Racial Anomaly in the United States
Racial Anomaly in the United States
Ideally, social problems are universal and possess dynamism across different societies. The major problems that dog society includes drug and substance addiction, abject poverty, alcohol abuse, economic non-inclusivity, racial discrimination, corruption, especially political and prostitution. These are but few examples of the social problems that poke on the fabric of economic independence and social freedom. A trending and crucial contemporary issue of racism on all fronts in the United States and the globe is a potent avenue for discussion. They are citing recent unrests in cities where police brutality on particular minority racial groups was witnessed across the US. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide a discussion on the impact of racism in the American society.
Racial discrimination is the alienation, mistreatment and abuse of rights of people according to the color of their skin. Racial discrimination can be employed by the government in a de facto manner or explicitly in legislation. Racial segregation in the mid 20th century in the US targeted individuals of African descent and subjected draconian rules to flout their human rights. Violent protests and boycotting was tantamount of this period that led to the emancipation of the African-Americans and other people of ‘color’. Many leaders who were radical anti-racists suffered in their agitation process of the rights of their oppressed people. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Marcus Garvey, and Malcolm X are among the revered personalities who fought against racial inequality and suffered in the process. Some of these prominent figures lost their lives and were cemented as martyrs for a greater cause since their efforts paid off but not instantly. Racial inequality is rooted back to the slavery era that depicted Africans haggard upon as second class citizens who were meant to serve the white. The vice is historical and has built foundations into the core of American society. Discussing the various impacts of racial discrimination will explain why cancer should be eliminated in society.
According to Dr. Harrell, racial discrimination is likely to cause chronic stress conditions due to exposure to unique psychological and contextual factors among African-Americans. Additionally, the Black-Americans are often oblivious of additional stressors that could jeopardize their health. Racism and discrimination are declared as the main stressors that minority groups usually face daily. Dr. Jules Harrell, a psychologists, concluded that there is a link between negative mental health and daily stressors such as racial discrimination in the black community that reside in the United States. In addition, Burford (2009) reported that systolic blood pressure are particularly susceptible to the effect of structural racism. Therefore, racial discrimination is a co-factor to a plethora of mental health issues that undermines the progress of African Americans.
Racial discrimination has a huge impact on the stability of the economy on all levels of income. Wilfred D. Brown argues that white Americans care less about racial equity in the justice system since the biases, apparently, do not affect them. However, Brown advises that these issues affect the white majority economically as much as it does on the minority populations. Racial wealth gaps are perpetuated by the popular white logic of not caring about the welfare of minority groups due to self-entitlement and ignorance. The vicious cycle of compounding the adverse effects of systemic racism is felt by white and minority Americans. Therefore, the situation can be pardoned if white Americans take the mantle and make amends to dispel this horrible vicious economic cycle. Inclusivity in all areas of economic importance with equal opportunities is the panacea for this spiraling vice of discrimination.
Moreover, the country’s healthy GDP is determined by the extent of economic inclusivity of all the productive populations, not just a select group. The benefits of a healthy GDP outweighs the negative effects of racial discrimination on opportunities. Additionally, foreign investors are attracted to a harmonious social and economic environment where everyone is equally attuned to empowerment. A recent report by McKinsey and Company shows that the US GDP could rise by 5% on average by 2028. The report was attributed to efforts meant to reduce the wealth-gap created by systemic racism by all the stakeholders. Brown (2020) advises that”By missing out on4-6% growth, white people are robbing themselves of a lot of money, job opportunities, promotions and an even higher standard of living than they have today.” The cost of racism to the American people can be spiritual, mental, and physical, but the economic costs are also there.
Racial discrimination based onthe criminal justice system’s failure resultsin widespread unrest and riots by the minority population. For instance, protests erupted in Minneapolis, United States, in May 2020 after police officers gunned an unarmed black-American (George Floyd). The adverse effects of years of over-policing and police brutality against African-Americans peaked when this incident occurred. According to Annette Gordon-Reed (2020), the circumstances surrounding George Floyd’s death were systemic, culminating in years of choices, actions, and meditation. Gordon-Reed acknowledges that this event highlighted the historical White supremacist atrocities against people of color. Current policies informed by these historical events should be subject to scrutiny and critique. Additionally, future interventions should be based on novel comprehension of how to achieve a racially just country. In light of highly-televised Floyd’s situation, the effects of racism spilled over to other countries of the world. Therefore, providing salient solutions will impact not only American society but also the global front.
The African-American adage, “When white America catches a cold, black America catches pneumonia,” has a new profound twist: white America catches Covid-19, black Americans perish. As much as the novel Coronavirus wreaks havoc to all people, the rate of people of color’s death is high compared to white populations. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor asserts that this anomaly is entrenched in racial and class inequality. This statement suggests that racial inequality is the root cause of spiraling death rates in the colored American population. Unresolved historical injustices based on racial lines as Black Plague’s author Taylor (1) puts it, “As many have already noted, this macabre roll call reflects the fact that African-Americans are more likely to have preexisting health conditions that make the coronavirus particularly deadly.” He corroborates his argument with examples of the conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and asthma. Taylor explains further using Ruthie Wilson Gilmore’s assertion that these critical conditions factors have increased Black people’s susceptibility to early deaths. Institutional neglect, coupled with the precedent decades of disinvestment,is the main cause of disproportionate Black American deaths. To boot this, people of color are subjected to the bottom of the American class hierarchy due to perpetuated racial discrimination. The majority of low-wage workers are mainly African-Americans who are ironically designated “essential.”
Poverty is almost synonymous with the term race. Black communities are subjected to substandard housing and health care, menial jobs, and poor overall health conflate with racism. The construed imagery and notion that black people are indolent, reckless, irresponsible, and carefree are jolted into the public’s conscious, especially the health care fraternity. These stereotypes drive the wrong messages home since the race is deeply rooted in society and hence misconceived as people of color’s inherent attributes. A shocking series of studies published in 2017 found out that “an implicit preference for white patients, especially among white physicians!” In addition to this, another research found out that white patients are more medically cooperative than black patients! According to Taylor(2020), these findings culminate in other research that black patients were less likely to receive quality medication with ease.
Furthermore, insurance companies award white Americans, on average, eighteen hundred more dollars than black American patients. The New Yorker columnist reiterates that African-Americans receive less care due to their bodies’ misconception being expandable. Taylor lashes on the current regime government officials: “It’s not just Trump appointees who make condescending on ignorant statements. Even a liberal stalwart like Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, is not immune to fixating on perceptions of black complicity in poor health outcomes.” Therefore, leaders should be at the forefront of turning the deadly trajectory of racism in the health care system for equal access and treatment.
In conclusion, as I have discussed above, racial discrimination is deeply embedded in American society, and its talons are far-reaching. As much as the white Americans think that racism does not threaten the status quo, the effects are still felt by all regardless of race. Racial discrimination is so endemic in American society that it is almost declared its second nature. Economic inclusivity is recommendable since the GDP of a country comprises all the economic outputs and inputs of its citizens. Therefore, it is prudent to provide equal job opportunities across racial groups to stimulate happy citizens’ economic growth. A crisis such as the novel coronavirus has devastated the black community due to its vulnerability to preexisting health conditions. This shows that the health and insurance sectors are discriminatory when dispensing their services to the colored communities. Ideally, racism has its tentacles entangling every facet of minority populations in the United States and the world based on skin color. The impact of racism has proven to cause more harm than good to all the country’s inhabitants. Continuous infractions by the enforcing, interpretation, and enacting institutions have dogged the colored population with a continuous vicious cycle of suffering. In light of the recent police brutality against unarmed African-Americans, a more radical policy should be enforced to deal with rogue facets of the police force. However, racial discrimination is similar to cancer that needs elaborate medication and God’s timing to cure.
