Current Events Assignment
Description
Twice during the semester, you will find a news story that ties in with the course material. I am encouraging you to connect current world and US events with our discussions on the social and cultural contexts of health and illness. By using real-world examples to illustrate the abstract theories we are learning, you should be better able to develop a well-rounded understanding of the material. For this assignment, I want you to pay attention to the news. I encourage you to both watch the news and read the paper for ideas, but you will need to access a news article online so that you can send me the link. Suggestions for trusted, relatively unbiased news websites
Current Events Assignments
The news article chosen for this analysis is “Indigenous and Black children increasingly experiencing racism, a new study shows” by Meron Moges-Gerbi which CNN Health published. This news article was published on November, dated 17th, the present year, 2022. This news article talks about the issue of racial discrimination faced by children of indigenous parents and black parents in the United States. This article is based on the data which was given by the “National Survey of Children’s Health”, which was directed by the “US Department of Health and Human Services.”
Considering the framing of the article, the article intends the healthcare workers and healthcare facilities as the audience. Even after emancipation and evolving as the human race, the stereotypical white supremacist mindset of people does not change. The healthcare sector is meant to be a safe place for people, regardless of their race. Even, quite ironically the healthcare sector has also taken an oath to never discriminate. Not only this discrimination leads to those children getting poor and neglected treatment but also they are being scarred for life. The trauma of being discriminated against is something that the children might not ever move on from. Society in this case is being extremely unfair to these children.
The statistical report shows a distinct increase in indigenous children being affected by discrimination from the year 2016 when the rate was 10.8 percent to 15.04% in the year 2020. The report was concluded by Dr. Micah Hartwell and Amy Hendrix-Dicken, who are certain of this injustice. Hartwell even lays out strategies that can help the situation. According to the researcher if the country knew more about the struggle of the indigenous and black people, if their cultures were explained to them in a better way then this hike in the statistics might just decrease.
The news article can be related excellently to the two-course materials that I discovered while reading it. The first article “Social Sources Of Racial Disparities In Health” by David R. Williams as well as Pamela Braboy Jackson, talks about the staunch racial discrimination being practiced in the healthcare sector. The second one is “Understanding Social Factors and Inequalities in Health: 20th Century Progress and 21st Century Prospects” by James S. House which talks about the invisible hierarchy the healthcare sector seems to follow.
It has been noticed that medical insurance too has been at low levels for people of color. They have been receiving poor healthcare and the gap between the white and the colored section has been ever-increasing (Williams & Jackson, 2005, p. 329). If we take time to be a linear phenomenon then we can notice that social equality and racial-ethnic disparity emerge after a few years every time. Which strongly suggests that this problem has taken refuge in our bones. Even the severest of diseases are eradicated but this one is too far etched in the psyche of the people. There still was a group of people holding onto a glimmer of hope that situations of discrimination and social inequalities are explainable and removable by just giving all equal access to modern medicine (House, 2002, p. 133).
The framing of the article excludes the opinion of those very healthcare givers. Their opinion has been excluded from the narrative so that a situation so charged cannot be diluted by excuses from them. The news article is framed in this way particularly to emphasize the helplessness of the victims. One should also notice that the news article is enamored with an accusatory tone by keeping the facts in front of the audience and the language has been kept professional. There is also a touch of personal gratification in the mention of one of the researchers being a person of color.
In conclusion, it can be said the framing of the news article is apt. The situation is extremely disheartening and measures should be taken as soon as possible to eradicate racial and social inequalities. These situations, especially in the healthcare sectors, where all patients, be they an adult or a child, are extremely vulnerable, can damage their psychosis permanently.
References
House, J. S. (2002). Understanding Social Factors and Inequalities in Health: 20th Century Progress and 21st Century Prospects. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 125. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090192
Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. B. (2005). Social Sources Of Racial Disparities In Health. Health Affairs, 24(2), 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.325
Moges-Gerbi, M. (2022, November 16). Indigenous and Black children increasingly experiencing racism, a new study shows. Retrieved November 18, 2022, from CNN website: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/16/health/indigenous-black-children-increasingly-experience-racism-reaj
