systemic racism

Health Disparities: Racism & Health Equity

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To understand health disparities that disadvantage marginalized racial communities, you need to understand health equity. It is important to understand that public health and health equity are not limited to just the medical healthcare field, as many may believe, but are both concepts are involved and are integral to the overall health of the community. While this does include access to reliable and cost-effective medical healthcare, it also means having access to clean and fresh …

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A Conversation With a Cop

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I recently met a police officer two years older than me. I started talking to him and having friendly conversation before learning that he was a cop. Naturally, upon finding out about his career, I asked him his thoughts on the current Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality. His response was “Yea, it’s a shame that it was a few bad cops. I work with hispanic people and stuff. I’m definitely not racist.” This …

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“But that’s not racism!”

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The word “racism” evokes strong emotions in people, and for many, it’s just about the worst thing one can be called. As language evolves and words take on new meaning, the gravity of the word “racism” hinders people’s willingness to accept new meanings and uses for the word. The term “systemic racism” faces this problem, as there are those who, before understanding its meaning, assume that it is an indictment of the United States and …

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Shifting Mainstream Understanding of Individual Racism

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As the academic semester comes to an end, in my contemporary racism class we have been discussing and connecting various concepts to develop our understanding of the role of modern racism and its consequences to marginalized identity groups in the United States. We discussed how, under the influence of mainstream media, we tend to focus on individuals who exhibit old-fashioned, overt acts of racism and the obvious, direct consequences to people of color. This leads …

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