Rural Households Suffer Most From Hunger in US - Essay Sample

Introduction

Over 37 million Americans are reported to be living in families that experience struggles with hunger (Food Research and Action Center). Primarily, the families located in the rural area usually experience substantially more profound struggles with hunger when compared to the households found in metro areas. The rates of food insecurity are also higher in the rural areas representing 12.7percent when compared to 10.8 percent in the metro areas(Food Research and Action Center). The households headed by African Americans are reported to experience a high rate of food insecurity compared to the families headed by whites (Allen, Benjamin, and Monideepa, p. 512).

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The rate of poverty is also reported as much higher among African Americans. For instance, the Food Research and Action Center reported in 2018 that the rate of poverty among African Americans was 20.8 percent, while that of the whites represented 8.1 percent (Food Research and Action Center). Households headed by African Americans are found to have considerably lower household income when compared to the whites. The causes of hunger and poverty include racial discrimination in the country (Food Research and Action Center). There have been numerous concerns about segregation, especially in employment and provision of certain human requirements to the African Americans. Inequality is a significant cause of the hunger and poverty trends among African Americans as there is a huge disparity of income (Daly, Bart, and Joseph, p. 2). Low incomes in African American households results in increased poverty and hunger rates. Extreme poverty is a direct cause of hunger as the households are unable to provide food security for the family. Gender discrimination is also a contributing factor in poverty levels in African Americans (NPR, p. 1).

Illiteracy Among African Americans

Whites have historically scored high compared to African Americans on most literacy measures. The literacy gap is associated with social inequalities and the current home and school setting that is seen to further the gap. Nevertheless, research shows that the adult literacy gap has decreased over the years, although it is still sizeable (Cohen, Sheida, and Steffaney, p. 124). Besides, there is a significant trend in Africans moving up the education ladder over the past years. The African Americans have over the ears witnessed overall attainment in education, leading to a reduction in the literacy gap.

Homelessness Among African American Families

According to a government report, over 50percent of the homeless households are black. In the year 2019, approximately 568000 Americans were reported to experience homelessness, where the African Americans represented 40 percent of the total population without homes (Karma). Households led by African Americans with children account for 52 percent, while the households led by whites with children accounted for about 35 percent. There have been efforts to end the homelessness trend in the US, where African Americans have enjoyed considerable over-representation among the homeless population. A number of factors can be associated with increased homelessness among African Americans. Advocates usually state that the compounding impacts of the prolonged inequalities and discrimination, especially within the housing of the United States, contributes to homelessness. The other reasons for the high homelessness include criminal justice and healthcare systems.

Techniques of Housing Discrimination Against African Americans

Housing discrimination in the US describes the practice of denying the African American population or the minority groups equal housing access via the denial of reality, misinformation process, racial steering, and denial of financial services. The housing policy has contributed to housing discrimination in the country across history. The various aspects leading to housing segregation include spatial assimilation, socioeconomic status, and immigration. Housing discrimination in the United States among African Americans occurs in different ways.

Racial discrimination is one of the commonly applied approaches to deny African Americans housing in the country. Racial segregation is prevalent, and it affects the housing of minority groups, including African Americans (NPR, p. 2). The other technique African Americans experience discrimination in housing include differential treatment of tenants. African American tenants receive different treatments compared to the White counterparts as they experience harsh rates and poor housing structures. Further, disparate allocation of contractual terms, as well as residency conditions, is a technique that is also applied to discriminate African Americans for housing. Housing discrimination is associated with several impacts on African Americans, including unequal standards of living where they will ultimately live in poor conditions and experience hunger issues. Housing discrimination results in relocation or African Americans and increased poverty levels among the population.

Drug abuse in the African American Community

The United States Bureau of Census suffers an estimated 44 million individuals of African origin who live in the US, and comprise of 13.4 percent of the entire US population. African Americans are also overrepresented when it comes to drug abuse in the US, although they are more likely to seek drug addiction treatment. Countrywide surveys on alcohol and drug abuse in the United States consistently demonstrate that the rates of substance abuse are found to be similar across whites, African Americans, and Hispanics. According to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a 2014 national survey on drug use and health showed that the drinking rates and the rates of problem drinking among African Americans are lower compared to the national average. However, illegal drug use and abuse were reported to be slightly higher (Horton, p. 2). Drug abuse is associated with exposure to stressors of life, family influence, and mental health (Miller and Gabrielle). They also suffer from legal consequences and exposure to communicable illnesses, including HIV/AIDS.

What Are Some of the Efforts of the African American Community to Address All the Above Problems?

African Americans in the US have adopted various ways to address the challenges of poverty, hunger, illiteracy levels, homelessness, and drug abuse. The primary causes of the above issues include social inequality, gender discrimination, and housing discrimination (Jones, p. 140). African Americans have worked hard to ensure the US government protects their rights and puts more effort into increasing their representation in various sectors such as employment, education, and housing. The efforts have seen a reduction in poverty and hunger levels, as more African Americans can secure jobs in the country. The increased campaign for gender equality also increases income levels among African American households as women can now find employment with their male counterparts. Housing rights are introduced to protect all tenants and avoid homelessness in the country.

Works Cited

Allen, Nickolas L., Benjamin J. Becerra, and Monideepa B. Becerra. "Associations between food insecurity and the severity of psychological distress among African-Americans." Ethnicity & health 23.5 (2018): 511-520.

Cohen, Dale J., Sheida White, and Steffaney B. Cohen. "Mind the gap: the black-white literacy gap in the national assessment of adult literacy and its implications." Journal of Literacy Research 44.2 (2012): 123-148.

Daly, Mary, Bart Hobijn, and Joseph H. Pedtke. "Disappointing facts about the black-white wage gap." FRBSF Economic Letter 26 (2017): 1-5.

Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). Hunger & Poverty in America. (2020). https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america

Horton, Arthur. "Substance Abuse in Black America: Blaming the Victim or Victimizer." J Alcohol Drug Depend 2.163 (2014): 2.

Jones, Marian Moser. "Does race matter in addressing homelessness? A review of the literature." World medical & health policy 8.2 (2016): 139-156.

Karma Allen. More than 50% of homeless families are black, government report finds. (2020). https://abcnews.go.com/US/50-homeless-families-black-government-report-finds/story?id=68433643

Miller, Kristin, and Gabrielle Harvery. "CONTRIBUTING FACTORS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS RESIDING IN PUBLIC HOUSING: AN INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW." (2017).

NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Found., Harvard TH Chan Sch. Public Health. "Discrimination in America: Experiences and Views of African Americans." (2017). https://www.npr.org/assets/img/2017/10/23/discriminationpoll-african-americans.pdf