Research Paper on Disparities and Strategies to Achieve Social and Justice

Introduction

Social justice alludes from the essence of distribution of privileges, opportunities, and wealth in the society. It is usually based on the concept of equality and human right, and hence, it can be termed as the extent to which human rights are manifested among the human being in all the levels of the society. Social justice is a fundamental aspect in the society for it is crucial in the development of a society which celebrates equality and diversity. Equality and diversity are vital as they promote social wellbeing, growth, and opportunity. However, achieving social justice in a diverse community, such as in the United States, is yet to be achieved. Some exceptional groups based on the aspect of religion, sexual orientation, sexuality, culture, and race have been treated with injustice. Members of a special group are sometimes exposed to unequal resource distribution, wealth distribution, and unfair treatment. An example of a member of a special group that has faced social injustice is Yusuf Salaam. He is a black American who together with five others was convicted with the murder, rape, robbery, and assault of Ellen Trisha in the infamous central jogger case. The trial of Yusuf together with the other members of central part five took place and although the DNA proves and rape kid proves never match with Yusuf or others in this group, he faced imprisonment for six years. However, all his charges were dropped after it was identified that he together with others were falsely charged and after the real person behind all the crimes they had been charged with was a serial rapist Matias Reyes. This analysis attempts to evaluate the form of social injustice among the member of Black American like Yusuf face in the United States, what brings them their implications and the interventions that have been put in place to combat these challenges.

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There is a lot of disparity due to lack of social justice among the Black Americans, which can be seen I there basic social structures. One of them is that most members of this group flourish in poverty. The poverty rate statistics show that in the United States, African American is the ethnic reading group with the highest rate of poverty with 27.4 percent. The Hispanic closely follows it at 26.6 percent while the white only has 9.9 percent. According to Stratton (2015), in 1070s poverty eradication rate in the United States was very promising, and if the relationship had been maintained, it would have been eradicated in the 1980s. However, this has not been the case due to the essence of social injustice among certain groups, such as African Americans. Inequality in the distribution of resources makes the rate of poverty among the Negros rise instead of falling. For example, in 2007, 12.5% of African American was announced to be officially poor. Instead of falling, this percentage rose up to 15% in 2010. This is even though African Americans are associated with working very hard and for long hours. Looking to another dimension of poverty, statistic shows that 45.0% of the African American children who are below the age of 6 are living in poverty compared to 14.5% of the white children (Assari, 2018). The poverty starts from childhood to adulthood, and the cycle continues making it hard for the African American to maintain a good standard of living.

The income rate of African American dramatically contributes to the poverty level of African Americans. They are the leading group with the lowest income rate in the United States. For example, in 2011, 28 % of the African American employees were earning $11.06 or less per hour, which is below the poverty-level wages. This makes them work for many hours to make ends meet. Williams, Priest & Anderson (2016) asserted that the primary cause of poverty in the United States is waging inequalities. It contributes to a 5.5% increase in the poverty rate.

The poverty level of the African American leads to housing segregation. This refers to the essence of denying the African American equal access to housing through processes such as racial steering, financial services, denial of reality, and a process of misinformation. This makes the African American lack opportunity to own houses. Besides, aspects such as the relocation of African American makes it hard for them to possess good houses. They also live in segregated areas with minimal investment, which makes this neighborhood miserable. In reference to (Ard, 2015), when African American are relocated, they are mostly relocated to European populated areas, and due to the racial stereotyping, most of them will relocate creating a relegation. This makes the African American continue living in poor neighborhoods which are less developed. Other factors that impact on African American ownership of houses include dual housing market. This is where house brokers will discriminate African American when they want to purchase or rent an apartment. This makes it increasingly difficult for them to own a home. Though the essence of discrimination has been outlawed by several court ruling, a survey that was conducted by (Williams, Priest, & Anderson, 2016) shows that 30% of African American felt discriminated in housing renting and buying through such things as the realtor agencies withholding housing information.

In some cases, financial institutions will sometime withhold mortgages making it difficult for a dual housing market model. Price discrimination among African American also makes it difficult for them to rent or buy a house. Besides, the essence of socioeconomic status also affects the rate of African American ownership of the house. This will be influenced by the theory of purchasing power between the African American and their counterparts whites. Due to aspects such as low income which tend to create an inverse relationship in house ownership among the whites and the blacks. Study shows that African American lives in neighborhoods which are poor with poor housing and poor living standard.

However, the socioeconomic status of African American is mostly affected by inadequate access to crucial resources such as education. Education is among the things that empower and develop human capital in society. Nevertheless, most of the African American is limited to access to quality education. As discussed above, most of the African American lives in a poor neighborhood which lacks the essential resources such as education. This implies that it becomes hard for them to attain meaningful education that can empower them to get suitable employment. A survey that was conducted by (Stratton, 2015) shows that 30% of the African American will not attain high education where most of them drop out at a very early stage due to poverty. This study also indicated that a lack of education has contributed to more than 40% of the poverty rate among African American. Low education level makes it hard for them to be competitive in the labor market, resulting in where they can only get manual jobs which are poorly paid.

The other area where the disparity is visible among the African American is in the health sector. Health is a crucial aspect of the living standard of every individual. Lack of proper health contributes to a multitude of effects among the involved group. In the United States, African American in one of the groups that have limited access to health facilities. They live in poor neighborhoods with insufficient health resources to cater to them. Besides, quality health services are so expensive in such a way that most African American cannot afford it regarding their poverty level. Lack of proper health affects them in most areas of their lives. For example, a study that was conducted by (Williams, Priest, & Anderson, 2016) indicated that poor health among the student considerably affects their educational performance. The other thing is that poor health among the working population reduces their productivity. The essence of African Americans having poor health affects their productivity and which increase their poverty rate. For example, African American is the leading group with the highest level of mental health imprecations. Statistics show that 30% 0f the individuals suffering from mental disorders will be African American. Despite this fact, they have little or no access to health care that can help them improve their conditions.

Comparing the African American with the other groups, there is a crucial gap between them. For example, in the matter of education, a survey that was conducted by (Assari, 2018) shows that at least 33% of African American will have a 2 years college degree in college in 2015 which is an increase from 2007 when it was 23%. However, the gap is so big between them, and the whited where 47% of whites will at least have a 2-year college degree. In other matters such as health, the gap between other groups and the African American is not comparable. For example, African American have a higher rate of heart diseases, hypertension, and diabetes in different groups. Besides, African American children are 500% likely to die of asthma compared to whites (Cheng & Goodman, 2015). In matters, if housing and poverty rate, African American is the leading group in the United States.

The case of Yusuf Salaam is an example of how African Americans are denied their social justice in the United States. He was a Black American whom to gather with other four were framed in 1989 in a case famous known as the central park five. Cording to interviews by the media, Yusuf confessed that he together with others were passed through a lot of injustices during this case investigation and trial. For example, Yusuf admitted in an interview with Guardian that when he was in the next room, he could hear them beat Korey one of his friends to make him confess. Though Yusuf did not confess, his friends confessed, and they were all jailed for six years despite that the DNA test did not match any one of them. In an article known as "when they see us," it was clearly explained that race played a part in convicting these teenagers with a crime they never committed. Similar to other members of African American, Yusuf had been exposed to injustices of resources such as education, health, and income disparity, which had contributed to his poverty during the time (Stratton, 2015). Besides, he faced injustice in the criminal justice system, which has been a cumulative aspect in the United States where Black Americans are brutally arrested with no reason while others are shot for no reason at all.

The role of the social workers in the society is to improve the lives of the people who are faced with social deprivation. In most cases, they will attempt to fight for the rights of the vulnerable society such as the black. In the United States, the work of the social workers has been as a fight between the powerful and the powerless. As such, it has been a difficult thing to enable the powerless community, such as the Black American, to gain their justice. However, the progress in this group is promising to extend (Appleby, Colon, & Hamilton, 2001). The African American churches also assume the role of comforting this minority group, which has been facing a lot of discrimination in the United States.

The case of Yusuf Salaam completely resonates with the life of the other members of African Americans. They face a lot of social injustices such lack of good health, education, housing, and disparity in income, which result in the high poverty rate among them. Besides, they also face a lot of injustices in the hands of a social justice system such as in the case of Yusuf, who was wrongly accused and jailed for a crime he never conducted. Though there has been a lot of effort that has been pu...