Systemic Racism and Its Impact on Human Development - Essay Example

Introduction

Systemic racism has created a system of inequalities that primarily affects people of color.  It has become so normalized within our society that it directly causes diverse inequality issues. Systemic racism has also led to a plethora of topics such as in the criminal justice system, employment, housing, health care, political power, education, and other societal issues. Although many researchers have provided plausible solutions to mitigate and replace systematic racism, further research on systemic racism needs quick implementation to utilize these possible solutions better. Congress needs to take responsibility to make policies and regulations to end racism in our nation. There is no viable conversation on whether systemic racism is real and that it creates an inherent disparity in people's physical health, cognitive learning, and psychosocial self-esteem development. 

Psychosocial development

A child's environment profoundly impacts their psychosocial development. Since people of color experience oppression by white supremacy and racism, they have limited social status and social integration into society.  Minority members of the community have not been able to gain full access to the same opportunities as white people. "The Social Identity theory suggests that individuals try to raise their self-esteem through personal success and by associating themselves with particular groups." (Smedley, 2002). When forming an in-group, which seems to emerge in early childhood, children prefer to hang out with individuals who possess some similarities. Besides, it then isolates the out-group of minorities, which causes problems for people of color, such as depression and isolation.  It showcases that high-status groups depict in-group favoritism meaning they have racist attributes and prefer to be around members of their same social status (Reichl 1997). The awareness lets everyone know that most whites stick with whites and color people stick with people of color. 

Krieger's eco-social model states that disease distribution seeks to integrate socioeconomic status to the population distribution of diseases and social inequalities in health (Krieger N. 2012). The model shows that the current people's socioeconomic status, living conditions, and environmental exposures affect their health. Being exposed to different environmental chemicals and having access to clean water can negatively contribute to healthy development. Racism affects physical development by causing health issues in minority groups. It can cause elevated blood pressure and escalated risk for cardiovascular disease (Lukachko et al., 2014). When a person of color experiences racist remarks or becomes questioned by law enforcement, his/, her body triggers fight-or-flight response hormones. The fight-or-flight response causes chronic stress leading to body wear and tear, thus causing diseases and early death. In the United States, high levels of structural racism in different ethnic groups have an old connection with odds of heart attacks (Lukachko et al., 2014). Many minority patients received lower quality of health care than whites (Smedley, 2012). Therefore, they had long waiting queues to undergo medical scans, acquire medical attention, and emergency care. Also, the lack of having universal health insurance in the US escalates the stress of minority low SES families.

Physical Development

Children's physical development is affected by a lack of resources and insufficient healthy and nutritious foods. Countries with higher rates of minorities have fewer healthy food retailers (Lukachko et al., 2014). Systemic racism affects lower-income countries as they have more unhealthy food retailers compared to higher-income cost countries. Children who lack nutritious meals may become overweight, which can affect their bone growth and cause many health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease (Dunham et al., 2011). Eating unhealthy can lead to inadequate levels of concentration for children. Such cases reduce problem–solving skills, making it difficult for children to stay focused and accomplish learning tasks, thus affecting their academic performance (Simpson, 2020). Among school-age children from middle to high school SES families, insufficient dietary iron, and folate relate to more reduced concentration and mental test performance (Kaczmarczyk et al., 2019).  

Racism makes people of color believe that they are inherently inferior to white people. The Implicit Attitudes Test, for instance, measures the strength of unconscious biases associated with black people, white people, gay people. It evaluates whether people think it's good, bad, or has stereotype elements (Simpson, 2020). The belief of being inferior affects cognitive development that causes depression and mental health issues among minority groups. Being discriminated against frequently decreases the levels of self-esteem, leading to depression. Racism operates to damage minorities' self-esteem by forcing people to internalize racial belief systems (Smedley, 2012).

An extensive federally sponsored audit studied pairs of testers. The audit pair testers consisted of white people and people of color self-identification elements (Smedley, 2012). The study found that based on a variety of personal characteristics such as background information, racial and ethnic discrimination in housing markets remains significant internationally. In 2000, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development study found that whites became favored over identically qualified African Americans in 22% of rental housing test cases and 26% over Hispanics. In housing sales, whites received favorable treatment over African Americans in 17% of tests and obtained favors over Hispanics in almost 20% of housing sales tests (Smedley, 2012).  It also found that employment discrimination is consistent, with the people of color likely to experience unfair and discriminatory treatment during job application and recruitment.

Cognitive development

Systemic racism has impacted my life since I come from a poor Hispanic family with few success opportunities in the United States. My parents did not have money to educate themselves, let alone fees to cover my education. I dropped out of high school in my junior year with no intention of returning. Luckily, I was able to get back on my feet three years later and earned my high school diploma. Due to my family's financial instability, I had to work a part-time job to fund my college education.  Since I had a job, I could only attend college on a part-time basis, ultimately slowing down my track to a college degree.  Poor quality schools in low-income neighborhoods record high school dropouts for minority ethnic groups (Lukachko et al., 2014).

The 1862 Morill Act provided funding for states to establish land grant colleges for all groups of students. It made higher education more accessible to students of color, experiencing less access to learning opportunities. The act required states with racially segregated public education systems to provide land-grants for inclusivity (Sullivan, 2019). The land-grant helped to cut down on systemic racism via its inclusivity framework (Systemic racism in Higher Education, 2015). It opened the door for minority groups to participate and work towards getting a college degree to better their life through job acquisition and better housing. 

President John profounded the Affirmation Act. F. Kennedy sought to facilitate to end racial discrimination in federal constrictions (Kaczmarczyk et al., 2019). The act ensured equality in government institutions regardless of race, color, sex, or place of origin. It helped minorities to receive various resources needed for the attainment of advanced degrees. Furthermore, minority groups in the employment sector were not treated equally as white counterparts, therefore, allowing them to use their college degrees to get better jobs, thus improved living standards (Dunham et al., 2011).

The Sentencing Program is a national nonprofit organization that promotes sentencing reform. It also deals with the use of alternatives to incarceration through program development and research on criminal justice issues. The Sentencing Project's research addresses the causes and consequences of racial disparities and practical responses to these ongoing problems. The state practitioners, policymakers, academics, and advocates in the criminal justice field have a duty to challenge themselves to lead a national conversation on the role of race in crime and punishment (Oldmeadow et al., 2010). It works to get everyone a chance to a fair trial regardless of their skin color. It has helped many people of color get lower sentences and receive equality in various institutions. President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the civil rights act of 1964. It ended segregation in public places, banned employment discrimination, and forcefully challenged all American's to close the loop of racial discrimination. Civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King is credited for the movement as he channeled peaceful protesting and marching that led to this act. It was intended to dismantle racism and was not taken well by whites.

All schools should develop and teach children about racism and promote positive cultural differences starting as early as kindergarten. It would begin to help reduce the cognitive influence of internalized racism. Right now, nearly 80% of educators are middle-class white women (Sullivan, 2019). Without proper diversity representation in our education system, children cannot correctly understand the plight of systemic racism to minorities (Oldmeadow et al., 2010). Moreover, having students participate in school projects, such as writing their piece of injustice, inequality, and racism, would successfully bring awareness to children at a young age and hopefully mitigate any internalized racist beliefs. It creates a good opportunity for the children to have comprehensive knowledge about racism.

I would start looking into putting policies in place to have universal healthcare to ensure everyone gets the same access to healthcare. A lot of SES Families should not be thinking about not getting the proper medical care and follow-ups because they don't have insurance or the finances to pay (Kaczmarczyk et al., 2019). It helps at equal access to healthcare services to all people in the US.

Conclusion

Congress needs to be held accountable to pass policies and regulations to support people of different ethnic groups. They also need to punish the ones causing them harm.  Congress should make policies to dismantle racism and allow families to move forward to heal and rebuild. Once families heal and restores, they will receive equal employment, health, housing, and loan sectors. Restructuring and dismantling all systems that allow racism, such as political lawmakers and electing activists and reform candidates into political offices, helps fix broken criminal justice systems in the process of cracking down racism. It allows everyone to start seeing change and embracing the initiates developed to eliminate racism. Once racism is dismantled, only then will everyone on earth be able to live in harmony with each other and have the same fundamental opportunities. 

 

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It can cause elevated blood pressure and escalated risk for cardiovascular disease (Lukachko et al., 2014). When a person of color experiences racist remarks or becomes questioned by law enforcement, his/, her body triggers fight-or-flight response hormones. The fight-or-flight response causes chronic stress leading to body wear and tear, thus causing diseases and early death. In the United States, high levels of structural racism in different ethnic groups have an old connection with odds of heart attacks (Lukachko et al., 2014). Many minority patients received lower quality of health care than whites (Smedley, 2012). Therefore, they had long waiting queues to undergo medical scans, acquire medical attention, and emergency care. Also, the lack of having universal health insurance in the US escalates the stress of minority low SES families.

Physical Development

Children's physical development is affected by a lack of resources and insufficient healthy and nutritious foods. Countries with higher rates of minorities have fewer healthy food retailers (Lukachko et al., 2014). Systemic racism affects lower-income countries as they have more unhealthy food retailers compared to higher-income cost countries. Children who lack nutritious meals may become overweight, which can affect their bone growth and cause many health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease (Dunham et al., 2011). Eating unhealthy can lead to inadequate levels of concentration for children. Such cases reduce problem–solving skills, making it difficult for children to stay focused and accomplish learning tasks, thus affecting their academic performance (Simpson, 2020). Among school-age children from middle to high school SES families, insufficient dietary iron, and folate relate to more reduced concentration and mental test performance (Kaczmarczyk et al., 2019).  

Racism makes people of color believe that they are inherently inferior to white people. The Implicit Attitudes Test, for instance, measures the strength of unconscious biases associated with black people, white people, gay people. It evaluates whether people think it's good, bad, or has stereotype elements (Simpson, 2020). The belief of being inferior affects cognitive development that causes depression and mental health issues among minority groups. Being discriminated against frequently decreases the levels of self-esteem, leading to depression. Racism operates to damage minorities' self-esteem by forcing people to internalize racial belief systems (Smedley, 2012).

An extensive federally sponsored audit studied pairs of testers. The audit pair testers consisted of white people and people of color self-identification elements (Smedley, 2012). The study found that based on a variety of personal characteristics such as background information, racial and ethnic discrimination in housing markets remains significant internationally. In 2000, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development study found that whites became favored over identically qualified African Americans in 22% of rental housing test cases and 26% over Hispanics. In housing sales, whites received favorable treatment over African Americans in 17% of tests and obtained favors over Hispanics in almost 20% of housing sales tests (Smedley, 2012).  It also found that employment discrimination is consistent, with the people of color likely to experience unfair and discriminatory treatment during job application and recruitment.

Cognitive development

Systemic racism has impacted my life since I come from a poor Hispanic family with few success opportunities in the United States. My parents did not have money to educate themselves, let alone fees to cover my education. I dropped out of high school in my junior year with no intention of returning. Luckily, I was able to get back on my feet three years later and earned my high school diploma. Due to my family's financial instability, I had to work a part-time job to fund my college education. Read More