Racial Inequality in US: Impact on Minorities - Essay Sample

Introduction

Racial inequality is rampant in the United States as the most affected are people the from the minority group. Fundamentally, manifested in terms of wealth distribution, power as well as life opportunities that are given to be based on their races or ethnic group. Every ethnic group is usually associated with some acts, for example, blacks are always linked to drug trafficking. Racial disparity does affect the victims mentally what can have a lasting effect on them. The fact that most minorities in America are never seen as people and rarely get a chance for employment or any other opportunities is quite alarming and has caused several mental issues to the groups. Various studies have suggested that the increased racism and discrimination in the US among the minorities have been manifested even in the sectors such as the healthcare, employment and education. This paper therefore attempts to examine and understand the biases people might willingly or unwillingly have against minorities. The paper will further attempt to understand all aspects of discrimination that minorities face in the United States, with a specific focus to the people of Hispanic.

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Racism in Provision of Healthcare in the United States

One may inquire about some the Latinos and blacks that have managed to become professors and other prominent persons regardless of their color. In as much as the minority groups are deprived of many privileges, some of them have emerged prominent people even after living in the same environment like other affected group. It would be good to understand how they maneuver around these challenges and still prospered. Understanding the effect of their mindset regarding racism and ethnicity in the US can contribute to brain challenges. Parental guidance from childhood profoundly affects one's life and most children, especially latinos and African Americans grow with the mentality that the whites undermine them. It would be clear getting it from the affected persons if their mindset from childhood as they grow up also contribute to these problem.

One major sector where racism has been felt is the healthcare. The people of the Latino origin have been subjected to poor healthcare systems because of their backgrounds and culture. These stereotype further subjects them to serious mental ill-health. Fundamentally, racism and discrimination stimulates stress which is extremely bad for anybody. It results to overall indicators including headaches, feeling weary, anxiety, and insomnia among others. With these entire symptoms one could easily fall into depression in the long run as well as being a leading factor to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes in the long term. It therefore goes without say that stress can affect ones general health and therefore racism and discrimination increases risk of suffering long-term health problems.

It is critical to note that healthcare system has the fundamental right to provide equal care to its people. In fact, the physicians often swear the Hippocratic oaths to attend to all patients irrespective of their origins in a manner that is equal and unbiased; the problem is that this is not the case today and the answer to why this happens is very complex. Instances of racism in health care settings that have affected different individuals within America and someplace else in the world portray the negative associations and assumptions we can call racism, though a majority of doctors are not outward racist and show a commitment to the equal treatment of all patients. All the same, they work in a system that is fundamentally racist. Moreover, it is very evident that the subconscious stereotypes shown by Americans also referred to as implicit bias, have the potential of affecting the manner in which physicians treat the sick. Fundamentally, there happens to be very many levels and layers to the issue of racism.

It is worth noting that racial discrimination and racism at large are deep rooted within the social, political, and economic frameworks of the society in America and some other places all over the world. For the colored communities the fact that they are different results in unsatisfactory access to healthcare and a multitude of other public goods and services. At a time when there are very many highly broadcasted happenings to protest the lack of equality in health care such as the Hispanic revolutions, it is evident that there has been a longstanding failure in addressing structural or ingrained racism together with implicit bias.

There are various biases that have been directed against the Hispanic people. Racism based on discrimination refers to the act or behavior with the intention or effect of harming the pleasure of some essential human rights. The right to non-discrimination should mean that people are treated equally with respect for their self-esteem, their confidentiality should also be preserved and that they are not coerced. Discrimination is studied about the impacts that it has on various forms of health effects. Research provides a complete account of the relationship between numerous forms of the discrimination and its outcomes regarding mental or physicals aspects. Fundamentally, the health outcomes also depend on how one perceives bias as it is observed in the physiological as well as psychological responses and health behaviors. In a study carried out, it was realized that discrimination leads to relatively high negative impacts on mental as well as physical health. Likewise, it leads to high-stress responses and also related to participation in unhealthy and non-participation in behaviors which are healthy.

It is critical to note that, infringement of people's rights as well as poverty is the fundamental forces which lead to health disparities. In his study, he researched on the indicators discrimination such as social class and health of ethnic minorities. Even though bias has significantly reduced, some of the severe forms still exist and are still observed in some societies. The study reveals substantive evidence on the harmful impacts of discrimination in several mental health results.

Racism in Employment

According to Quillian et al. Discrimination in the field of employment is a critical factor that has increased racism against the people from the minority group. Notably, the Hispanics and the African Americans been subjected to a serious state of unemployment based on the position and social statuses. Ideally, the white supremacists have always used historical poverty as reason for denying and barring the members of the Hispanic and African-Americans crucial positions within the job market. Akee et al. (2013) offers a tremendous exposition regarding the economic aspect of racism. Ideally, study goes over the average income and poverty rate of all races in America and compares the findings. The study recognizes that US has the highest level of income inequality across all the races. The poverty and human rights issues have been reported to be some of the major issues that have contributed to this inequality. The author further notes that the rise in inequality in the United States over the last three decade have reached the point where the income inequality is contributing to the unhealthy division within the opportunities. This is undeniably a tremendous threat to the growth. Researchers suggest that restoration of the degree of fairness to the US on the market would contribute to a lucrative business

Restoring a greater degree of fairness to the U.S. job market would be good for businesses, good for the economy, and good for the country. It is thus evident that discrimination is a major obstacle for the ethnic and religious minorities and immigrants within the United States. The employment is undeniably the main path for the social inclusion. Ethnic and religious minorities should therefore find appropriate mechanism of fully participating in the labour market.

Historically, colonialists used to subdue the minorities mentally, in addition to the inferiority complex. Despite the fact that minorities had a lot of hidden treasures, minerals among other resources, the minorities were made to believe that they were nothing. The social complexities dictate that those who control economic resources stay above the food chain. Owning property and land was and is still a core measure of wealth. On the corridors of justice, it is critical to note that both the Hispanics and Africans were out of the picture as formal education in almost all sectors were not meant for them (Akee et al. 2013). This meant that they could not have a voice; they were devoid of any "foundation of reason or justice" as Vinture Smith puts it in "A narrative of Life and Adventures of venture.

The injustice that Smith met while on the journey was "enough for a black dog". From this remark by smith, it is evident that illiteracy was part of the mental siege that the minorities were subjected to by their oppressors. There has been a general opinion that Hispanics were uncivilized barbarians yet the stories that Smith narrate about Africa dismisses those opinion and assumptions. In the preface of Smith's narrative, the slaves are referred to as "beasts" or "domesticated animals" which points back to the inferiority complex which made Hispanics and Africans think lowly of themselves. The general assumptions that were already imprinted in the minds of the colonizers could not allow them to think otherwise of Africa irrespective of what Smith said. The racial thoughts, prejudices and attitudes had been part and parcel of the European and oriental culture. Aligning this thought to Aristotelian views about class structure, racial thought, which was a major justification for colonization, asserts that some individuals in society are destined to be masters and others slaves. In the same line of thought, the relationship between the master and the slaves is so for mutual benefit even though conflicts are inevitable always

Conclusion and Recommendations

Despite the biases observed in the health sector, some recommendations have been given out to help minimize the issues of racism among the minorities that includes the Hispanic community. Firstly, by ensuring that healthcare providers give full information to women regarding sexual and other options like creative options and give all details which are secure about their health. Another important recommendation is that health care providers should be trained on various informed consent, the importance of confidentiality and non-discrimination healthcare seekers. Through making complaints that can be accessed and even redress mechanisms that are available in the healthcare environment. Undeniably, discrimination has led to severe adverse effects in the healthcare sectors, and therefore significant measures should be put in place to help curb this deadly vice in our healthcare system as well as in our societies

References

Akee, R., Jones, M. R., & Porter, S. R. (2019). Race Matters: Income Shares, Income Inequality, and Income Mobility for All U.S. Races. Demography, 56(3), 999-1021. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1007/s13524-019-00773-7

Mukherjee, S., Molina, L. E., & Adams, G. (2013). "Reasonable suspicion" about tough immigration legislation: Enforcing laws or ethnocentric exclusion? Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 19(3), 320-331. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/a0032944

Quillian, Lincoln, et al. (Oct. 2017) Meta-Analysis of Field Experiments Shows No Change in Racial Discrimination in Hiring over Time. National Academy of Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706255114