Health & Discrimination in Nyc

ABSTRACTAn evaluation of the health disparities of minorities within New York City, and the perpetual constraints of systematic oppression

JayPublic Health Literature

Babajide Okesola

Public Health Literature

4/20/15

10:832:339:04                                   

                       The Effects of Racism on the Health of Minorities in New York City

           Prevent, promote, and protect are the three main goals of the field of public health. In

order for specialists to help sustain the ideal public health community, which does its best to

prevent illness, promote good health, and protect from future sicknesses, requires a complete

understanding of the many variables it contains. This includes the community’s environment, its

population, the relationship between the peoples, and its policies. A crucial skill that

professionals must have is the ability to perceive not only the tangible hazards of health but also

the intangible. Racism has to be the most dangerous intangible public health hazard to minorities

because of its compounding effects and its stealth within the general population. The definition

of racism is the belief that members of each race possess characteristics specific to that race, thus

making one inferior or superior to another. Racism can be found nearly anywhere in the United

States, but its prevalence and intensity of its effects varies from place to place. Many rural areas

of America do not contain a large population of minorities living with whites, while other cities

have a considerable amount of non-whites in their population. But what effect does the

demographics of a community have on the health effects of racism? White supremacist racism

(the belief that the white race is ultimately superior to others) is one of the most familiar forms of

racism that is present in New York City. NYC is a very diverse city that includes many African-

Americans, whites, and immigrants of numerous nationalities. This highly condensed area of

diversity provides a wide array of examples of the complex effects of racism. New York City is

also notorious for having a very segregated community because it has a large number of

minorities living in certain sections of the 5 boroughs, and a large number of upper class whites

living in other districts. This is largely because of the wealth gaps between communities and the

lack of socio-economic vehicles for minorities to use to escape these underprivileged

neighborhoods. But one may ask how could the segregated demographic of NYC affect the

health of its constituents? The segregated communities within NYC amplify the adverse effects

of racism on minorities because it makes these separated areas a larger target for concentrated

discrimination.

Racism and Mental Health

           Before one can understand how the sectionalized community in NYC intertwines with

racism and health, they must comprehend how racism affects minorities. Racism stems from an

idea that one race is superior to another race, which induces a perception of a hierarchy within

races. A hierarchy puts one race at the top, and other races lying below it. In this general societal

hierarchy whites are placed at the top, and blacks are put at the bottom while the other races are

in between the two, for this reason we will focus on African Americans to acquire a more

thorough understanding of racism’s effects.

Many African Americans are conditioned with the idea that blacks are extremely inferior

to whites at an early age, mainly because of negative media portrayals and being faced with

discrimination. It is evident that other whites feel the same way as well, as National surveys

report that 45% of whites believe that most African-Americans are lazy, while 29% believe that

most blacks are unintelligent, and 56% believe that blacks actually prefer to live off welfare

(Williams, 2006). Living in a community where society already has its own negative

preconceived stereotype can be very dangerous to an individual’s mental health. When, being

constantly conditioned to believe in this idea of inferiority and consistently facing

discrimination, one’s self-esteem level can steadily decline and leave that person vulnerable to

other sicknesses. The feeling of inferiority and lack of personal confidence can induce one into

becoming depressed. Depression is a serious mental state where the person can lose the

motivation to complete essential daily tasks, and in more serious cases, the will to live. Racism

and its ideals create an environment where the psyche of African Americans are under constant

attack, and thus risk being sunk into a morose mental state that could lead to other harmful

effects.   

Systematic Racism & Health Care

           Another significant health effect racism has on its victims is the inability to access vital

resources to maintain and promote health. Much of racism is very implicit and systematic, in a

way that one cannot necessarily accuse one person, or a group of people, for causing the socio-

economic paralysis of many minorities. The system is structured so as to limit minorities from

attaining metaphorical vehicles (such as higher education) in order to ascend to the upper class.

When using the phrase “the system’, one refers to intertwined legal policies, social media,

educational infrastructures and other variables that have a bias against minorities. Because

racism is so covertly imbedded into the ideological principles and structures of society,

minorities find it exceedingly difficult to leave the lower tax-bracket. This blockage of ascension

to higher socio-economic classes, causes people to survive in the disparity of these lower-class

areas.

           Most minorities in the lower class are congregated into the same communities and

neighborhood, which is most likely not coincidence. Cheaper and more affordable housing is

what makes many of these residents stay in these neighborhoods. However, many of these

housing establishments have many health hazards that could deteriorate the health status of those

living there. Lower class neighborhoods are more prone to violent crimes than upper-class

neighborhoods. Because minorities are sectionalized into poor lower class housing due to their

lack of socio-economic mobility racist ideals and structures can be considered as a cause for

weakened health status of minorities.

           One of the most direct ways, racism has harmed the health status of minorities is by

limiting their access to health care. Many African-Americans tend to have a sense of distrust

associated with health care professionals and health care institutions (Powe, LaVeist, Ratner,

Cooper, Boulware, 2013, p. 358). This fear of doctors and health specialists comes with

understandable reasoning. Throughout the history of America, African Americans have faced

slavery, segregation, and discrimination from the same Caucasian race. It is only natural for there

to be a sense of distrust associated with whites, with whom their people have been emasculated,

and have been considered their oppressor. One must also consider the many tests and unethical

experiments performed by trained medical professionals on African Americans such as the

Tuskegee syphilis experiment. For such a large scale unethical experiment to take place within

national borders, one must consider if America or its health professionals have what’s best in

mind when treating patients. Racist discrimination towards blacks in the past and modern eras,

can lead one into not believing that health care workers are reliable. It is clear to see the

detrimental effects of not trusting doctors; such as not participating in routine checkups,

abstaining from seeking medical advice/counsel and attaining drugs by other means than

prescription.

NYC Segregation

           The city of New York is one of the most diverse cities in the world, and is even more

unique by being the most densely populated city in the United States. Interestingly enough, NYC

is also highly segregated, in terms of where people of different socio-economic classes

Figure 1  (Garfield,2012)

  

Figure 2         (Hertz, 2014)

The two maps above depict different representations of the New York City demographic,

with Figure 1 displaying the geographic distribution of median income, and Figure 2 shows

portions of New York where there the population is less than 10% black (Blue) and other

portions where the population is less than 10% white (Green). By comparing the two maps one

will conclude that the general areas where the population is less than 10% black has higher

median income than the general areas where the population is less than 10% white. The amount

of wealth and resources in those areas highlighted green are disproportionate to the areas

highlighted blue on the map to the right. The polarization of wealth to certain communities that

contain less African Americans has an extremely pernicious effect on the health of minorities.

Separated Education

           The areas with a higher median income have a pool of resources to provide better quality

schooling, public facilities, and many other institutions that a community uses. There are less

resources in the poorer areas where other minorities reside, so they are more likely to have lower

quality schooling. Just as the neighborhoods in New York City are highly segregated, so are its

schools. There are many minority dominated schools, located in Chinatown, Washington

Heights, and Brooklyn. Two- thirds of NYC’s most segregated schools are black dominated,

located in black neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Figure 3 below shows that many of the locations of

the highly minority dominated schools are located where there are populations less than 10%

white and have low median income. This comparison is significant when compared with the fact

that more than 94% percent of students from low need districts graduate with a high school

diploma, while only 65.9% of students from high need school districts graduate (NYSED, 2014).

Figure 3 (Ford, 2012)

  

It is evident that living in high need and underfunded school district diminishes one’s

chances of graduating, and since a majority of these high need schools are located in black and

other minority neighborhoods, students that are non-white are less likely to graduate from their

high school. Students not graduating high school is a major health issue because of the impact

that is associated with not completing schooling. The City University of New York School of

Public Health’s Nicholas Freudenberg presented data that in the year 2000, a lack of a high

school diploma was associated with about 245,000 deaths. Graduating from high school is also

connected with lower stress, improved cognitive capability, and better access to health care

(RWJF, 2013). Racial segregation in New York City places minority students in lower class

neighborhoods into high need schools that lessen their chances of graduating compared to their

white contemporaries who live in high income neighborhoods with low need schools and higher

graduation rates. The racist segregation in NYC has provided more adverse health effects for

minorities in their community.

           Criminal Justice System

Every 28 hours a black man is killed by a police officer, self-appointed vigilante, or a

security guard. This is an alarming number that reflects bias towards not only African-Americans

but other minorities as well. It also reflects upon the high level use of force by police officers and

other security officials in America. There are about 3.66 average annual black deaths per million

people, compared to 1.92 Hispanic deaths, and 0.9 white deaths (Lee, 2014). There is clearly a

higher tendency for blacks and Hispanics to get killed while being arrested than whites; this is

most likely driven by racist attitudes and stereotypes towards these minorities. A General Social

Survey question showed that 54% of white people thought that blacks are prone to violence

(Welch, 2007, p.278). This supports the theory that many whites perceive blacks to be

excessively dangerous, which correlates with the fact that a significant amount of police officers

claim they felt they were in danger when they decided to shoot a suspect that was black. Racism

is also the driving force behind the crackdown on black neighborhoods by police officers.

The War on Drugs declared by the Reagan administration in the early 1980s initiated a

more severe use of force and strategies by police officers in domestic communities. The

eradication of drug dealings of crack cocaine was the motive behind the war, because many

blacks would distribute the inexpensive drug and make large profits from sales. Despite the fact

that crack is a derivative of cocaine, a drug that was and still is popular in white communities,

cocaine received little acknowledgment from law enforcement and did not become the primary

target of the justice system. This shows an overwhelming bias by America and its policy makers

to attack black neighborhoods, especially since criminal consequences are more severe with

crack cocaine than other drugs including powder cocaine. This unreasonable racist system of

justice places more minorities in prison (along with longer sentences) than whites. The adverse

health effects of being in prison vary, with lower life expectancy to even higher likeliness to

develop mental illness. This systematic form of oppression used to target lack populations have

caused more and more minorities to be persecuted by those sworn to protect them, and to face

incarceration, an environment that has detrimental effects on one’s health.

This form of racial profiling of minorities is not foreign to New York City either. New

York City is known for its zero-tolerance campaign to crack down on minor crimes and

misdemeanors with intense community policing strategies. Police Commissioner William

Bratton enforces an extremely aggressive tactic to focus on low income neighborhoods and

remove small characters of disorder, in order to improve the appearance of these areas.

Influenced by the broken windows theory (theory that explains how a disorderly environment

can induce more violent and frequent crimes), New York Police Department began cracking

down on more of the low income neighborhoods with a majority of minorities rather than the

areas where there are more whites because these low income neighborhoods are more prevalent

with misdemeanors and also crack cocaine. Since more minorities are segregated into these low

income neighborhoods, they are the general targeted population. With the help of laws like the

three-strikes law (after the third habitual offense, the offender receives a more sever sentence)

more minorities have been placed in prisons.

Police Brutality

Another serious health issue concern with minorities is the occurrence of police brutality.

The use of excessive force by police has been occurring for years in the United States, but

recently has been getting more attention with the help of social media and activist campaigns like

“#BlackLivesMatter” and the Coalition Against Police Brutality (CAPB). Minority populations

have been at the forefront of the movement, especially since a large amount of the cases of police

brutality involve non-white victims. According to the Department of Justice’s Police Public

Contact Survey, blacks are more likely to experience use of force or threats by a police office.

(BJS, 2008). This excessive use of force can have negative health effects on this minority

population by causing trauma and/or paranoia of police officers. The use of excessive force can

cause serious physical damage to victims, or have the victim traumatized by the attack, which are

both serious health issues.

In New York City the use of excessive force by police is exacerbated, especially

in low income areas. During the administration of police commissioner Bratton, the number of

citizen complaints filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board increased more than 60%

( between 1992 and 1996) (Green, 1999, p. 176). Data from the CCRB also shows that police

misconduct is concentrated in NYC’s minority neighborhoods. Nine out of 76 precincts account

for more than 50% of the CCRB increase of complaints, and more interestingly is the fact that

these precincts have higher percentages of African American and Latino Residents (Green, 1999,

p. 177). This proves that these segregated minority neighborhoods in NYC are subject to higher

use of police force. CCRB “General patrol incidents” complaints (complaints that do not involve

suspicion, pursuit, summons, or arrest) increased from 29 percent to 58 percent, this is significant

because these incidents show that there is a general animosity, fueled by bias, towards

individuals that don’t have any reason for suspicion (Green, 1999, p.176). Since these

neighborhoods have been segregated off as being low income crime infested environments,

police have discriminated against them, and thus become more aggressive. These violent police

actions against minority groups is a serious health issue.

Evidence

The statistics and evidence using in this research study clearly describe the existence of

segregated communities in NYC. Multiple credible maps from research groups associate the

median income map with the issue of race and how minorities are congregated into areas of low

income and whites are located in neighborhoods that are high income. Figure 3 also represents

the correlating effect segregated communities have on school districts. Having more black

dominated schools, Asian dominated schools, and Hispanic dominated schools in low income

areas has been proven to cause lower graduation rates. Lower graduation rates is also a measure

of health, which authorizes the theory that these segregated neighborhoods have an ultimately

negative effect on the health of the minority population. Reports from the CCRB, a credible

source in NYC clearly dictates that there is a disproportionate amount of cases in minority

dominated neighborhoods. It is plausible that the cause of this concentrated amount of CCRB

reports is from racist attitudes towards minorities.

Evaluation

As one can see, there are many health issues within the minority population that are

connected with racism. Systematic racism is evident in multiple aspects of society, including

education, the justice system, places of residence, and governmental policies. The effects of

racism are compounded like domino effect that eventually harms minorities physically, mentally

and in a socio-economical level as well. This is demonstrated through the lack of health care

access, a distrust of health professionals, a general lack of self-esteem from the feeling of

inferiority, and other direct and indirect impacts on the minority population’s health status from

racism. It is not questionable whether or not the segregated landscape of New York City has

worsened these adverse effects from racism, because there is supporting evidence that shows that

racist systems and ideals are more concentrated in higher minority population areas. These

separated communities are more severely persecuted by racist ideals and have more minorities

susceptible to serious health issues. NYC must take multiple steps to create more equality for

individuals by removing its discriminatory persons and eradicating its systematic racist

oppression because the oppression of minorities is a severe public health issue.

Excellent paper

All grammatical errors are highlighted

Grade: 25/25

Bibliography

"Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Use of Force." Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Use of Force. Bureau of Justice, 2008. Web. 03 April 2015. http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm? ty=tp&tid=703 .

"The Connection Between High School Graduation and Health." RWJF. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 April 2015.

http://www.rwjf.org/en/culture-of-health/2013/11/the_connection_betwe.html .

"Statewide High School Graduation Rate Shows Continuing Gains." Nysed.gov. New York State Education Department, 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 April 2015.

http://www.nysed.gov/news/2015/statewide-high-school-graduation-rate-shows-continuing-gains .

Collins, Chiquita A.; Williams, David R.; (1999). "Segregation and Mortality: The Deadly Effects of Racism?." Sociological Forum 14(3): 495-523.Web. 09 March 2015.

Collins and Williams discuss not only the harmful effects of racism, but also the added effects of segregation.  The distribution of resources unequally to certain areas of residence where the population is mostly white, are some of the ways listed as to why the health of minorities is not at an appropriate level. The author does well to acknowledge many social consequences that come with living in a poor urban environment rather than a flourishing suburb, and explores the reasoning as to why there is such vivid segregation in America in the 20th century.

Fessenden, Ford. "A Portrait of Segregation in New York City’s Schools." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 May 2012. Web. 25 April 2015.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/11/nyregion/segregation-in-new-york-city-public-schools.html?_r=0 .

Garfield, R. "Income Distribution." Queens College Urban Studies Income Category. N.p., 2012. Web. 03 May 2015.

http://qcurban.org/category/income/ .

Green, Judith A. "Zero Tolerance: A Case Study of Police Policies and Practices in New York City." SagePub. Sage Publications, Apr. 1999. Web. 25 April 2015.

http://cad.sagepub.com/content/45/2/171.full.pdf+html .

Hertz, Daniel. "How Segregated Is New York City?" Urbanophile. N.p., 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 April 2015.

http://www.urbanophile.com/2014/10/07/how-segregated-is-new-york-city-by-daniel-hertz/ .

Krieger, Nancy, PhD, and Stephen Sidney, MD. "Racial Discrimination and Blood Pressure: The CARDIA Study of Young Black and White Adults." Ajph.alphapublications.org. N.p., Oct. 1996. Web. 09 March 2015.

This article goes in detail about the effects of racism on the health care system, health care providers and the discrimination in America. Krieger uses numerous sets of statistics to justify the implications of inequity. The paper included a study about risk factors and their prevalence between individuals that were white and black between ages of 25-37. This study along with comparisons of blood pressure and self-reported experiences provides a credible source that proves that racial discrimination has pernicious effects on the health of minorities.

Lee, Jaeah. "Here's the Data That Shows Cops Kill Black People at a Higher Rate than White People." Mother Jones. N.p., 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 May 2015.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/police-shootings-ferguson-race-data .

McKenzie, Kwame. "Racism and Health : Antiracism Is an Important Health Issue." BMJ : British Medical Journal. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 11 Jan. 2003. Web. 09 March 2015

McKenzie clearly describes how racism is a belief and how this perception can affect the mental and physical health of minorities. The author is very clear and concise so that readers who are just now being introduced to the topic of racism and health can get a better grasp of the concept. The author also explains how stress induced responses from the body can have a highly damaging effect on a person’s health. These stress induced responses are triggered by encountering racism and trying to overcome the feeling of inferiority that comes with it.

Powe, Neil, MD, Thomas LaVeist, PhD, Lloyd Ratner, MD, Lisa Cooper, MD, and Ebony Boulware, MD. "Race and Trust In The Health Care System." NCBI. Public Health Reports, July-Aug. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1497554/pdf/12815085.pdf .

Welch, Kelly. "Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 23.3 (2007): 278. Sagepub.com. Sage Publications, Aug. 2007. Web. 25 April 2015.

http://www.sagepub.com/gabbidonstudy/articles/Welch.pdf .

Williams, David R. "Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Health The Added Effects of Racism and Discrimination." Onlinelibrary. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 6 Feb. 2006. Web. 01 May 2015.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb08114.x/full .

Williams, David; Yu, Yan; Jackson, James; Anderson, Norman (1997). "Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health." Journal of Health Psychology 2(3): 335-351. 09 March 2015.

Williams, Yu, and Jackson explain how economic and non-economic forms of discrimination creates differences in the health status of whites and minorities. The paper expands on the polarization of wealth in America and how it is supported by the prejudice minorities face in America. The lack of wealth of these areas where a large population of minorities live have made them more vulnerable to chronic diseases and other health consequences. The paper incorporates racial bias and socio-economic status to determine why minorities have a lower self-reported health status.

(n.p = no publisher, n.d = no date)