Black Lives Matter Movement And The Issue Of Racism

The mysterious murders of young black men such as the teenager Michael Brown, Tanisha Anderson, and Eric Garner and among others have triggered an upsurge of demonstrations that have cultured into the local Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM). The issue has been on the headlines on most of the newspapers the USA with the upcoming elections and continued surge in increased racism when the world should be becoming more liberalized. There must be an understanding that racism is segregating people just by the color of their skin. It has become so interesting to an extent that I chose to write about it because the issue of racism seems out of context since the world is purportedly becoming more liberalized and globalized. Is this not supposed to infer some uncivilized behavior such as racism should be at the margin or nearly abolished? The main motivation that is driving me to write about the article is my belief that with all the human developments, the world is disintegrating rather than integrating and there is the need for the world to come to terms and try face this reality.

Black Lives Matter Movement emphasizes on the overwhelming effect of the criminal justice system on black youths as well as the wider effect of racism on all phases of black life and societies. Over the decades, various informative studies have delivered proofs regarding how several forms of racism such as structural or environmental, impacts on the health and well-being of others. The current police misconducts, killings, and health discriminations are quite familiar as well as the commitments against them. However, the newfound perspective driven by an up surging social movement and community violence and anger expressed across American cities forms a risky moment in which to push for productive change. Such events continue to provide the need for proper and serious campaigns for change to combat racism and health inequality. In relation, this paper will discuss the universal impact of racism on health and well-being of people of color. Racism is progressively acknowledged as a fundamental determinant of health. Racism establishes phenomena that lead to preventable and discriminating inequalities in authority, wealth, and opportunities amongst racial groups. It can be taken as prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination and can start with public threats and abuses to sensations in-depth in social structures and arrangements. Moreover, racism can take place at various levels, for instance; organized, adopted and interpersonal such as contacts between different people. The influence of racism as a social determinant of health continues to attract increasing debates and considerations.

Racism is believed to impact health in various trails such as; restricted access to resources such as education, jobs, and housing and expanded acquaintance to risk factors; adverse affective, cognitive and path psychological processes; decreasing commitment to healthy behaviors; physical harm as a result of race-related violence; expanded engagement in unhealthy behaviors and other path psychological processes. The issue in the US currently has been the recent killing of blacks by the law enforcers on suspicious lives. The reason why rightly points out the incidents as suspicious is that various reliable sources have clearly shown that the incidents did not follow the diligence required in executing a suspect who is presumably resisting arrest. This has had severe consequences with the recent shooting of law enforcers by a man who was believed to be on a revenge mission for the shooting of a black man in the US. This has been brought to for a core aspect of whether there is an unreported contempt for black among the law enforcers. The AJPH article review of racism and health also suggested to the properly documented proof on the effect of poverty.

Also, a pair of broad reviews of earlier researchers highly recommended that larger income difference in a population unpleasantly impacted on the people’s health and welfare. Scholars have further suggested numerous reasons for how disproportion may result in poorer health effects, comprising insufficient access to resources essential for preserving health, incompetently protective health and welfare procedures, an overall lack of trust within communities, and the extended psychological and social stresses encountered by groups down the revenue ranking. Also, racism further impacts health in other direct ways. The suicidal rates of health insurance United States and increasing rates of poverty translates to a more uninsured number of African-Americans than whites regardless of the Affordable Care Act. Studies link inaccessibility to health insurance to 40 percent bigger risk of demise (Nelson, 2002). In conclusion, health experts undoubtedly have a duty to change the current situation. The writers of the AJPH called upon the public health sector to join structural racism within the public health training programs and research schedules.

Furthermore, the article also recommended that “public health specialists to go beyond simply recording health discriminations and publishing outcomes in scientific mediums, and enlarge our specialized responsibility to comprise community activism”. Besides, numerous nurses and physicians have demanded “…a universal, single-payer health insurance system, which would guarantee equal access to healthcare for individuals of all income classes, races, and ethnicities. ” The Institute of Medicine report suggested various procedures to remove the uneven treatment of African-Americans and other minorities within the health care system, embracing expanding the population of African-Americans health specialists. (Ford & Airhihenbuwa, 2010). Provided the widespread social and economic elements accountable for the health differences encountered by African-American communities. Nonetheless, any enduring resolutions must ascend from larger movements to challenge the institutional, political and economic power systems that broadcast racism within the American society. The young people too will be the parents, teachers, and guardians of tomorrow. This indicates that they will be handling young minds in future. They will have the influence on how future generations are brought up. They will have the duty of telling these young people that racism is non-existent and that all human beings in the US despite their race are all equal in the eyes of God and men.