Shades Of Difference Theoretical Underpinnings Summary

Even if slavery is not the presiding rule of the land on this planet any longer, segregation based on appearance still exists, just as the "social construction of ‘whiteness’ historically has implied the racial superiority of whites", and prompted the "separate but equal" doctrines of the late nineteenth century (Rundblad & Kivisto xxxi).

The book has as its principal thesis the consideration of race as “a folk classification, a product of popular beliefs about human differences that evolved from 16th to 19th centuries” (Smedley, 2007, pag.24). The book also specifies three characteristics that distinguish the racial ideology in America: the absence of a category for biracial people, the homogenization of the black or African American Americans, and the impossibility to change a person’s race. (Smedley, 2007, pag.7)

Black or Negro doctors were not common in America during the first half of the century: 500, or about 2.6%, of New York City’s 19,000 physicians were Negro in 1963 (Curtis 64). New York City and Chicago are major cities in the United States, they also are similar when it came to population. It is to say that since New York City only had a few Black Physicians during the time then Chicago reflected the same range of numbers when it came to their black physicians. In fact, African-Americans had only made up “3% of all professional workers in [New York City] in 1950”(Curtis 64). African American women were allowed to work in the medical professions but they were mostly limited to the nursing

Beginning with the findings from Buck’s Constructing Race, Creating White Privilege, there are multiple, brilliant examples of racial mixing and establishing “whiteness,” both being main points discussed in Omi and Winant’s racialization theory. Buck establishes that ideas about race weren’t truly established until the late 1700s, and how physical differences were seldom ever noticed beforehand. This is illustrated with stories of different individuals living together with little conflict. Buck uses the

The struggle for equality has existed throughout history. The color of a person’s skin seems to depict everything about them. Not only was this an issue in earlier times, but the present as well. The battle to overcome inequity was made significantly more troublesome in the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896.

In the article Racism and Research: the Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, by Allen M. Brandt, he discusses a few mains point. The main points of the article is Racism and Medical Opinions, the origins of the experiment, how they selected the subjects, and the HEW final report. In the first point, Racism and Medical Opinions, many of the scientist believed that even with all the “education or philanthropy” the black Americans can’t be cured whether it has to do with diseases or crime. The black Americans also had a lot of deficits and were considered imperfection. Doctors say that the black Americans had a “sexual desire” which puts a lot of the whites in danger. They also say

Many years ago, an epileptic Hmong girl named Lia Lee entered a permanent vegetative state due to cross-cultural misunderstanding between her parents and her doctors. An author named Anne Fadiman documented this case and tried to untangle what exactly went wrong with the situation. Two key players in her narrative were Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, the main doctors on Lia’s case. As Fadiman describes, “Neil and Peggy liked the Hmong, too, but they did not love them… [W]henever a patient crossed the compliance line, thus sabotaging their ability to be optimally effective doctors, cultural diversity ceased being a delicious spice and became a disagreeable obstacle.” (Fadiman 265) At first glance, this statement seems to implicate Neil and Peggy as morally blameworthy for a failure to be culturally sensitive enough. However, upon further inspection of the rest of the book, it becomes clear that Neil and Peggy’s failure to be more culturally sensitive to their Hmong patients was caused by structural issues in the American biomedical system. To prove this point, this paper will first present a background to Lia’s case, then discuss possibilities for assigning blame to Neil and Peggy, then show evidence for the structural issues in American biomedicine, before finally concluding.

After the death of one of the most prominent doctors in history, Dr. Dan Hale Williams, many expressed their thoughts and sorrow through a series of eulogies that were published in 1931 by the Chicago Defender. The publication was meant to recognize Dr. William’s accomplishments, to inform the African American society that had lost one of its most valued members, and also to inspire young African Americans to take down the barriers of discrimination. During the time period, African Americans faced a great deal of inequality in healthcare, which made the work of Dr. Williams even more significant as he was considered a pioneer in equality of healthcare between races.

Though it has been apparent that people of color have been treated as a subclass within the medical field for centuries; as was brought to light in The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the recognition of forced hysterectomies and sterilizations of African American women in the 20th century and, to “The Negro Project” which worked to reduce the African American population through eugenics (Feagin & Bennefield, 2014). With even these three examples it is clear that the medical field has played a large role in creating both psychological and physical disadvantages and trauma for minority groups in America. Yet, it seems to be a subject that many professionals refuse to address. A meta-analysis conducted by Mayberry, Mili and Ofili found that,

Historical archives discovered by Dorman show that colorism had tangible boundaries within the African American community during the 1920s (47). It is stated that blacks often divided themselves into four subcategories which consisted of “black”, “brown”, “light brown”, and “yellow” Negros (Dorman 47). The above ranking would be listed in a hierarchy from “black” being at the bottom of the socially accepted hierarchy to the “yellow negro” being the most revered and desired socially.

When it comes to healthcare racial disparities continue to be an ongoing issue. In fact racial disparities have been a topic of discussion since desegregation. The US Department of Health and Human Services, in 1984 published a report that called attention to the healthcare disparities. The report was called Heath, United States 1983(Dougher, 2015). Within the context of the report there lies a passage that describes the major disparities that are within the burden of illness and death that is experienced by African Americans and other minorities, “despite significant progress in the overall health of the nation” (Dougher, 2015). It was evident that there was a serious lack of health care minorities.

Sally Satel on the other hand is a supporter of the fact that racism is not a serious problem in the health care system. Even though she agrees with IOM about health care disparity, she thinks racism is not a cause. That is what she shows the reader in her article. She argues that the health care system is colorblind. Satel she mentions the causes of health care disparities as well as ways to correct the disparities. In her opinion, “racism isn't to blame for health disparities, but rather race itself” (Satel 2). Satel identifies two possible reasons to counter the notion that racism is the cause of health care disparities. First, she quotes that, “white and black patients, on average, do not even visit the same population of physicians—making the idea of preferential treatment by individual doctors a far less compelling explanation for disparities in health” (Satel 2). Another reason is “that a higher proportion of the doctors that black patients tend to see may not be in a position to provide optimal care” (Satel 1).

The important historical experience of African Americans in our country has been shaped by the institution of slavery, dehumanization of blacks, segregation, pursuit of civil rights, and racism in contemporary American society. Disparities in health care provide compelling evidence that issues of race or skin color for the descendants of slaves and other ethnic minorities persist in the 21st century. Nurses providing care for African Americans must bridge the racial divide and incorporate culturally relevant content in the health history. As

This tolerant attitude led to a wide range of “race classification.” According to how much “white” a slave had, their value in the eyes of society increased. Slaves could be black, octaroon or mulatto to name a few. Thus this led to a classification based on one’s degree of white blood. In the United States no such classes existed. If a slave was born to a black mother, that slave was black. In essence, Latin America judged based upon the degree of “blackness” while the South saw only two races, black or white. Outward appearance, the color of the father or anything else deviated the classification in the United States. It has been said, half-facetiously, that Southerners are color blind, in the sense that individuals, despite their racial composition, are considered to be either white or black, while Latin Americans recognized degrees of blackness and whiteness.

Throughout America’s past, racial inequality has been a reoccurring theme in our society. Ever since the Europeans invaded America the white man has been superior compared to all ethnicities. No more than two hundred years ago, African Americans were slaves and only counted as three fifths of a person. Within the past hundred years African Americans have managed to obtain more equality in some situations, but in other cases racial inequality has become worse than it was when segregation took place. The gaps between the quality of education of white and black students receive appears to be growing instead of shrinking. The lack of quality education blacks receive has contributed to significant health differences between