Essay Example on Discrimination in U.S. and Abroad: Pre-Civil War to Present

Discrimination has been perpetuated along different lines and not just in the United States but globally. In the United States, specifically, many are discriminated based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual inclination, religion, among others. As stated by Giulietti, Tonin, & Vlassopoulos, (2019), overt racism in the medical field was common even during the pre-civil war, Jim Crow eras and the Reconstruction of American history. However, this trend of discriminating against others has continued to exist, whereby it pervades the medical field in various subtle forms of racism today.

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Minority societies exhibit an overall mistrust attitude towards the medical profession. Giulietti, Tonin, & Vlassopoulos, (2019) hold that, discrimination between the whites and other races like the African-Americans has directly led to deliberate avoidance of hiring marginalized populations (who comprise of the minority group members, substance abusers, and even the homeless individuals) to the medical field. It is so since they associate these groups with poor compliance despite their training, relevant skills, and qualifications. An avoidance attitude is a form of racism leading to lack of trust hence directly contributing to the seen disparities within the medical care offered to the racial along with ethnic minority group members. In general, it negatively affects how the minority groups are treated regarding various illnesses within the health care facilities in the United States.

Kattari et al. (2015) hold that it is true that, for a long time, African Americans have been the victims of discrimination within the health care field of the American community. Despite the many gains made since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passage, the medical field has remained plagued by racial discrimination. Studies show that there are lower birth weights for the Africa-American babies, and there is a more likelihood of them dying during their first year of life as compared to the children who are born to the parents of the European-American race. Additionally, African Americans are generally, to a greater extent, likely to die prematurely as compared to the European Americans (Giulietti, Tonin, & Vlassopoulos, 2019). Also, African-American males’ life expectancy is seven years lower, and that for the females is five years lower than in the other races. However, these deaths have been associated with diabetes, HIV/AIDS cerebral vascular disorders, liver cirrhosis, and pulmonary infectious diseases that can be treated. Still, due to discrimination, the victims fail to undergo the right treatment. Africa Americans are also discriminated against their status, which makes them more prone to contract preventable as well as curable diseases like tuberculosis, hypertension, asthma, influenza, heart diseases, pneumonia, cervical cancer, hernia, acute respiratory conditions, and appendicitis.

According to Kattari et al. (2015), despite tremendous requirements for medical treatment, numerous African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos, among others, are not able to effectively get access to medical care. The inaccessibility is brought about by a variety of factors such as lack of health insurance, 'patient damping,' challenges in getting prescription drugs along with an inadequate number of African-American doctors. Due to this, a large number of African- American society find themselves unable to get access to medical treatment since they lack medical insurance. Medical care access depends on the level of income and employment within a position that offers insurance. The fact that the African American population of the United States is disproportionately poor, the individuals then face discrimination due to their inability to obtain employment that gives medical insurance or pays directly for health care. Therefore, this directly renders numerous African Americans with no medical insurance form.

On average, even after income adjustments, African Americans are found to be receiving less aggressive kind of treatment for different physical ailments. Concerning cardiac treatment, half of the African American men are likely to undergo coronary angiography, and one-third are likely to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery compared to the other races. It shows that too much of racial considerations greatly influence treatment intensity within the internal medicine realm. Even after taking into account the income differentials, African American patients still face aggressive treatment for illnesses and conditions like glaucoma, pneumonia, and kidney failure. Also, during childbirth, both the black and Latina women, among others, face difficulties whereby fewer cesarean sections are done for them as compared to the whites, as explained by SteelFisher et al., (2019). The discrimination extends to mental health, as African Americans are less often considered viable psychotherapy patients. Thus they tend to be cared for by inexperienced therapists; they undergo treatments for shorter periods, which are also less intensively as compared to the other mental health patients, as stated by Lazarevic, Crovetto, & Shapiro, (2018).

Kattari et al., (2015), asserts that discrimination has led to many medical profession detecting certain illnesses at more advanced phases or stages, especially in African Americans. Due to this, not so much drastic and invasive treatment measures are no longer viable. It leads to an earlier avoidable undergoing, being undertaken to the patients like partial or even total leg amputation and bilateral orchiectomy in prostate cancer treatment attempts among the African race in the United States. Today, African Americans also face racial discrimination in the transplantable kidneys allocation, whereby they spend a lot of time on the waiting lists of kidney allocation. Also, there is less likelihood of them being transplantable kidney recipients even after the long waiting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, discrimination in the United States can indeed be lowered by building trust for all individuals regardless the race, gender, and ethnicity which can directly lead to more patients getting involved in health care, adherence towards the recommended treatment as well as an increased willingness in the medical field or profession participation. It is clear that the patient's race or ethnicity greatly influences the treatment, diagnostics, and the feelings of the health caregivers regarding their patients. Nonetheless, regardless of whether it is explicit or even unconscious, racism amongst the medical professionals is itself a form of bigotry that should be addressed from both an ethical and medical perspective.

References

Giulietti, C., Tonin, M., & Vlassopoulos, M. (2019). Racial discrimination in local public services: A field experiment in the United States. Journal of the European Economic Association, 17(1), 165-204.

SteelFisher, G. K., Findling, M. G., Bleich, S. N., Casey, L. S., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., ... & Miller, C. (2019). Gender discrimination in the United States: Experiences of women. Health services research, 54, 1442-1453.

Lazarevic, V., Crovetto, F., & Shapiro, A. F. (2018). Challenges of Latino young men and women: Examining the role of gender in discrimination and mental health. Children and Youth Services Review, 94, 173-179.

Kattari, S. K., Walls, N. E., Whitfield, D. L., & Langenderfer-Magruder, L. (2015). Racial and ethnic differences in experiences of discrimination in accessing health services among transgender people in the United States. International Journal of Transgenderism, 16(2), 68-79.