[Bryant_Dean]

in reply to: From Separate to Equal and The 1619 Project #782

I do think that hospitals and healthcare facilities should make a concerted effort to employ ex-prisoners that show they really have the desire to help those in need. I think this should happen because it’s a better way for both parties to benefit from the unfortunate circumstances that ex-prisoners are forced to experience due to the discrimination they face upon re-entering the world from prison. So many individuals want to get back into thirst lives and they aren’t allowed to which isn’t my fair. I believe many other industries should do the same thing, including the healthcare industry. Obviously, there would need to be some limitations to the process that could gradually de-escalate as the employees make progress. The main concern would be the pure ability to complete the job, due to the fact that they would need the proper training in order to do so which should be included in the effort as an entirety. There are a number of companies that have and continue to hire ex-prisoners including the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association a company in the healthcare industry. However, for me, it doesn’t stop at just hiring them but allowing them to flourish in the workplace and supporting them as much as you would any other individual there. Giving ex-prisoners a second chance at life is the care minimum we can do for people who have paid their debt to society.

The idea that whites wanted to keep African Americans just healthy enough o do their slave work, but not enough physically or mentally to overcome the oppression they were faced with ties to health-related issues for us. Malnutrition was a notorious factor in the dire health of African Americans as well as not having access to medicines and their living conditions affecting them. I think it goes without question that matters of wealth, income, land ownership, and access to credit play a role in healthy/unhealthy communities. It can’t be overlooked that hospitals and healthcare facilities are businesses as well just like those of other industries like retail, automotive, etc. Therefore, there will always be some type of financial barrier between those who can afford care and those who can’t, no matter the magnitude of said barrier. The advantage of payday cash stores is being able to get access to funds you might desperately need in order to move on until you’re next source of income comes in, but a terrible disadvantage is the fact that the consequences behind not being able to pay that money back will last far longer than that loaned money ever will for the person using it.

[Bryant_Dean]

in reply to: From Separate to Equal and The 1619 Project #754

From Separate to Equal Response:

Among many thoughts and feelings I had while watching this video, sadness and inspiration were two that really stood out to me. While hearing of events such as the incident with W.E.B. Du Bois’ son who couldn’t get treatment at Atlanta University to the various oppressive acts against blacks in the healthcare system saddened me a bit. It serves as a parallel to some of the things that are still happening within our modern-day healthcare system. It shows us that while we have made such amazing strides towards the goals that we have achieved as people, we still have much to go. And that revelation gave me the inspiration to carry on the legacy of hard work and revolution that the people before me have been pioneers for up until this point. It encourages me to build upon their towers of achievement so that I can do the same for the generation after me.

What was most profound were a few words by Charles Hammer when he was referring to the lack of black obituaries being run by the Kansas City Star. He said, “Black people didn’t die, they just vanished”. This statement really paints a picture of how whites thought about how expendable and valueless black people were. It was dehumanizing to think that the deaths of African Americans were shrugged off like the killing of an insect.

The 1969 Project Response:

To be honest, some of the excerpts from the reading made me feel a small sense of anger. Just to read the type of things that happened to some of those people really makes you want to get out and take action against the systems that continue to keep us down.

The attitude behind slavery being just a business to people is what was so profound to me. It goes back to the sentiment I had before about black people being treated like objects that they can just sell and trade as they please.

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