Racism And Racism

In America, a culture of sustained racism and sexism influences foreign policymakers, which results in colonialism and imperialism, the desecration of nations, and militancy. The authors of the articles, Michael L. Krenn and Laura McEnaney, with differing skill sets, provide evidence of racial and gendered bias in foreign policy. In “The Adaptable Power of Racism,” Krenn expertly examines the history of racism within foreign policy; how racism adapted in the face of religious and scientific challenges, and the overall effects of racist foreign policies.1 McEnaney, in “Gender Analysis and Foreign Relations,” provides a lackluster account of the application of gender analysis to foreign policy, specifically in relation to the policies of the Cold War and Spanish-American War.2 The history of racism and sexism in America provide a blueprint for foreign policymakers, where racist militancy and sexist excuses override basic human rights.

The first issue that I learned after watching the health disparities video is despite similar levels of education and economic standing that African American women have the higher rates of infant mortality than Caucasian females with less education and a lower economic standing. The video theorized that this anomaly was most likely due to with experiences associated with racism. The video asserted that racism was a constant stressor and that neuroendocrine and sympathetic nervous system changes caused by stress could result in the gradual breakdown of the body and its systems.

Race has a great impact on the health of a population because it affects the perception of a potential patient. Minority groups face harsh stigmas that dehumanize the quality of their life. Movements such as Black Lives Matter seems to be the 21st century solution to systematic oppression that has been with the United States since the creation of this country. However, this has placed a great barrier for African Americans, Hispanic/Latino and many other underrepresented minorities that is now irreversible. This barrier is detrimental to the physical and mental state/health of minority individuals. Those who do not have to worry about social issues such as police brutality and whether their safety will be compromised because of the pigmentation

Racism may also adversely affect mental health status through the subjective experience of discrimination. Recent qualitative studies and journalistic accounts reveal that blacks experience discrimination in a broad range of contexts in society and that these incidents can induce considerable distress. Some studies have found that exposure to discrimination in the laboratory setting leads to cardiovascular and psychological reactivity among blacks. Similarly, some epidemiological studies have found that exposure to racial discrimination was positively related to elevated levels of blood pressure in blacks although this association has not always been found.

Race contributes to racial differences in health identified multiple ways in which racism initiates and sustains health disparities. Stress, anxiety, and other health issues can affect a migrant person because they might feel overwhelmed to be in a new place. These are some of the basic factors, that can contribute to deteriorating health for many migrant people. These factors can be leading to use tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.  Different races do not have the proper health care, like the whites do and I believe that segregation has a big part and impact on those groups rather than whites because they live under a level of segregation that is higher than them.  As stated in Rethinking the Color Line by Charles A. Gallagher ”Studies

Racial inequality has always been an issue of the past in the United States that is still present today, but what happens when racism interferes with the well being and health of minorities? When it comes to health African Americans fall at the bottom of the list. “African Americans are much more likely than people in other racial/ethnic groups to die from heart disease and stroke. Heart disease and stroke are the biggest reasons for inequality in life expectancy between whites and African Americans.” (Aetna) There are countless influences that contribute to the result of poor health of blacks in the United States such as racial discrimination, environmental exposures, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, the lack of access to health care, incarceration, poverty, various diseases and many more.

Before delving further into these aspects, a distinct understanding of racism, discrimination, and disparities is significant to seeing the connection of how they each relate to the health impacts of American minorities. Racism is an institutional and systematic form of oppression, seeking to undermine the progression of minority groups, in an effort to place them as inferior based upon the taxonomy of race. Discrimination is clear mistreatment among certain individuals based on prejudices against various parties. Finally, disparities are facets of different communities that force an unfair disadvantage upon them. All three of these factors contribute to negative health impacts among minorities. Racism and discrimination have played a major role in creating such health disparities over many years throughout history.

I have learned that etiological causes of death are not diseases but they are what make us sick in the first place. Good examples of etiological causes of death incudes poor diets and inactivity. An epidemiological scientific study of racism classified racism as being an etiological factor for diseases and injuries. Since then, many others researches have been focused on its measurement and how racism plays a major role in health disparities. Despite the lack of agreement on the definition of racism, we cannot deny that racism is a factor that has affected the quality of life of certain groups of people throughout the history. Oxford dictionary defines discrimination as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex” (Oxford). Discrimination has been related to depression and anxiety that lead to a poor general health outcome. The concept of racism can be defined as being discriminated against because of one’s skin color. In the 13th annual summer public health video conference in minority health at the University of North Carolina Chapel, four presenters carefully discuss about whether or not racism is really making us sick by looking at different approaches and perspectives.

In this article, it talks about the impact of racial discrimination on health outcomes of children of color within the United States. Close to 30 percent of the American population consist of these children that are of color. At a very young age, children of color may experience negatives actions of see negative images of their race in their daily social interaction and get the feeling that they are not equal. Most of these experiences can become very personal and deep within the history of the family causing the children's health to decline by affecting biological functioning such as your immune function making it more likely for children of color to become sick and it also impacts the mental state causing depression which can lead to more

Racism has been a growing concern in the United States for many decades. Many individuals of color are treated unfairly just because they are of pigment. Recently many individuals in the African American Communities sparked out in outrage when individuals such as Michael Brown and many more were racially profiled by the police and were brutally attacked. Racism does not only limits individuals of color their freedom and rights but has further impacts on health. However, when one mentions inequalities and racism, people may look at it in terms of a justice problem, but not much attention is given how racism and inequalities impact people of color and their lives. Racism needs to be resolved because this issue is spontaneously growing across the nation targeting innocent victims of color and creating long-term health issues.

Individual and global racism affects the quality of life for people of color in anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and in many other physical and mental health problems due to a verity of stressors. Because of racism, the health status for persons of a minority group can suffer shorter

Did you know that racism can cause a wide range of health problems that can actually kill you! It can cause health issues such as heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety, premature birth and a low birth rate. Most of these health issues can send you

thought they had hit a “post-racial” milestone when Barack Obama became the first African American president. But racial discrimination still continues to be a problem for the people of color in the United States. Experiences of discrimination are a form of stress that can have serious implications for mental and physical health, ranging from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder to all-cause mortality and hypertension(Cause, Effects and Future Impacts of Racism1). Consequently, the lives of millions of people who are affected by racism are suffering in silence and are developing chronic mental illnesses. According to the Chan School of Public Health, the current research has shown inconsistencies in different studies representing the African Americans who are affected by racism today and certain files have been historically ignored not giving fair trials to those who are affected. With unfair trials come with unfair consequences given to the person who did no wrong in the situation like jail time, certain rights taken away, and possibly death. Racial supremacists around the world need to let the past go and start focusing on the new beginnings that are being created.

There have also been many incidences of racism that occur on college campuses and are considered to be fairly common. These incidences of racism and discrimination affect Black students academically, socially, and psychologically in the forms of anxiety and depression (Chao, Mallinckrodt, & Wei, 2012). Just as it has been found that racism and discrimination effect students it also been found by Greer and Spalding (2017) that it affects people of different ages more than others. “…[E]vidence suggests that age moderates emotional, behavioral, and psychological responses to racism for African Americans…” (p. 588). One effect that most minorities that encounter acts of racism have, regardless of age, is a mental health disorder known as anxiety disorder. This disorder tends to affect the Black American community more than any other racial group. Racism and discrimination experiences could be the culturally specific link to anxiety in the Black community (Graham, West, Martinez, & Roemer, 2016, p. 369). This means that people in the Black community are more likely to have an anxiety disorder because they are facing culturally specific stressors on a daily basis, along with daily tasks, that other communities do not.

In today’s society they criminal justice system is racist and bias because blacks and people of color, who are low-income are targeted by law enforcements. Society is blind and doesn’t want to see how racist the world is, even though you can see racism through media, people killing people, and the criminal justice systems. The media has a great impact on the people, because they only broadcast news that gives fears and show how bad people of color and blacks are, and hardly reporting crimes that white people have committed.