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The United States of America is described as the land of the free, this is because the country promises its citizens a fair chance to pursue their dreams and goals without discrimination. This is the picture painted to those outside the country but those that reside in the country know that we have a long way to go before we can live up to that standard. Although, America was built upon this foundation history shows otherwise. This is proven with the massacres of Native Americans and the enslavement of African Americans. From the very beginning, America only had intentions for success for their European decadence. Throughout American history, there are stories of people accomplishing great feats. America has proven to produce many great inventors and philosophers from Thomas Jefferson to Elon Musk but, many America’s great historical figures are predominately white. Due to America’s racist history, it has placed white Americans at the top of the ethnic ladder.
While whites sat at the top, they grew hatred towards their counterpart, which they believed to be the black man. I’d like to argue that blacks were the predominant race being mistreated in America during and after slavery. White Americans refused to see people of different colors on the same level as them, so they were discriminated against and treated as if they were not human. These traumatic experiences had left a mental scar on both African Americans and white Americans and this result makes it harder to eradicate racism in America.
Racism can harm a person’s health and can affect a person’s emotional stability, cognitive thinking, and physical ability (cortex). When thinking of the victims of racism; it has some correlation to discrimination which is the byproduct of stereotyping and prejudiced behavior. A trait that Europeans were known to embrace in their conquest for expansion before coming to the new land. Many minority groups were discriminated against in America, but no one has endured prolonged traumatic experiences compared to African Americans. Racism harms one’s mental health and is described as a power difference to where one ethnicity group can impact and negatively affect the lives of another. Blacks were freed from the shackles of slavery but were never freed from the shackles of racism; after 300 years of slavery followed 200 years of discrimination. America has victimized blacks, beaten them down, and placed them into the lowest bracket. Discrimination against African Americans dates to the first colonist who took African slaves from a Spanish ship to Point Comfort in 1619. Using of manual labor from Native Americans, then switching over to African Americans. This switch happened because the Europeans had a hard time controlling Native Americans since they were native to the land and knew the terrain (Bainbridge). America has relied on the use of slave labor from African Americans for over 300 years and although slavery ended, the suffering did not. Although African Americans broke their physical shackles over 100 years ago; the mental scars are still weighing down the potential of African Americans. Slavery left more than emotional turmoil scars; it left a major impact on African Americans mental health. The only race that arguably has experienced hardships far as African Americans may have been the Native Americans.
The Native Americans were set on this land and were known to have migrated from Asia and may have been the first North American immigration group. These people had a spiritual connection to the land they inhabited and respected the wildlife. As the Europeans arrived at the land the first adventurer being Christopher Columbus, they immediately started their demands. The Natives cooperated, but eventually were overtaken by the European colonist and eventually were forced to work under them for a period.
Since Arriving in America in 1619 African Americans have been the victims of racism. Starting with slavery, and eventually carrying on still in the mind of many Americans. Although, the incentives for slavery was to reduce labor cost (Bainbridge); there were many negative effects and psychological problems that arose because of this. From slavery came the fascist belief that blacks were inferior to whites and this forced whites into believing this ideology. An ideology that back in times dehumanize blacks when slavery was legal as if blacks were inferior. This gave birth to the psychological problems embedded in the minds of racist Americans in this country. This mindset was inherited and makes racist whites believe that their behavior is appropriate; therefore, making it seem there is nothing wrong with the mentality of undermining another race.
Data has shown that 75% of Asians and whites in the U.S have a subtle bias towards blacks. This means that 75% of Whites and Asian Americans show a preference to whites over blacks (Cortex). Subtle bias is an automatic uncontrolled triggered response that appears to be common in the United States. This harms African Americans and limits African Americans’ potential in the real world due to this impacting jobs and other important decisions. This does not level the playing field considering that the combined ratio of Whites and Asians amass 74% of the population as shown in America’s 2010 census report.
With subtle bias being a factor in affecting Black Americans there are also subtle consequences in addition to the physical consequences. Studies show that African Americans are more susceptible to frontal lobe dysfunction. The frontal lobe is the front part of the brain that controls decision making and regulate emotions. The prefrontal cortex is used to correct irrational fears that the amygdala portrays on your mind. The Amygdala projects irrational fears to the frontal cortex along with the rest of the limbic system (Alie). This system plays a big part when you are on the receiving end of racism. The prefrontal cortex is the conscious mind that tries to rationalize the irrational thoughts of the limbic system, but when the prefrontal cortex allows the limbic system to win it causes behavior such as impulsivity, aggressiveness, and irrational fear to form in the mind (the prefrontal cortex and limbic system is a check and balance system that tries to rationalize fear). This self-defense mechanism in the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25 (Cortex) therefore, we must teach this age group to understand one another. The racist mentality is not something that you are born into, but instead something that is learned. One way to reduce racism in growing adults would be exposing them to multiple races. Growing up with different ethnic groups show that not one race is above another, we are all human, and face struggles.
A stereotype threat study is a study to see how a specific group performs when they are aware of their stereotype. For example, a stereotype test was given to African Americans to test their intellect. They were given a normal intellect test, but one group had to label their ethnicity as opposed to the other group who did not have to label their ethnicity. The results showed that those who did not note their ethnicity scored just as high as the white participants who took the test (Cortex). Stereotype threat also has real-world consequences; another study showed that African Americans who were aware of the stereotype of having higher blood pressure showed to have a higher blood pressure than the African Americans who were not alerted of the stereotype. The study not only showed the difference in higher blood pressure but also an increase in hypertension than the grouped blacks who did not know about the stereotype.
While under the stereotype threat participants had their brains examined and x-rayed. The results showed an increase in brain activity with emotional and social processing as well as a decrease in cognitive efficiency in the brain (Cortex). To conclude, more activity in emotional response results in a decrease in our brains’ ability to process logic and reasoning. This can result in impulsive actions that could be easily avoided. Also, constantly being a victim of racism results in stress levels being raised. “Individuals” decisions or lifestyles can reduce the ill effects of some stressors, but racial discrimination is a chronic stressor that people have no control over (University of Southern California).” Even being in the vicinity of someone who is racially biased raises the stress levels in the brain and leaves a negative impact on the affected person. Experiencing racial biased over a long period results in chronic stress. Chronic stress is linked to hypertension, depression, and magnifies premedical conditions. This also results in the loss of neurons in the hippocampus (Cortex). This is a part of the brain that is associated with memory and is also a part of the limbic system. “Researchers have long known that racism is linked to health problems, but now results from a small study using RNA tests show that racism appears to increase chronic inflammation among African Americans (University of Southern California).”
Apart from mental illness African Americans fall victim to the physical technicalities of this world. The United States is not the only country to discriminate against blacks. “According to the UK government’s race disparity audit, relative to Whites and Asians, Black defendants at crown court were most likely to be remanded in custody. Between 2017 and 2018, Blacks in Britain were approximately 10 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than white people were, and three times more likely than Asians. Black Caribbean pupils were permanently excluded at nearly three times the rate of white British pupils, while black people are more likely to be unemployed and homeless than all other racial minority groups (Olayinka Sule).” With black people being targeted by the authorities it makes trying to live a normal life harder; this shows that blacks are often treated as second class citizens even outside of the United States.
Racial discrimination is a different type of chronic stressor than poverty. Unfortunately, with the psychological effects that come from being the victims of racism, there are extreme cases of this impacting the daily life of an African American. People navigate poverty on a day-to-day basis and are aware that it is happening. They might even be able to address financial stressors through job changes, changes in earnings, and financial management. With discrimination, you do not always realize that it is happening. There are examples of abuse in power that limited the success of African Americans even after being considered equal. An example would be the physical impact of racism also known as systematic racism. Systematic racism is described as institutional racism it is a form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions. It is reflected in disparities regarding wealth, income, criminal justice system, employment, housing, health care, political power, and education, among other factors. Systematic racism is another synonym for racism, the abuse of power to impact the lives of another minority group. There are many examples of blatant systematic racism being put into practice in America. Examples include such laws as Jim crow, voting rights, etc. Those laws are not in effect anymore but, it can be argued that this is still in effect due to implicit bias.
The impact that racism has on African Americans explains why 46% of black children are born into poverty. This could be the result of systematic racism due to redlining to separate African Americans and Whites. This did not just affect who could not use the restroom or drink from separate water fountains; this was the foundation to keep African Americans from having the same opportunities as whites. Bankers refused to loan African Americans money because they live in an area deemed to be a poor or financial risk. Blacks were forced into low-income neighborhoods which halted most to receive loans and quality education. Some African Americans were able to raise their families in suburban communities and sought out higher education examples of implicit biases still prohibit equality. Also having a unique name could be a life-determining factor in a black person’s life. White Americans have double the chances of getting a job as opposed to an African American with the same level of intelligence and identical resumes (actdottv). It also correlates with the unemployment rate in African Americans twice as high as White Americans.
You can see examples of systematic racism currently in every area of life from incarceration rates, wealth, education, and political offices. “In the US, black people are more likely to be arrested for drug offenses even though they are not more likely to use or sell drugs, and as a result make up a disproportionate amount of the prison population. They also have a higher chance of getting shot by the police than White or Hispanic people (Olayinka Sule).”
It is being used to show the poverty rates in America. For this research question, I picked 3 of the most common ethnic groups in America. The data analysis shows that African Americans sit at the highest number in terms of poverty. Although my data shows that African Americans are leading in terms of poverty rates this is not true; 25% of Native Americans fall below the poverty line, but since Native Americans make up about 1.6% of the American population, I have excluded them from the research table.
As the data shows the poverty rate is decreasing in America with African Americans first in the highest rate of poverty. I have chosen to show the poverty rates of America because this chart shows that African Americans may be leading in poverty rates, but they are not far behind other ethnic groups. If African Americans had their handicap removed, they would be on the same level as whites in terms of the number of people who fall under the poverty line.
The figure was not made to discriminate or say one race is above another but, rather point out that if blacks were given the same circumstances, they would more than likely to average out the same poverty rate as whites. I would like the figure to simulate that we are all brought into this world as equals, no one is naturally deserving of a higher status. Many African Americans are striving to maximize their full potential, the only thing stopping them are the people who are controlling the rules. Our choices are not the only thing that affects our health, the people around also impact your life.
Racism takes many forms and has an impact on one’s life than most people would like to admit. The worse part about racism is not the effects of it but, the fact that it lives in many people. In a world where people try to separate and decriminalize one another is a world that would not survive. I would like to believe that unity amongst all races in the world will result in a prosperous world. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” is a quote from Abraham Lincoln who I believe also came to the same conclusion as I did. Separation only brings out the worse in people, and if all are not equal there will always be a fight for a struggle of power.
In conclusion, the strength one must have to endure all the obstacles African Americans had to face is unparalleled. This country was made for a black person to succeed but, there are many African Americans who have found success in this country. Although this country has gone through many changes in its history, the shackles still weighing down African American potential are still there. The mental damage and physical handicaps are being loosened with time, but the only way to see permanent change is to look for change within ourselves. Racial biases and stereotyping are still common in some parts of the country we must start with ourselves before we can start to look for change anywhere else. The evidence is profoundly clear racism does harm African Americans, and we cannot hope to achieve racial equity without acknowledging that this underlying factor causes an untold number of premature deaths among black Americans.
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