As a minority group in the United States, African Americans and Latinos experience a higher rate of mortality and persistent health problems as compared to White and Asian Americans. Not only is there a major lack in quality health coverage for minority groups, but there is a gap that exists between racial and ethnic groups across the board, affecting treatment, quality of care, and available opportunities. This gap that separates people based on socioeconomic class and race is called institutional discrimination and it is so engrained in our society that it goes unnoticed while maintaining “the advantage for the dominant group while providing the appearance of fairness to others”.
Although blatant racism and racial bigotry still exist in our society today, the prominence of this ignorance is declining and it has become socially unacceptable to discriminate against others based on their race, ethnicity, or social standing. The truth remains that this system of social stratification is still alive and breathing at the very subconscious level of society, because the framework for a predominantly white-male society was laid well before our time. Throughout history, the success of patriarchal hierarchy has caused a shift in thinking beyond the scope of our own recognition and, in turn, minorities have less room for advancement in today’s society.
This trickle-down effect has established an American society where neighborhoods are divided into groups by ethnicity and race. We can see from the statistics that African Americans are more likely to live in poverty than White Americans , and this has caused the separation of neighborhoods based on social class and race. So, even though race is not solely responsible for the culture of poverty that exists in American society, it has become the easiest marker for identifying which groups “belong” together and which do not. From this example, you can expect that a white male, whether living in poverty or not, will not actively search for a place to live in a neighborhood that is predominantly occupied by lower class African Americans, because it is not socially acceptable. This stratification has implications that transcends race, ethnicity, and social class regardless of the truth that poverty knows no race, ethnicity, or gender.
In terms of unequal medical treatment, the same rubric can be applied. Often, small clinics and hospitals that are located in lower income areas have less access to resources, pay their employees less money, and receive less funding from municipal, state, and government sources. These areas that are the most impoverished are usually the areas that are the most heavily populated and they do not get the resources required to address the immediate health needs of the people. Another problem with the access to quality healthcare is the stratified insurance industry in the United States. Companies that provide quality health care coverage are more expensive than state-funded health care plans or low-cost employer provided health care plans and people with less income cannot afford to purchase this coverage.
There is so much that can be discussed in terms of unequal medical treatment between minorities and non-minorities, but the fact that raises eyebrows more than anything else is the discrepancy in mortality rates among race groups. With modern technology and medicine, it is absolutely unacceptable that one race is dying at a higher rate than another race. This is a problem that needs to be addressed on all levels, from the medical care profession, to insurance companies, all the way to the steps of the White House.
References
Carl, J. D. (2013). Think Social Problems 2013. Pearson.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2010). Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States.
