SOC2000 CAPELLA Social Activism And Healthcare Data Analysis
SOC2000 CAPELLA Social Activism And Healthcare Data Analysis
Running head: INSTITUTION RACISM 1 Institutional Racism Nikki Singletary Cultural Diversity Capella University
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January 2019 INSTITUTION RACISM 2 Institutional Racism The present paper, directed at a general audience, aims to increase the awareness that the average citizen has about a socially relevant issue such as institutional inequalities. In this context, institutional racism or systemic racism which refers to the form of racism seen in the practice of political and social institutions such as schools, courts, militaries, and etcetera. This form of racism reflects in the disparities arising in income, wealth, employment, criminal justice, health care, housing, political power, education, and other factors. Unlike the racism that is perpetrated by individuals, institutional racism is capable of affecting a large segment of people belonging to a particular group. Coined in 1967, the term institutional racism has attracted a lot of attention. Researchers argue that although it is possible to identify individual racism quickly, one cannot spot institutional racism easily because it is more subtle than individual racism. The main reasons why people focus on individual racism and leave out the institutional racism include the ease of identifying and dealing with individual racism. Without analysis and statistics, one cannot easily determine the racism is happening at the institutional level. In the United States, one of the episodes that left a significant impact on relations of race is slavery. During the period where slavery was not illegal, slaves all over the world fought for their freedom by bringing together people to rebel the slave trade. After the legislation to end slavery got passed, the descendants of the slaves fought against racism and all attempts to perpetuate racism. Some of the ways they used to rebel racism include the Civil Rights movement. However, the end of slavery through the passing of the legislation did not indeed mark an end to racism. In some places such as Texas, slaves stayed under bondage for at least two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Racism has affected many institutions in the United States INSTITUTION RACISM 3 of America, and although some people may defend that it no longer exists, the roots run very deep and would take national effort to end it. Systemic bias is evident in some ways for instance; black people face higher chances of wrongful drug convictions in courts compared to white people. According to some studies of wrongful convictions, the justice system in the United States of America disproportionately judges the black people wrongfully. The studies found that in murder, drug crimes and sexual assault, black people face higher chances of being convicted wrongfully. At least 28.3 percent of the people arrested in 2013 were blacks (FBI, n.d). The study also revealed that among the black people who were serving time for sexual assaults, there were three and a half more chance of the black people being innocent compared to the white people. While African Americans make up only 13 percent of the population in America, 47 percent of the race was part of the convictions. Institutional racism also exists in the political platform when people are discussing the war on drugs. The ‘war on drugs’ campaign was in response to the crack problems primarily facing the black communities. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2013, 4.5 percent of black Americans had used crack by the year 2013. The way institutions handled that campaign is different from the way they treat the opioid epidemic that affects the white people mostly. Moreover, this conviction according to which African Americans are drug dealers has motivated a more severe and often discriminative treatment form part of the police officers, judges, and criminal guards. Another evidence that institutional racism still exists involves the number of Hispanic or African Americans serving time in prison. Although, the two races making up only one-quarter of the population in the USA, 2.58 percent of prisoners come from the African American and Hispanic community. Institutional discrimination does not only affect people through wrongful INSTITUTION RACISM 4 convictions in the judicial system. According to the NAACP’s criminal justice fact sheet (n.d) not only is 2.58 percent of the two races in correctional facilities, one in every six African American men has served time in a correctional facility at one point of life. Summarily, African Americans are imprisoned at six times the rate of white people. Some of the factors that influence the way in which the criminal justice system discriminates minorities such as African Americans and Latinos are their race and cultural background. For instance, these factors determine that they will form part of gangs that have their own rules and may take revenge against other people in the community if they perceive that the job done by the police officers and the justice system is ineffective at controlling problems in the city. Other factors that may contribute to such a situation are the economic difficulties faced by these groups of people and their low literacy level as compared to the average white American. Institutional discrimination is so evident that it affects the voting rights of some people. At least 13 percent of black people get denied their voting rights. First, the disproportionate and unjust incarceration rates impact the lives of the people beyond their time in jail. In many states, people convicted of felonies do not have the right to vote. Therefore, one in every ten African American men cannot exercise his constitutional rights. Voting is one of the pillars of democracy in the United States of America. From statistics, one can see that Brown vs. Board failed to end the racial injustices that take place in schools. Some schools practice more racial inequities now than in the earlier decades. Eighty percent of students from Latino backgrounds and 4.74 percent of students from the African American race attend school in institutions that have more than half-minority INSTITUTION RACISM 5 population. These statistics count because they bring out the lack of integration that happens in schools among the white and the black. One can see institutional racism in the way schools discipline white students versus the students of color. The students of color and more so the black students get a suspension or expelled at three times the rate of other students, affecting the girls more. The overrepresentation of black people in juvenile correctional facilities mostly results from the disparity in disciplinary actions in schools (Alvarez, Liang, & Neville, 2016). The suspensions and expelling also explain a large segment of the differences in academic achievements between the whites and people of color. In the healthcare system, racial and ethnical minorities face disproportionate barriers to healthcare services. Many people of color are forced to settle for lower quality care because of the cost barriers that affect the communities (Williams, Priest, & Anderson, 2016). According to researchers, zones with high numbers of blacks and other minority groups have higher chances of having low-quality health care compared to different zones. The cost of care, the location of providers, exclusion from health researches among other factors contribute to the inequality in healthcare provision. According to a study conducted in 2013, the number of black college graduates that were unemployed was almost two times that of unemployed graduates all over the country. In 2014, a study revealed that at least 12 percent of graduates from the African American race were unemployed. That is way higher than the 5.6 percent of the total number of college graduates that were unemployed. The study stated that recession affected all college graduated, but it is proportionately tricky for graduates from races of color. One factor that contributes mainly to racial discrimination within the employment sector is the way culture still undermines the names INSTITUTION RACISM 6 that fail to sound white. Some studies reveal that when a person with a name that sounds African American or other minor races applies for a job, he/she is less likely to get an invite for an interview when compared to those with names that sound ‘white.’ Institutional racism also affects housing in America. According to a report made by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, racism affects the housing market and is evident by the statistics showing how homebuyers saw available houses. The study found that home buyers and renters of color got told and shown fewer houses than the white buyers. The attitudes that surround the people of color living in segregated areas played a significant role in the discrimination. Some decades back, reports showed that very few white respondents (25 percent) were willing to buy or rent a house in an area where half the population was black. An indication of institutional racism within the country is the wealth levels and distribution. According to studies, the Latino and African American families hold less than 5 percent total wealth in the country while the white families hold ninety percent. The disparity results from many factors including the racial biases in schools, incarceration, and employment. Another survey conducted in 2013 revealed that the top ten families in America own the most significant amount of wealth. Consequently, one works out that the net worth of the white families is an estimated $134,000 which is ten times higher than that of Hispanic families ($14,000) and African American families ($11,000). The disparities arising from institutional discrimination are overwhelming. Therefore, the government and institutions need to identify ways to reduce and gradually end the problem. For example, some of the policies that can mitigate institutional discrimination include making laws that ensure the black and the white graduates have equal chances of getting good education and employment. When African Americans have a fair opportunity like the white people, their INSTITUTION RACISM 7 chances of committing crimes and ending up in correctional facilities will reduce. Consequently, the justice system will judge people of color like white people. The government should also solve the biases arising in the health sector by ensuring that all people have equal opportunities to get health care services. In schools, the management should participate in ending the segregation; students also can play a critical role in changing the system by rebelling against the policies that support discrimination of some people based on their race. The students of color deserve as much time in school as the white ones, therefore, their disciplinary periods should not be discriminatory The voting system should also ensure that the rules that segregate some people from exercising their rights get reviewed to protect the minority. INSTITUTION RACISM 8 References Alvarez, A. N., Liang, C. T., & Neville, H. A. (2016). The cost of racism for people of color: Contextualizing experiences of discrimination. American Psychological Association. Criminal Justice Fact Sheet, Retrieved from http://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/ Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Persons arrested. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/persons-arrested/personsarrested Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. (n.d.). Quick Tables. Retrieved from https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/quicktables/quickoptions.do Williams, D. R., Priest, N., & Anderson, N. B. (2016). Understanding associations among race, socioeconomic status, and health: Patterns and prospects. Health Psychology, 35(4), 407.
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