health & discrimination in nyc
TRANSCRIPT
Health & Discrimination in Nyc
ABSTRACTAn evaluation of the health disparities of minorities within New York City, and the perpetual constraints of systematic oppression
JayPublic Health Literature
Babajide Okesola
Public Health Literature
4/20/15
10:832:339:04
The Effects of Racism on the Health of Minorities in New York City
Prevent, promote, and protect are the three main goals of the field of public health. In
order for specialists to help sustain the ideal public health community, which does its best to
prevent illness, promote good health, and protect from future sicknesses, requires a complete
understanding of the many variables it contains. This includes the community’s environment, its
population, the relationship between the peoples, and its policies. A crucial skill that
professionals must have is the ability to perceive not only the tangible hazards of health but also
the intangible. Racism has to be the most dangerous intangible public health hazard to minorities
because of its compounding effects and its stealth within the general population. The definition
of racism is the belief that members of each race possess characteristics specific to that race, thus
making one inferior or superior to another. Racism can be found nearly anywhere in the United
States, but its prevalence and intensity of its effects varies from place to place. Many rural areas
of America do not contain a large population of minorities living with whites, while other cities
have a considerable amount of non-whites in their population. But what effect does the
demographics of a community have on the health effects of racism? White supremacist racism
(the belief that the white race is ultimately superior to others) is one of the most familiar forms of
racism that is present in New York City. NYC is a very diverse city that includes many African-
Americans, whites, and immigrants of numerous nationalities. This highly condensed area of
diversity provides a wide array of examples of the complex effects of racism. New York City is
also notorious for having a very segregated community because it has a large number of
minorities living in certain sections of the 5 boroughs, and a large number of upper class whites
living in other districts. This is largely because of the wealth gaps between communities and the
lack of socio-economic vehicles for minorities to use to escape these underprivileged
neighborhoods. But one may ask how could the segregated demographic of NYC affect the
health of its constituents? The segregated communities within NYC amplify the adverse effects
of racism on minorities because it makes these separated areas a larger target for concentrated
discrimination.
Racism and Mental Health
Before one can understand how the sectionalized community in NYC intertwines with
racism and health, they must comprehend how racism affects minorities. Racism stems from an
idea that one race is superior to another race, which induces a perception of a hierarchy within
races. A hierarchy puts one race at the top, and other races lying below it. In this general societal
hierarchy whites are placed at the top, and blacks are put at the bottom while the other races are
in between the two, for this reason we will focus on African Americans to acquire a more
thorough understanding of racism’s effects.
Many African Americans are conditioned with the idea that blacks are extremely inferior
to whites at an early age, mainly because of negative media portrayals and being faced with
discrimination. It is evident that other whites feel the same way as well, as National surveys
report that 45% of whites believe that most African-Americans are lazy, while 29% believe that
most blacks are unintelligent, and 56% believe that blacks actually prefer to live off welfare
(Williams, 2006). Living in a community where society already has its own negative
preconceived stereotype can be very dangerous to an individual’s mental health. When, being
constantly conditioned to believe in this idea of inferiority and consistently facing
discrimination, one’s self-esteem level can steadily decline and leave that person vulnerable to
other sicknesses. The feeling of inferiority and lack of personal confidence can induce one into
becoming depressed. Depression is a serious mental state where the person can lose the
motivation to complete essential daily tasks, and in more serious cases, the will to live. Racism
and its ideals create an environment where the psyche of African Americans are under constant
attack, and thus risk being sunk into a morose mental state that could lead to other harmful
effects.
Systematic Racism & Health Care
Another significant health effect racism has on its victims is the inability to access vital
resources to maintain and promote health. Much of racism is very implicit and systematic, in a
way that one cannot necessarily accuse one person, or a group of people, for causing the socio-
economic paralysis of many minorities. The system is structured so as to limit minorities from
attaining metaphorical vehicles (such as higher education) in order to ascend to the upper class.
When using the phrase “the system’, one refers to intertwined legal policies, social media,
educational infrastructures and other variables that have a bias against minorities. Because
racism is so covertly imbedded into the ideological principles and structures of society,
minorities find it exceedingly difficult to leave the lower tax-bracket. This blockage of ascension
to higher socio-economic classes, causes people to survive in the disparity of these lower-class
areas.
Most minorities in the lower class are congregated into the same communities and
neighborhood, which is most likely not coincidence. Cheaper and more affordable housing is
what makes many of these residents stay in these neighborhoods. However, many of these
housing establishments have many health hazards that could deteriorate the health status of those
living there. Lower class neighborhoods are more prone to violent crimes than upper-class
neighborhoods. Because minorities are sectionalized into poor lower class housing due to their
lack of socio-economic mobility racist ideals and structures can be considered as a cause for
weakened health status of minorities.
One of the most direct ways, racism has harmed the health status of minorities is by
limiting their access to health care. Many African-Americans tend to have a sense of distrust
associated with health care professionals and health care institutions (Powe, LaVeist, Ratner,
Cooper, Boulware, 2013, p. 358). This fear of doctors and health specialists comes with
understandable reasoning. Throughout the history of America, African Americans have faced
slavery, segregation, and discrimination from the same Caucasian race. It is only natural for there
to be a sense of distrust associated with whites, with whom their people have been emasculated,
and have been considered their oppressor. One must also consider the many tests and unethical
experiments performed by trained medical professionals on African Americans such as the
Tuskegee syphilis experiment. For such a large scale unethical experiment to take place within
national borders, one must consider if America or its health professionals have what’s best in
mind when treating patients. Racist discrimination towards blacks in the past and modern eras,
can lead one into not believing that health care workers are reliable. It is clear to see the
detrimental effects of not trusting doctors; such as not participating in routine checkups,
abstaining from seeking medical advice/counsel and attaining drugs by other means than
prescription.
NYC Segregation
The city of New York is one of the most diverse cities in the world, and is even more
unique by being the most densely populated city in the United States. Interestingly enough, NYC
is also highly segregated, in terms of where people of different socio-economic classes
Figure 1 (Garfield,2012)
Figure 2 (Hertz, 2014)
The two maps above depict different representations of the New York City demographic,
with Figure 1 displaying the geographic distribution of median income, and Figure 2 shows
portions of New York where there the population is less than 10% black (Blue) and other
portions where the population is less than 10% white (Green). By comparing the two maps one
will conclude that the general areas where the population is less than 10% black has higher
median income than the general areas where the population is less than 10% white. The amount
of wealth and resources in those areas highlighted green are disproportionate to the areas
highlighted blue on the map to the right. The polarization of wealth to certain communities that
contain less African Americans has an extremely pernicious effect on the health of minorities.
Separated Education
The areas with a higher median income have a pool of resources to provide better quality
schooling, public facilities, and many other institutions that a community uses. There are less
resources in the poorer areas where other minorities reside, so they are more likely to have lower
quality schooling. Just as the neighborhoods in New York City are highly segregated, so are its
schools. There are many minority dominated schools, located in Chinatown, Washington
Heights, and Brooklyn. Two- thirds of NYC’s most segregated schools are black dominated,
located in black neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Figure 3 below shows that many of the locations of
the highly minority dominated schools are located where there are populations less than 10%
white and have low median income. This comparison is significant when compared with the fact
that more than 94% percent of students from low need districts graduate with a high school
diploma, while only 65.9% of students from high need school districts graduate (NYSED, 2014).
Figure 3 (Ford, 2012)
It is evident that living in high need and underfunded school district diminishes one’s
chances of graduating, and since a majority of these high need schools are located in black and
other minority neighborhoods, students that are non-white are less likely to graduate from their
high school. Students not graduating high school is a major health issue because of the impact
that is associated with not completing schooling. The City University of New York School of
Public Health’s Nicholas Freudenberg presented data that in the year 2000, a lack of a high
school diploma was associated with about 245,000 deaths. Graduating from high school is also
connected with lower stress, improved cognitive capability, and better access to health care
(RWJF, 2013). Racial segregation in New York City places minority students in lower class
neighborhoods into high need schools that lessen their chances of graduating compared to their
white contemporaries who live in high income neighborhoods with low need schools and higher
graduation rates. The racist segregation in NYC has provided more adverse health effects for
minorities in their community.
Criminal Justice System
Every 28 hours a black man is killed by a police officer, self-appointed vigilante, or a
security guard. This is an alarming number that reflects bias towards not only African-Americans
but other minorities as well. It also reflects upon the high level use of force by police officers and
other security officials in America. There are about 3.66 average annual black deaths per million
people, compared to 1.92 Hispanic deaths, and 0.9 white deaths (Lee, 2014). There is clearly a
higher tendency for blacks and Hispanics to get killed while being arrested than whites; this is
most likely driven by racist attitudes and stereotypes towards these minorities. A General Social
Survey question showed that 54% of white people thought that blacks are prone to violence
(Welch, 2007, p.278). This supports the theory that many whites perceive blacks to be
excessively dangerous, which correlates with the fact that a significant amount of police officers
claim they felt they were in danger when they decided to shoot a suspect that was black. Racism
is also the driving force behind the crackdown on black neighborhoods by police officers.
The War on Drugs declared by the Reagan administration in the early 1980s initiated a
more severe use of force and strategies by police officers in domestic communities. The
eradication of drug dealings of crack cocaine was the motive behind the war, because many
blacks would distribute the inexpensive drug and make large profits from sales. Despite the fact
that crack is a derivative of cocaine, a drug that was and still is popular in white communities,
cocaine received little acknowledgment from law enforcement and did not become the primary
target of the justice system. This shows an overwhelming bias by America and its policy makers
to attack black neighborhoods, especially since criminal consequences are more severe with
crack cocaine than other drugs including powder cocaine. This unreasonable racist system of
justice places more minorities in prison (along with longer sentences) than whites. The adverse
health effects of being in prison vary, with lower life expectancy to even higher likeliness to
develop mental illness. This systematic form of oppression used to target lack populations have
caused more and more minorities to be persecuted by those sworn to protect them, and to face
incarceration, an environment that has detrimental effects on one’s health.
This form of racial profiling of minorities is not foreign to New York City either. New
York City is known for its zero-tolerance campaign to crack down on minor crimes and
misdemeanors with intense community policing strategies. Police Commissioner William
Bratton enforces an extremely aggressive tactic to focus on low income neighborhoods and
remove small characters of disorder, in order to improve the appearance of these areas.
Influenced by the broken windows theory (theory that explains how a disorderly environment
can induce more violent and frequent crimes), New York Police Department began cracking
down on more of the low income neighborhoods with a majority of minorities rather than the
areas where there are more whites because these low income neighborhoods are more prevalent
with misdemeanors and also crack cocaine. Since more minorities are segregated into these low
income neighborhoods, they are the general targeted population. With the help of laws like the
three-strikes law (after the third habitual offense, the offender receives a more sever sentence)
more minorities have been placed in prisons.
Police Brutality
Another serious health issue concern with minorities is the occurrence of police brutality.
The use of excessive force by police has been occurring for years in the United States, but
recently has been getting more attention with the help of social media and activist campaigns like
“#BlackLivesMatter” and the Coalition Against Police Brutality (CAPB). Minority populations
have been at the forefront of the movement, especially since a large amount of the cases of police
brutality involve non-white victims. According to the Department of Justice’s Police Public
Contact Survey, blacks are more likely to experience use of force or threats by a police office.
(BJS, 2008). This excessive use of force can have negative health effects on this minority
population by causing trauma and/or paranoia of police officers. The use of excessive force can
cause serious physical damage to victims, or have the victim traumatized by the attack, which are
both serious health issues.
In New York City the use of excessive force by police is exacerbated, especially
in low income areas. During the administration of police commissioner Bratton, the number of
citizen complaints filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board increased more than 60%
( between 1992 and 1996) (Green, 1999, p. 176). Data from the CCRB also shows that police
misconduct is concentrated in NYC’s minority neighborhoods. Nine out of 76 precincts account
for more than 50% of the CCRB increase of complaints, and more interestingly is the fact that
these precincts have higher percentages of African American and Latino Residents (Green, 1999,
p. 177). This proves that these segregated minority neighborhoods in NYC are subject to higher
use of police force. CCRB “General patrol incidents” complaints (complaints that do not involve
suspicion, pursuit, summons, or arrest) increased from 29 percent to 58 percent, this is significant
because these incidents show that there is a general animosity, fueled by bias, towards
individuals that don’t have any reason for suspicion (Green, 1999, p.176). Since these
neighborhoods have been segregated off as being low income crime infested environments,
police have discriminated against them, and thus become more aggressive. These violent police
actions against minority groups is a serious health issue.
Evidence
The statistics and evidence using in this research study clearly describe the existence of
segregated communities in NYC. Multiple credible maps from research groups associate the
median income map with the issue of race and how minorities are congregated into areas of low
income and whites are located in neighborhoods that are high income. Figure 3 also represents
the correlating effect segregated communities have on school districts. Having more black
dominated schools, Asian dominated schools, and Hispanic dominated schools in low income
areas has been proven to cause lower graduation rates. Lower graduation rates is also a measure
of health, which authorizes the theory that these segregated neighborhoods have an ultimately
negative effect on the health of the minority population. Reports from the CCRB, a credible
source in NYC clearly dictates that there is a disproportionate amount of cases in minority
dominated neighborhoods. It is plausible that the cause of this concentrated amount of CCRB
reports is from racist attitudes towards minorities.
Evaluation
As one can see, there are many health issues within the minority population that are
connected with racism. Systematic racism is evident in multiple aspects of society, including
education, the justice system, places of residence, and governmental policies. The effects of
racism are compounded like domino effect that eventually harms minorities physically, mentally
and in a socio-economical level as well. This is demonstrated through the lack of health care
access, a distrust of health professionals, a general lack of self-esteem from the feeling of
inferiority, and other direct and indirect impacts on the minority population’s health status from
racism. It is not questionable whether or not the segregated landscape of New York City has
worsened these adverse effects from racism, because there is supporting evidence that shows that
racist systems and ideals are more concentrated in higher minority population areas. These
separated communities are more severely persecuted by racist ideals and have more minorities
susceptible to serious health issues. NYC must take multiple steps to create more equality for
individuals by removing its discriminatory persons and eradicating its systematic racist
oppression because the oppression of minorities is a severe public health issue.
Excellent paper
All grammatical errors are highlighted
Grade: 25/25
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(n.p = no publisher, n.d = no date)