to “direct lives.” The study includes in its examination historical causes of poverty and inequities, such as racism, rather than the ahistorical approaches to poverty and public policy in America argued by modern economic and penal advocates. The study begins by recognizing the historical impact racial inequity has had on contemporary America, and works to “quantify [the] economic benefits” of targeting it: We found that if the average incomes of minorities were raised to the average
One of the most critical observations about the state of our sociological health is observed by MacGillis of the Atlantic’s article entitled “The Original Underclass”. That is that the social breakdown of low-income whites began to reflect trends that African American’s were primary subjects of decades ago such as unemployment, and drug addiction.
William Julius Wilson creates a thrilling new systematic framework to three politically tense social problems: “the plight of low-skilled black males, the persistence of the inner-city ghetto, and the fragmentation of the African American family” (Wilson, 36). Though the conversation of racial inequality is classically divided. Wilson challenges the relationship between institutional and cultural factors as reasons of the racial forces, which are inseparably linked, but public policy can only change the racial status quo by reforming the institutions that support it.
Anne learned from a young age that if you were a Negro, hard work will get you something, but most of the time, that something isn’t enough for what you need. This is the same for the fight against racial inequality. Though the programs made an impact and were successful in their own smaller battles, the larger battle still had yet to be won. Anne’s experiences had raised several doubts
Though social problems affect a wide variety of people from all races, classes, and cultures; minorities, specifically African Americans, encounter social problems on a multi-dimensional basis. Poverty, employment rates, discrimination, and other social problems strike African Americans in such a way that it is nearly impossible to separate them; each individual has different background, socially and physically, that would determine in which order his or her social problems need to be solved. Impoverished blacks in the inner city may have difficulty finding or keeping jobs, while others may have jobs, but face troubles with work discrimination that prevent them from moving upward .Underemployment, workplace inequalities, and unbalanced medical attention are three closely related social problems that, if ameliorated together, could increase upward mobility, decrease poverty levels, and tighten the lifespan gaps for not only blacks, but also other minority groups. The purpose of this paper is to show what effects these three problems have for blacks.
Woodson (2010) presents a cogent argument for considering race as the central construct of understanding inequality in America. Woodson’s most notable publication, “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” identifies the school’s role in structuring inequality
Many people in the United States society believe that people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities are now on an even playing field. People with this belief support their logic with the argument that since equal rights for people of color and women have been required by law for some time now, we are all inherently as equal as claimed in the Declaration of Independence. Many believe that race is no longer an issue, a viewpoint frequently referred to as color-blindness. National polling data indicated that a majority of whites now believe discrimination against racial minorities no longer exists. (Gallagher, 96) Color-blindness allows a white person to define himself or herself as politically and racially tolerant and then proclaim their adherence to a belief system that does not see or judge individuals by the “color of their skin.” (Gallagher, 98) Many Caucasians in particular are of the opinion that because they listen to hip-hop or cheer for their favorite black, professional sports player that they are not racist. Still others believe that because they have a black president, we see black people in the commercial of products we consume, or enjoy television shows with black people that they are actually acknowledging race. In order to examine and dismantle this series of misconceptions, we will turn to the work of various scholars of social justice and privilege, including Peggy McIntosh, Patricia Hinchey and Johnathon Kozol as well as the story of Patricia J Williams. Through a careful examination of these works with the support of some key statistics, it is the goal of this paper to demonstrate the existence of a privileged and unprivileged America, despite the color-blindness many may profess to have integrated into their p...
In "A Worn Path", a short story by Eudora Welty, the main character, an old colored woman named Phoenix, slowly but surely makes her way down a "worn path" through the woods. Throughout her journey, she runs into many obstacles such as a thorny bush and a hunter. She overcomes these obstacles and continues with her travels. She finally reaches her destination, the doctor’s office, where she gets medicine for her sick grandson back home. Many critics have speculated that this short story represents the love a grandmother shows for her grandson. Others say this story represents life and death, where Phoenix represents an immortal figure. Dennis J. Sykes disagrees with the other critics by saying, "A parallel exists between the journey described and the plight of the Southern blacks after the Civil War" (Sykes). Ultimately, Eudora Welty demonstrates how blacks have been persecuted in a white world.
Many inequalities exist within the justice system that need to be brought to light and addressed. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than females and people of other races. There are some measures that can and need to be taken to reduce the racial disparity in the justice system.
Martin Carnoy wanted to achieve one of the most difficult, emotional, and political topics in America’s history. Faded Dreams: The Politics and Economics of Race in America addresses the subject of economic inequalities among minorities. For the past century, material goods have posed as the symbol of success and worth in our nation’s society. Carnoy argues that efforts to improve technology have changed over the past century, but the social problems in our nation continue. Carnoy agrees improvements have been made in the lives of minorities in America, but they have fallen short or have been dismantled. He focuses on three reasons: “individuals responsibility,” “persuasive racism,” and “economic restructuring.”
America has been thought of as a place represented by fairness, mixed culture, power and the dream of having a better life for everyone, whether a person is white, black, brown, and yellow. However, the truth is that racial groups have been segregated by the white-centric media or government of the American society, and that has widened the psychological and geographical distances between the two groups, Asian and black, and has encouraged ignorance and hatred. On the other hand, there are many conflicts between Asian and Black, due to their different cultures, experiences, and educational backgrounds. From the book Native Speaker, we can see how these different cultures, powers and identities deepen Asian-black mistrust, misunderstanding and ignorance, and sometimes these irreconcilable conflicts develop into hate-crimes.
...ity, as well as inequalities in education, employment, and housing, all contribute to health discrepencies. Health care reform, as envisioned within the ACA, should be viewed as treatment of the symptoms of an unequal system, not treatment of the cause. To speak metaphorically, America has a pre-existing condition of institutional racism. Capitalist structure, political climate and discourse, and notions of imperialism, deny treatment. The Affordable Care Act addresses this condition as a localized disease, rather than a systemic one, that’s cause is rooted in the hegemonic reproduction of ideological superstructures. Only when health care is treated as a basic right, rather than an economic commodity, and health disparites are recognized in a greater political context, can health reform offer an opportunity to overcome racial disparities and achieve health equity.
Inequality continues to affect people in different communities around the globe. It is difficult for many to realize the severity and extreme reality of these situations because they are not given prominence in media and they are not seen as often around certain communities. That is why I believe there is such a huge importance in being aware and reading books such as Just Mercy. Growing up in a large African American and latino population while being caucasian, I felt as if I was much more aware of these issues as compared to those living in less diverse communities. To my surprise, there are always people in worse situations than one can imagine. In Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy, he brings attention to the history of the United States
Seeking to position lower socioeconomic status above racial/ethnic biases or vice versa is irresponsible to the goal of eliminating healthcare delivery differences at large. Both these are realities of a group of people who are not receiving the same level of care from the healthcare professionals although they exist within one of the most resource rich countries in the world, the United States. According to House & Williams (2000), “racism restricts and truncates socioeconomic attainment” (page, 106). This alone will hinder good health and spur on disparities as racism reduces the level of education and income as well as the prospect of better jobs. Blacksher (2008) cites the nation’s institutionalized racism as one of the leading factors
The topics featured in Gandy’s article focuses on the notion of “racially coded data” (1) and how the data is translated into information that may or may not be put to the greatest use. Meaning that targeting certain races with a number of issues with the intention of aiding them, May actually cause more harm than help. He tries to argues that “racial statistics have not only come to represent the distribution of life chances in ways that continue to place African Americans down the bottom of the pile” (5) and then follows on by illustrating “some of the ways in which many of the same statistics are used to ensure that their status is less likely to improve” (5). He mentions this idea of a ‘racial disparity’ focusing on African Americans alone discussing racial coding as and what he calls the ‘panoptic sort’ have become ‘discriminatory technology and then states that how it “operates to the detriment of segments of the population” (7).
A social inequality that I would say I’m concerned with would be, racial and ethnic inequality. Racial or ethnic inequality is often established based on characteristics such as skin color and other physical characteristics, or a person’s place of origin or culture. Another meaning of racial inequality would be the advantages and disadvantages that affect different races within the Unites States. Race has become a socially constructed category capable of restricting or enabling social status. Racial inequality can lead to diminished opportunities, which can also lead to cycles of poverty and political problems. With this minority members in a society can result in discriminating actions such as; exclusion, oppression, expulsion, and extermination.