Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Racism...of all sorts, colors and nationalities, the botom line ? Part I

The recent scandalous and "racist" remarks by a wealthy "white man".
in the world of sports, was a grim reminder of the race issues in the United States of America. The 21st century "race" issues and the widening socio-economic gaps, globalization, water and food security, and raging conflicts between nations...

I was reading the book written by Professor Thomas A. LaVeist about Minority Populations and Health in America.  Professor La Veist also  co-edited with Professor Lydia A. Isaac another book of similar contents, contemporary issues and challenges  on "Race, Ethnicity, and Health". The book was well written and explained by the authors. They dissected issues regarding health disparities in health between white people and non-white people, factors in "health racism and disparities, they made recommendations for more research on certain health outcomes, and health disparities.  

While doing research at Harvard Law School, I read on how the Supreme Court Justices in the early American history tolerated racism like their thoughts and dictum on "Separate but Equal rulings".
In my 2008 research paper, I reported on the fact, that majority of our judges are "white". Our criminal justice system is challenge by "racism" because majority of the people in our prisons are Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. 

Majority of the people in the United States of America are white people.Interestingly, majority of the poor people in the United States are white people but the health disparities or gap between health services and outcomes are "unequal". Many authors reported in their research (Race, Ethnicity, and Health, La Veist and Isaac, Editors, Second Edition, 2013) that the health of the minorities are not equal to white people in terms of access and service outcomes. Residential segregation and other socio-economic issues are still factors discussed by the authors. They proposed more research and actions on narrowing the health disparities and  gap between the white and non-white in the United States of America.

How can we eradicate racism ? Is human nature racist ? To what extent racism impacts our quality of life in the United States of America ?
What is a plantation mentality ? Is it still real ? Majority of the Fortune 500 companies "are run" by white men, why ? How far are we,  with eradicating racism in the United States of America ? What about income disparities between white and non-white, between men and women, between white women and non-white women ?  Is racism and poverty complementary ?  Is poverty a factor in racism ? Can we eradicate poverty and racism altogether ? What is the racist paradigm ? What is the role of history to racism ? Is racism the consequence of Western colonies in many developing nations ? What is the racist but poor ?  What is the difference between a rich-racist and a poor-racist ? What is the role of education in racism ? Is education a panacea to racism ? How can government policy impact racism ? Is government policy sustainable in fighting racism ? What is racism really ? How did the concept of racism came about ? 
Is color a predisposing factor in racism ? Are we all racist regardless we are white, black, brown, yellow and others ?  What is the role of our education or not getting education in racism ?  What about our socio-economic status in racism ? Are we less of a racist compared to others if we are "rich" or "poor" ? Is racism a smoke screen to cover up a deeper issues and schism in our society ? What is the bottom line of racism in the contemporary American society ?     



 

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