How Racism Affects Women's Health

Although the majority of Caucasian women would see racism as a thing of the past, many African-American women know that blacks are still treated unfairly in American society; for instance, racial gaps in income are still present in the United States. Where a person lives, what resources are available to them, and how successfully they handle life challenges can all affect the health of individuals and populations. As we've learned in class, this is referred to as socioeconomic status—the position of a person in a hierarchical social system. Contributing factors that determine socioeconomic status are education, income, place of residence, occupation, heredity, and religion. Low socioeconomic status can lead to ill-health; high socioeconomic status normally predicts great health.

In many public health classes we watch episodes of Unnatural Causes, a 2008 PBS documentary highlighting how racial and socioeconomic differences affect the health of Americans. In one of the videos listed below, researchers analyzed a puzzling case–an African-American woman named Kim. Even though Kim had a high-paying job, health insurance, adequate prenatal care, and lived in an affluent neighborhood, she still delivered a baby girl who was pre-term and very low birth weight. Why would this woman with high socioeconomic status experience the same outcome that is typically seen with disadvantaged populations? Even though a woman comes from a high socioeconomic background, growing up as a black female puts her at risk for delivering pre-term babies and suffering from overall ill health as a result of lifetime chronic stress. This theory is called the life course perspective—the hypothesis that cumulative experiences over a woman’s entire life will affect her health, regardless of socioeconomic status. Being a member of a particular minority group is bad for your health. Minorities are considered vulnerable populations and more subject to chronic diseases such as alcoholism, accidents, violence, diabetes, and violence.

You can follow these links to watch two important clips from Unnatural Causes:

The Mystery of Black-White Differences in Infant Mortality (6 min)

How Racism Impacts Pregnancy Outcomes (4 min)

The Cherishing our Hearts and Souls Coalition (COHS) Anti-Racism Project is the perfect example of an organization that works to better the health of a minority population. In conjunction with the Harvard School of Public Health, this coalition develops and implements projects designed to help participants understand the relationship between racism and health. Despite the overall improvements in life expectancy in the United States, this program recognizes the impact racism has on health and how it related to ethnic disparities in health care. Their mission specifically targets cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other chronic conditions in African-Americans living in under-served neighborhoods. The programs to raise awareness to racism and CVD include a three-year social marketing campaign, community workshops, after-school anti-racism programs, meetings to discuss policy issues, and other methods for the reduction of CVD risk factors.

Jane Eyre

Linsanity bringout out prejudice and stereotypes about Asian Americans

Interracial Marriages at a Record High in the U.S.

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/16/146978803/number-of-interracial-marriages-at-record-high-in-u-s

NPR always helps me in my time of need, like finding something relevant to post about this class. Apparently interracial marriages are on a high. According to the article because of the prevalence of these marriages they are challenging race. Children of these marriages are called brokers, and are like liaison between the races. I can see this as being a good thing for society. It has the potential to continue to blur the lines of race.

It seems like 10 years ago interracial marriages were still a topic of concern among Americans. Growing up my parents told us that marriage was hard enough and to marry someone from a different race would just complicate things. However, my oldest sister went against their wishes started dating a man from India who has lived in Canada most of his life. Parents did not approve, and this lead to my sister eloping without my parents knowledge. My sister and brother-in-law have been happily married for over 10 years. It is funny how a social construction can separate families and cause conflict. However, now in this article they make the point that interracial families are actually helping to bring people together erasing divides that might have once been there.

Discrimination vs. Religion

I thought I might discuss the recent turnover of Proposition 8 in California since I was one of the participators and promoters of the proposition. I'm from San Diego, California and though I don't remember the exact wording of the letter, I distinctly remember when our Stake President read a letter encouraging us to support Proposition 8 from the First Presidency. I was initially surprised that the leaders of the Church were speaking out on a political issue, and I admit I was eager to join the united forces of my ward and stake to support them. On the other hand, I knew several members of our ward alone disagreed with the proposition and would not participate.
While this divide did not cause undue contention, that I was aware of, it was a source of conflict.

But the true opposition came from neighbors, friends at school, even my high school teachers. I had to know exactly what I was supporting and fighting for: to protect the sanctity of the family. I've always had a strong testimony of this most sacred part of the gospel plan, and I was sure that something so sacred as marriage must be a religious and not a political issue. Yes, I'm well aware of things like tax breaks and other benefits of marriage for homosexual couples, but then why not extend those benefits to civil unions and leave marriage where it belongs? In the hands of religious leaders. We were never hostile in our roadside protests, or on the day we wore the t-shirts to school. But the whispers and offensive language and great hostility thrown at us were enough to confirm my decision.

Now, most of this hostility centered around the sensitive issue of discrimination. Contrary to popular belief, I do not support the Mormon culture distaste and discriminatory attitude towards homosexuals. My favorite supervisor and good friend at the grocery store I worked at was, in fact, homosexual. And I absolutely loved the guy, nor did I judge him for his sexual orientation and decisions regarding it. I only sought to stand up for my own religious beliefs and ensure the freedom of religion by separation of church and state. Our intent was never to separate or discriminate or control homosexuals. They are children of God and I've always treated them accordingly. So, be careful before assigning the heavy terms of discrimination or bigotry to Proposition 8 supporters.

Settlement reached in Conn. Immigration Raid Case

The Harlem Children's Zone

We have all viewed this video on The Harlem Children's Zone but there were many things that were not discussed because of our short class period. 
I was hoping that some of you would review this video and share your thoughts.

As said in the video around 4:25 jumping to 4:45 of the video Mr. Geoffrey Canada promised and stuck behind his promise to ensure that students would do well and even fire instructors to keep the promise. Canada's plan to ensure students do well has had its falls but as he said in his promise he has fired some teachers to ensure better education. In the article "Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Problems" from the New York Times Canada's promise is still going forward to make sure students are being educated effectively,


"But most of the seventh graders, now starting their third year in the school, are still struggling. Just 15 percent passed the 2010 state English test, a number that Mr. Canada said was “unacceptably low” but not out of line with the school’s experience in lifting student performance over time. Several teachers have been fired as a result of the low scores, and others were reassigned, he said."(NYT)


Another part of this video that stood out to me was when Canada had said he bribed the students with trips and money to help them want to do well in school. Around 6:10 of the video Canada promotes the idea to bribe the students to do well so they could stay away from troubles and look forward to do well in school. 


In many occasions bribing may not be good for students, but in this occasion I believe it is a great idea. These students have the opportunity to change their lives and are rewarded if they do well. If they follow and choose to do well they are rewarded, and with that opportunity for these students whom come from poor and violent neighborhoods they may not be oppressed by their backgrounds. When they feel they are not oppressed from their background they tend to do better in school and are successful. Bribing may not be good, but in this situation I think Geoffrey Canada is a great man that leaves many doors of opportunities for his students through his program/school and bribing.
-Carlos Galvao

Mitt, you need to worry about the very poor

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/12/zakaria-mitt-you-need-to-worry-about-the-very-poor/?hpt=hp_t2

The White Underclass - Nicholas D. Kristof

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/kristof-the-decline-of-white-workers.html

This article by Nicholas Kristof discusses a rising issue in rural America - the increasing prevalence of what is turning into a white working underclass. Though this term has historically been used to describe African Americans unable to secure a lifestyle above the poverty line because of racist policies and paradigms, the evidence that a poor white working class is following similar trends.

Painful to me was the discussion of the cycle of an underclass: limited educational opportunities, drugs and criminal records, low-paying to no-paying work, welfare dependence, repeat. One of the contributing factors that Kristof points out as potentially cliche was the stability of marriage. Without a stable marriage, there was greater likelihood for families to slip into this cycle.

An interesting look at poverty and factors from public policy that influence a broadening group that can be defined as an underclass (though this should not be take as a demographic that rivals the hardships that the traditional underclass of African Americans has faced and continues to face).

In the recent Republican primaries, I was surprised, yet not all that surprised to see that "gender politics" were still very prevalent.  I didn't actually watch this primary, but came across this article when I was browsing through the top news on yahoo a while back.  The fact that there has been controversy over a woman's choice to have manicured nails is ridiculous to me.  Michele Bachmann was in the primaries for this debate, and being the only female, she stood out among her male opponents.  We've learned in class about gender roles, and according to that idealism, having a woman run for president, or be in the primaries is against the norm.  Men are typically the breadwinners while women are the nurturers in the home.  I think some of this bias came in to play against Bachmann, and adding on to that stereotype, she had manicured nails that clicked against the podium as she spoke.  Why that stirred up so much controversy is baffling to me.
I think that since there have been few women running for president, our most recent example being Hillary Clinton, women stand out because it is typically a white-male dominated position.  Obama has changed the "white" part of that stereotype, but the "male" part still stands.  When a woman makes it that far to be in the Republican primaries, I think that we should listen to what she has to say rather than critique her fashion sense.  You can't really critique the male fashion sense because it's so set in stone - black suit with a subtle tie, dress shoes and whatever make-up the stage people use to dull the shine on their faces.  Women are new on this scene, so if they wear more make-up than deemed appropriate or normal, or they have fancy nails, people are going to notice.  I would agree with the Boston Herald columnist that suggested an old-fashioned radio debate. That way, we wouldn't be swayed by the looks of different opponents and would hear their opinions more clearly, rather than be distracted by appearances.  After all, we are voting for a president that will give us the best chance to succeed as a nation, not the one that will give us the most fashion-forward advice.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/michele-bachmanns-manicure-tasteful-tacky-totally-off-limits/2011/10/19/gIQAY62mxL_blog.html

What Do You Know About Black History?

I came across a viral video the other day about what BYU students know (or don't know) about black history. A white guy dressed up as a black guy (including face paint) to get the opinions of BYU co-eds on what they knew about black history or the black population in general. What I saw was a little shocking and disheartening, especially on a campus full of so much diversity.

It seems that, from the clips that were shown, BYU students don't know too much about black history. The only historical figures they can think of were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. One student had to think for a while to get the name "Rosa Parks" to pop into his head. To celebrate black history month, the students said they did things like watch specials on  the history channel or listen to Jay-Z. But the most shocking part was that only 3 people of all the people he interviewed recognized the interviewer as not really black, even though they all said they knew a black guy when they saw one. Why is a culturally diverse campus so naive about black history and other cultures?

It could possibly be that even though the campus is diverse at BYU, the majority of students are still white, and LDS. Even more, Utah as a whole is predominantly white, so the only ideas of black culture many people get is from television and movies. Hence, the horrendous impressions given by some students in the clip. I hope that as America gets more diverse in the future, that BYU students especially learn about and try and understand other cultures.

-Kimberly Anderson

A new ruling on Prop 8

News about the econony and what it means for various social classes