...that may be cancerous. However, since she was coming in from an accident she was put in a trauma bay which may have furthered her growing agitation and need for attendance. Previously, we have learned about racism in the medical system and this may have attributed to her frustrations and fears of being in this situation. In a case we discussed called the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, we learned about the historical context that has to lead to a mistrust in the African-American community and the reception of poor medical treatment due to systemic...
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...remembrance of “Rosa Parks bold stand and her role in ending racism.” People all over America were puzzled as to how the Republican party could possibly believe that racism is over and accused the party of trying too hard to appeal to African American voters. The message the Republicans distributed only shows how the government continues to undermine the on-going mistreatment of African Americans. Racism has no sight of ending because for centuries the economic and social gaps between African Americans and Caucasians have steadily increased, and it will be impossible to close if we depend solely on time to fix it. Other races have received reparations for what they went through, but for some unknown reason African Americans were expected to get over their trauma because a couple of laws were passed to free them from state recognized slavery. Silence needs to be broken against racism in order to open the government’s eyes to the continuous discrimination faced by African Americans daily, in addition to the centuries of torture. Jews in Europe were victimized by Nazi Germany for a small fraction of the amount of time blacks suffered and Germany paid both the individuals and the state. Enslaved Africans, on the other hand, had slavery “abolished,” and were allowed to buy stale pieces of land in order to make crops to sell and use that money to pay back their white oppressors. The government expects people to believe that racism ended, but they see nothing wrong with Caucasians getting...
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...Running head: MENTAL HEALTH: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE Running head: MENTAL HEALTH: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE 2 African Americans living in urban, low-income, impoverished environments are at high risk for exposure to traumatic events, and have a potential prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to previous and repeated trauma exposure. African-Americans living in urban, low income communities with continuous exposure to community violence and previous personal trauma exposure, may have a higher prevalence of PTSD and other mental health disorders. As a result, living in these environments could increase the likelihood of poor social and developmental outcomes, including but not limited to increased anxiety, aggression, depression, and social withdrawal. There are numerous factors that contribute to this hypothesis: African Americans were six times more likely than Whites to be murdered or victimized (Fox & Zawitz, 2002). These include low socioeconomic status, trauma exposure, lack of cultural competency, lack of diversity in the mental health-care work force; the fragmentation of mental health services to include a mix of disparities in private plans’ coverage of mental health services, public insurance and safety net programs, federal laws, and financial barriers. Lack of trust for physicians and health care providers; exposure to urban stressors such as poverty, racism, and violence can also be barriers...
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...Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by Black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of Black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Angelou uses her autobiography to explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy. She also writes in new ways about women's lives in...
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...life course (Geronimus, 1996; Jackson et al., 1996; Jackson & Sellers, 2001; Rieker & Bird, 2005; Sellers, 2005; Williams, 2003; Williams & Neighbors, 2001). According to Geronimus (1996) study, the health status of the African Americans begins to decline at the stage of young adulthood in response to continuous social and environmental abuse as well as ongoing coping with stressful circumstances....
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...James Cameron Mr. Randolph Engl. 210 9/21/12 Tainted History in Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard Passion, precision, and technique are all synonyms used to describe Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard that take the reader through the heart of the south and the heart of the family. This essay will examine the contradictions of (African) American life, especially concerning themes of history and memory. “Southern History”, “Incident”, and “South” will demonstrate these contradictions of (African) American history and memory. Serving as a scribe, Tretheway writes these poems for those people history has muted and closed the veil on. Southern History, Incident, and South; poems from section two of her book, depict racism during slavery and the Civil War, which is a part of forgotten history in the eyes of “Americans.” These historic experiences have not been given the proper examination, discussion, or acknowledgement. Tretheway refuses to allow African American history to remain as footnotes and brings out the real “American” history in her collection of poems. Tretheway’s personal experience growing up as a mulatto in the South is seen in her poem “Southern History”. This poem shows that even after more than a hundred years after the Civil War, history is still tainted. History is imperfect and at times intentionally false as textbooks in this time period were used to misinform students; keeping them bound and restricted from the real history of America. As Tretheway’s...
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...particular race is know as racism. This phenomenon in the sociological area is defined as a system of group privilege. In Portraits of White Racism, David Wellman has defined racism as “culturally sanctioned beliefs, which, regardless of intentions involved, defend the advantages whites have because of the subordinated position of racial minorities”. Sociologists Noël A. Cazenave and Darlene Alvarez Maddern define racism as “...a highly organized system of 'race'-based group privilege that operates at every level of society and is held together by a sophisticated ideology of color/'race' supremacy.” Sociologist and former American Sociological Association president Joe Feagin argues that the United States can be characterized as a "total racist society, a statement that can be clearly proved in the film Crash. In United States, people tend to be judgmental and learn to develop a very deep fear towards other cultures. American citizens are know by their extremely nationalist attitude, which lead them to build a rejection when they are being raised, to foreign human beings. Following this further, although throughout the years this country has had many important leaders battling against racism, nowadays the expressions of it keep being rougher as we can see in the movie. This film differs from many other films about racism in its rather impartial approach to the issue. Rather than separating the characters into victims and offenders, victims of racism are often shown to be racist...
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...Racism has been a trait common in the human race for thousands of years to this day. Many have suffered because of it and many still do. From African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, and Homosexuals, racism has not just been directed upon on a certain group of individuals but to many shades of humanity. Some more infamous cases of racism have been committed against the Jewish people. In 1941 the nation of Germany lead by Adolf Hitler committed one of the most horrid acts of racism known to man. Adolf Hitler’s hatred towards the Jews was so great that as he took over more and more European countries he developed a plan known as the “Final Solution” in order to eliminate the Jewish race. His plan ultimately created what historians today call the Holocaust. During Hitler’s reign he first started the racism against the Jews by requiring them to wear the Star of David in order to identify who was a Jew and who was not. This act of labeling was bad enough but it would only grow worse. After humiliating and branding the Jews, Hitler then funneled the Jews living on his land into cramped ghetto quarters barred from the rest of the public. There they perished from disease and poverty with no hope in sight and as time progressed so did the vile ideas of Adolf Hitler. Not only did he put the Jews into ghettos, he also forced millions of them into death camps where they were forced to work until they could no more. In these camps the ones who were too weak to participate...
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...Xavier Jones Professor Brenda Stephens Eng 101 25 November 2015 Social Inequality and Racism: How We Have Killed the Dream. On August 28, 1963 The March on Washington called for more jobs and all around freedom. It remains one of the most popular mobilizations ever created. It was planned and birthed by a union of civil rights activist and people of feminist support, in which most were African Americans. The protest drew nearly a quarter of a million people to our nation’s Capital. One of, if not the most memorable moment of The March on Washington is Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (“The Forgotten Radical History of the March on Washington”). The entire speech was an ascending oratory that still speaks volumes today just as it did fifty plus years ago. The speech commanded social and racial neutrality, and looked to a desegregated society. The main idea behind Dr. King’s famous speech was very simple; equality for all mankind was necessary for the future. It was 1963 but yet Dr. King was so far down the line in terms of the next generation and what was needed for the nation and all people of different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. He had the formula; the very last portion of the speech summed it all up when he said: “This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords...
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..."Please Jesus, no. Please no. Please no, don't let him be gone,” a woman cried after her husband was fatally shot by the police while reaching for his wallet. Police brutality has become one of America’s biggest, and most controversial topics. Scrutiny surrounds the law enforcement as new cases of shootings, beatings, and assaults emerge every month. Minorities, especially African-Americans, in the country feel targeted, and hopeless against a system they perceive as oppressive, and racist. This issue has created a divide between the police, and the public. In addition, citizens question if the cops are protecting them or not. Although, it may seem like a problem with the law enforcement, both sides contribute to this issue, and continue to increase racial tensions in America....
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...When It’s All Unravel Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem titled, “Sympathy” is an exceptionally memorable and boisterous poem. This poem alludes to the pain that the African American people felt while imprisoned by slavery. Then the poem speaks of African American’s being emancipated, yet still suffering from being deprived of their equal rights and racism. Though this poem serves a significant purpose within the world, the way in which Dunbar wrote this poem is very appealing to the eyes of not only poets but to all readers. “Sympathy” consists of three stanzas and in each stanza there is a rhyming pattern of ABCCBAA, ABAABAA, ABCCBAA, which makes it a little easier for one to understand. “Sympathy,” tells a story about what African American people felt and had to face in the late 19th century to the early 20th century. In the very first line of the first stanza it states, “I KNOW what the caged bird feels, alas,” is very symbolic to the lost of liberation and freedom. But to be more specific the caged bird is a metaphor for the African American people, who were struggling to find liberation and freedom. When a bird is caged it can only fly within a designated space never being able to completely spread its wings and sore freely. Occasionally the bird gets tired of being confine to such a secluded area, the bird then tries to escape but is usually unsuccessful and is left with an abundant amount of injuries. In the first stanza, the bird is clearly being deprived of its God given...
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...As the American colonies, mostly the Southern colonies, became more rich and appealing than the motherland of England, several men, and women and even children sought to live there. However, most of them could not afford the passage to the colonies, so they agreed to work for a time to pay off the debt and get started in their new life. In order to do this, they meet with an English representative to sign an indenture, or contract, that included housing and food in exchange for labor. The time these people worked was from 4 to 7 years, but children would have worked longer. In other cases, indentured servants were not free people, but prisoners and sinners sent to the colonies as punishment. Nevertheless, they had the following liberties while working. Even though indentured servants had to work tirelessly, they were not slaves. They had a few rights granted to them in the contract. While working, the household or plantation that...
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...understanding of cultural diversity. Pederson and Locke (1999) stress the need for training in the culture-centered approach to gain, “accurate assessment, meaningful understanding, and appropriate intervention” (p. 11). A variety of factors can affect the understanding of a culturally diverse individual, such as homelessness, sexual harassment, and racism. Through an understanding of those three sociopolitical factors, psychologists and therapists can see the impact of these factors on psychological development, behavior, and distress. As a result, practices may be put in place to help minimize potentially harmful consequences. Homelessness Approximately two and a half million people are homeless and 30-50% of this group consists of families with children (Pedersen & Locke, 1999). According to Pederson and Locke (1999), homeless is defined if an individual meets one of the following criteria: • Inability to secure regular and stable housing • Primary residence is a public or private shelter • Occupying a place not designated for housing (p. 90). The homeless population accounts for 50% African American, 35% White, 12% Hispanic, 2% Native American, and 1% Asian (Almanac of Policy Issues, 2000). Reasons for homelessness can include poverty, unemployment, and the lack of job skills (Pederson & Locke, 1999). Homelessness creates the inability to develop a secure environment in which an individual may return to at the end of each day. Individuals...
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...The commodities they produced provided the foundation of the development of America’s economy and structured was by enslaved Africans and African Americans, African Americans reclaimed their freedom, but the weight of slavery’s history was not easily obliterated, as slavery continued to cast a long shadow over the state. Blacks have endured poverty and discrimination into the twenty-first century. The legacy of Slavery has been a part of American history since the very beginning Americas sold slaves and purchased them without fear of violating either the laws as they were expendable tools for their own means and benefits They were forced into labor and treated like property. The main reason and purpose of slavery were for profit. Slave...
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...Pathos Positioned Research Paper: Language Identified with Race and Minority “I Don’t Speak White” Written by Kendra Alexander Your language is your identity; the way you speak depends on your environment and the people surrounding you. Race and ethnicity are not huge factors in the way one expresses themselves. While some associate certain slang verbiage with the African American race, each ethnicity and race have their own “slang” or abbreviations they use. The way we communicate within our social groups connects us to one another. Edward Sapir, in Language: an Introduction to the Study of Speech, stated “Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations.” Every culture creates their own language, they find a way to clarify themselves amongst each group, whom is to say one language is better than the other. Negative connotations can be placed on the way one speaks due to their background, or ethnicity. If a minority person speaks “well”, along with these negative race connotations, the person is then seen as acting as though they are the “superior” race. Language can connect us, but it can also segregate our defined cultures. Language and behavior tend to be associated with race, class, and popularity. The connotations of language and race create the “acting white” phenomenon showing that basic stereotypes still exist unrealized or unnoticed, and not only affect social aspects of a person’s life but...
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