[Briana_Paris]

in reply to: From Separate to Equal and The 1619 Project #778

If one reviews co-morbidities of chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, asthma, obesity, etc.) and their associated mortality rates across the 50 United States – to what conclusions can one come? What social-economic determinants are driving those situations?

According to the CDC, 54% of people living with hypertension are non-Hispanic Black adults, and the heart disease is most prevalent in southern states. The CDC also reported that the majority of people living with diabetes or prediabetes are Native Americans/Alaskan, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic adults. This is not surprising as most chronic diseases occur and are worse in poor and ethnic areas (Cook and Peters, Health Disparities in Chronic Diseases: Where the Money Is). Chronic diseases occur in these areas because of the fear and mistrust of the medical system and lack of healthcare insurance.
From Separate to Equal mentioned early in the video that a lot of African Americans, from musicians to the most educated, feared hospitals because it was a “death sentence.” People would even refuse to get treated in hospitals even for the most extreme cases like gunshot wounds. White medicine is embedded on physical racial differences such as lack of lung and brain capacity and pain levels; doctors today still believe in these biases. Thomas Hamilton enslaved and tortured John Brown to prove that black people had larger sex organs, smaller skulls and thicker skin in the 1820s and 1830s (Villarosa, The 1619 Project). Black and Brown experimentation also continued into the 20th Century in the Tuskegee Syphilis Trials, Puerto Rico Birth Control Trials, and experiments alike.
Medical care is also extremely expensive, and many African Americans lack health insurance. Since the Civil War, African Americans have been denied healthcare through loopholes in legislation. Law makers have constantly believed that “free assistance of any kind would breed dependence” which still hinders African American coverage under the Affordable Care Act. (Interlandi, The 1619 Project). Black and brown communities hesitate to seek help for their health because of the cost and medical experiments and biases that are still prevalent today.

[Briana_Paris]

in reply to: From Separate to Equal and The 1619 Project #777

Should hospitals and healthcare facilities make a concerted effort to employ ex-prisoners? Why? What might be some of the constraints? Has anyone been successful at such a hiring practice?

Hospitals and healthcare facilities should seek to hire ex-prisoners, especially facilities in Black and Brown communities. Since the 13th Amendment was ratified, Black Americans, especially Black men, have been convicted for crimes as a result of bias legislation from Black Codes, Nixon’s War on Drugs and Clinton’s three strike laws. Black and Brown children have also been tried as adults which lead to excessive sentences (Stevenson, The 1619 Project). Hospitals and healthcare facilities would have to hire ex-prisoners on a case by case bases, however. Human resources at healthcare facilities need to carefully analyze candidates’ criminal records and cases, especially those convicted of murder, rape, and sexual assault, to make sure the rest of their staff and patients are safe. A psychological evaluation by a psychiatrist should also be required. Ex-prisoners have done their time; a mistake one made when they were younger should not define them for the rest of their life.
Sophie Quinton reported that hospitals such as John Hopkins have hired people with criminal records for low entry-level jobs in food and janitorial services as well as housekeeping, in her 2017 article “Matching Ex-Offenders with Hard-to-Fill Healthcare Jobs.” She noted that entry-level jobs at hospitals are extremely hard to fill and crucial for hospitals to work efficiently; ex-prisoners who filled these positions would work harder and stay with the employer longer compared to a hire without a record. These workers would also be able to get healthcare through their employers, which is consistently denied to African Americans since the smallpox pandemic after the Civil War (Interlandi, The 1619 Project).

[Briana_Paris]

in reply to: From Separate to Equal and The 1619 Project #763

Separate to Equal:
This video was very enlightening, though sad and inspiring. As a Minnesota native whose family originated in Kansas City, it was extremely difficult, but heartening, to learn about how Drs. Unthank, Perry, and Thompson fought to change American medicine for African Americans and other minorities. Hearing their stories made me proud to be an African American pre-medical student. I am also extremely excited to start my journey in medicine as a dermatologist and public health official. One thing that spoke to me were Dr. Jabez North Jackson’s words explaining how he thought that colored men did not have the capacity to learn surgery. It baffled me that this man, a serving president of the American Medical Association, still believed African Americans were inferior to white Americans after his countless years of medical instruction. Almost 100 years later, nothing has changed; there are still doctors who believe we are intellectually and physically different that our white counterparts. His words and beliefs, that are still prevalent today, inspire me to continue to change how African Americans and other minorities are treated in medicine.

The 1619 Project:
This journal was extremely hard for me to read. I “knew” a lot of the things that were discussed, such as how slavery built Wall Street, and how racist American politicians were, but this journal went deep into America’s racist origin. Often while reading, I had to stop for a couple days because I would get so upset or mad at how America has treated us. I did enjoy how easily the writers connected core aspects of American society, such as capitalism and loopholes in laws, to slavery. I often question how states can “open up,” as Covid-19 destroys black and brown communities at an alarming rate compared to other communities, but the journal showed that what is currently happening the United States of America has been happening since the beginning.

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