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Why Do Americans See Racism As A Public Health Issue

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Racism is something many people have witnessed or experienced in communities or in other parts of the United States. Many may wonder, what is racism and how can it affect individual’s life? The typical dictionary defines racism as the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. Discriminating others based on the color of their skin or simply because they are “different” has a significant impact, both on society and the individuals who experience it. There are three keys to understand racism: the biggest level will be institutional racism (government, laws, schools), the intermediate level is personally- mediated racism (motives, and intense by race), and lastly is internalized …show more content…

Problems such as, violent and discrimination with police practices have increased these last couple of years. People in the United States see racism as a problem that is affecting society, and the young generation. Education, income, job opportunities, and even people’s health being affected in society.
Why do Americans see racism as a public health issue? They’re many reasons why racism is considered to be a BIG public health issue. One reason is, racial discrimination puts black Americans at risk for long or short-term health problems. These health problems can either be emotionally or physically. According to Silverstein, “Discrimination has been shown to increase the risk of stress, depression, the common cold, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and mortality” (Par. 3). Minorities have a greater chance of being discriminated in society, which brings stress into their lives. Stress and fear can bring health problems into their life as it progresses and it gets worse and becomes a health issue. Stress can lead to high blood pressure, depression, headaches, and stroke. Stress

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