Institutional Racial Discrimination: A Case Study

Segregation, the separation of different racial groups in a country or city, is the primary cause of racial differences and disparities in a society. This is the main reason which declines a persons health, well-being and lifestyle. The author of this article is trying to state out that segregation between Whites and Blacks is causing a lot of racial differences in their socioeconomic status by determining access to education and employment opportunities. Blacks are the most racial group that is targeted by segregation and this limits the choices they can make and opportunities they can encounter in their life. The author also states and concludes that measures must be taken to eliminate racial disparities in health.

Racial Profiling sends the message that people are being “judged by the color of their skin and harms the criminal justice system by eviscerating the trust that is necessary if law enforcement is to effectively protect our communities.”(Fact Sheet) Racial Profiling addresses people directly based off of the color of their skin. This is an unethical action, this because it is unfair, injustice, shows inequality and causes corruption due to that. Racial profiling is based off of the assumption that “...any particular individual of one race or ethnicity is more likely to engage in misconduct than any particular individual of other races or ethnicities.”(Fact Sheet). Racial Profiling separates people by color, race or ethnicity, like discrimination. Within this discrimination, they are basically say that one kind is more likely to do one thing then another.

Some of the problems African Americans face from residential segregation is poorer neighborhoods, crimes filled communities, low income, and discrimination from other neighborhoods are just a few to point out. The wild thing about the entire issue is that the problems I listed have “little” sub issues and all those issues just cause more problems which lead to health issues. Many black residential areas are poor and the people inside them are more than likely struggling with lack of health insurance, medical care, education or income. In other words all those problems and issues cause for African Americans to have health issues. According to America’s wire.org, “residential segregation contributes to health disparities for people of color the most of all races”; causing us to have high blood pressure, be obese because there are more fast food restaurants than supermarkets, diabetes, cancer, heart

This practice, called redlining, essentially forced African-Americas into poor urban centres also known as the «gettho». This segregated America to this day and made it impossible to invest in the future of African-American neighbourhoods. Property taxes fund schools, which means that families who live in nice neighbourhoods - ones they could afford because of government backed home loans - get a better education. Better education means more opportunities, more resources and better jobs. The lack of educational opportunities meant that many African-Americans were relegated to low-wage manual work widening the wealth disparity that already existed.

The idea of segregating racial minorities into crowded residential areas is a reality, which influences lower socioeconomic standings and limits equality to health. Institutionalized racism serves to seemingly brand and constrain upward movements of success in society. Many of the schools, including junior high and high school, located in minority filled communities are limited in their educational merit and do not instill and prepare for higher education and advanced opportunities in employment (Williams & Collins, 2001). Residentially segregated schools are said to fall short in areas of teacher quality and educational resources (Williams & Collins, 2001). The schools themselves have less funds per student and are surrounded in high neighborhood

As Baynton discusses disability as a justification for inequality, I view it in the sense of a social concept of disability that sets the platform for discrimination and violence against the minority groups. This concept has been implemented in U.S. history to allow discriminatory practices against the minorities to occur. Basically, women, individuals from different races, and ethnic minorities were labeled as disabled as well to interpret inequality as a positive concept. For example, there was justification for slavery in which African Americans did not have the required intelligence which made them incapable of equality with other Americans. This assumption was ascribed to physical causes and differences that were visible in their race.

There are four social classes: upper class, middle class, working class and under class. An example of people who may be discriminated against because of their social class would be someone who is poor. Individuals who are poor, under class and some working class, in school could be called ‘scruffy’ by their peers because they might not be able to afford new clothes. This could lead to teachers discriminating and treating students differently. This could show overt and covert discrimination in a health and social care setting.

People should not be targeted just because of their race or color. In our societies, Racism has only gotten worse because of the lack of education that is globally happening. The theme of interdependence is shown clearly because if one person supports a stereotype then it influences others, because the main group depends on individuals to participate on continuing

Annotated Bibliography Curry, G. E. (2007). African-American Stereotypes in Advertising and its Effects on Society. Savannah State University. This paper focuses on the views of African Americans towards stereotypical portrayals of people of color in advertisements and the possible adverse effects that can be created by this stereotyping in African American communities. The paper states that low status roles and other negative portrayals of African Americans in advertising is damaging because it shapes the perceptions of others and the self-perceptions of young African Americans.

Individual racism is a practice that reinforces inferiorization based on the beliefs, attitude, and actions of individuals. Cultural racism is the belief of superiority of cultural heritage and exists when there is a widespread acceptance of stereotypes concerning different ethnic or racial groups. As Malcolm progressed from bystander

They argue that the real issue lies with the fact that colleges rely too heavily on the SAT in admission decisions. Scores of studies have shown that the SAT and ACT are poor indicators of students’ future success in college. Despite this, many colleges will still use these tests to weed out students who scored low, students that they predict will perform poorly in college, regardless of their levels of achievement, academic or otherwise, outside of standardized testing. This results in high numbers of students of color, who traditionally score lower on standardized tests, getting left out of the admissions process - because they’re being predicted not to do

Racial profiling relates to having an ascribed status because they were born into a life of poverty and crime. Cops and others see people that live in section 8 housing as being below a standard that they are accustom to. In most cases people that come from a poor upbringing tend to move up on the social spectrum which is called achieved status, in fact those some people who lived in cop infested areas are now becoming doctors, lawyers and etc. Racial profiling violates the 4th amendment which stops unreasonable search and seizures without having a warrant from a court. A functionalist studies society as a whole and with racial profiling in New York and other cities it causes a big dilemma.

Many would argue that society’s high poverty and unemployment rates are branched from individual failure. It’s believed to be because of the schools in urban communities are failing to properly educate our children. Social class, the haves and have not’s are reasoning for the economic disparity in American. Some individuals are more fortunate than others. Social Class is ‘’a division of a society based on social and economic status: people from different social classes and walks of life” It’s said people living in poverty have lower graduation rates and are more likely to drop out of school.