February
is Black History Month. This is a time
to celebrate the achievements of African Americans, but also a time to evaluate
their status at this time and work to improve it.
It
is true that slavery no longer exists and blacks Americans are not being
whipped by white overlords several times a day.
However, it would be a false assumption to say that just because we live
in the 21st century and everyone has equal rights under the
Constitution, that African Americans truly are free and equal. Unfortunately,
they experience discrimination in all facets of life, including education,
social services, housing, employment, justice, and even the entertainment
industry. Finally, having good healthcare
coverage is a major problem for many African Americans.
In
our education system, starting from elementary school, African American
children, mostly boys, are disciplined much more harshly than their Caucasian
counterparts. They are suspended more
often. Also, in 2012, 31% of African
Americans high school students did not graduate on time, whereas the number for
Caucasians was 14%. The gap continues in
college, where 61.5% of whites and only 39.5% of blacks earned their degrees
(2004).
Without
a supportive educational environment, African Americans will be disadvantaged
in every other aspect of life. Being
singled out for their race will make it harder to succeed in life and makes
them inclined to mistrust people of authority.
Many are denied employment opportunities because their names “sounded
black.” In terms of the entertainment
world, you just have to look at the Academy Awards to see that minorities were
completely ignored although there were many quality films and performances
worthy of an Oscar. It was enlightening to see African American winners at the SAG awards ceremony, however.
But
most serious of all is the criminal justice system and healthcare. Just as with education, infractions and
crimes committed by African Americans are much more closely scrutinized and
harshly punished. If you are black, you
always have to be aware of yourself. A
police officer could stop you for any reason or no reason at all. On the other side, police officers or other
white people seem to get away with whatever they want. The number of hate crimes against African
Americans seems to grow. Lately, we’ve
focused on the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, but there are many more
that we do not know about.
A
lack of access to healthcare is most worrisome.
Without it, minorities get left out and are forced to live with medical
conditions that remain untreated. Only
when an emergency happens, do they go to the hospital. This is the most inefficient way of spending
healthcare dollars. Prevention and early
detection are the first line of defense for lower medical costs and effective
treatment. The Affordable Care Act(Obamacare) has been helpful in providing healthcare to African Americans, but
is threatened to be repealed.
Epilepsy
is a difficult topic for anyone to deal with.
But when it comes to African Americans, the stigma is especially
great. More than 350,000 African Americans have epilepsy and about 24,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. They are also more likely to experience
status epilepticus and suffer from SUDEP.
According to a study published in the journal Epilepsy and Behavior, comparing
Caucasians and African Americans with epilepsy, African Americans had overall
poorer seizure control and were less likely to qualify for surgery. They also tended to be skeptical about
medications, viewing them as harmful and addictive. On top of that, they highly mistrusted their
healthcare providers, the people who were supposed to be helping them.
It
will be difficult, but to combat this crisis, the African American community can
work together with epilepsy networks, including healthcare providers, and get educated
and remove the stigma.
The
greater challenge is attaining equality and eliminating discrimination in our
society. I do not see that happening
overnight. It I something we will
constantly have to work for.
Resources:
SAG
African Americans and Education
Hate crimes
African Americans and Epilepsy
Disparities Between Caucasians and African Americans
ACA working for African Americans
http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts-and-features/fact-sheets/aca-working-african-american-community/
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