Fear of Death X The Under Representation of Minorities Within the Healthcare System Post 1 Group C

Fear is something that lurks deep in the mind of living things everywhere. Each individual, which is not limited to humanity, has a fear of something. That thing may be spiders, the dark, clowns, etc. Something that I fear is death. There is a saying that there are only two things guaranteed in life. Those are death, and taxes. That is an irrefutable fact. Death comes for everyone it does not discriminate, and you never know when it will strike.

This is something that many people today fear. Dying is even becoming common in the inner-city area where minorities are mainly located. There are diseases and illnesses that affect millions every year such as HIV and AIDS, and the failure of organs within the bod. A large percentage of people within the united states die from not being able to afford healthcare and the underrepresentation within the healthcare system. Many people besides myself fear dying, and in my own opinion, it is not the fact that it is unavoidable, but the fact that you never know when it will come for you. The unpredictability of being able to be doing your normal everyday routine, and your life ends in a snap.

The Health Care industry is worth billions of dollars and affects citizens. In American history, there have been several instances where minorities have died from simple disadvantages within health care. The several disadvantages such as they are uninsured, unrepresented, and discriminated against within healthcare system. The discrimination against minorities started all the way from slavery days in the republic and still affect minorities today. Thomas Jefferson, in Notes on the State of Virginia, wrote about lung differences between slaves and white colonists. Jefferson described many physical distinctions to justify the condition of slaves in the republic, and one was “a difference of structure in the pulmonary apparatus”. The interest in modern spirometers did not start until the 1840 in Europe after John Hutchinson, a London-based physician, published several studies.  The physician Hutchinson, described the technical features of the spirometer and its potential applications. Spirometry are commonly used to test how good your lungs work. The spirometry measures how much air you inhale. The devices used to help you keep your lungs healthy after medical procedures such as a patient receiving a surgery or when you have a lung illness (Orenstein).  The Doctors use the spirometer to measure lung capacity automatically make “corrections” for the patient’s race (Orenstein).  Research was done in the late 1990’s where African- American children were taller and heavier but had lower lung function (Braun). African Americans were poorer and had lower levels of the antioxidant vitamins A and C and α-carotene. Poverty, nutrition, and exposure to tobacco smoke may affect lung development (Braun). Users of the spirometer indicate that many operators are unaware that they are automatically activating race correction when they select a patient’s race (Braun).  The correction for blacks is reduced by about 13 percent of the normal settings for whites. It is crazy to go back and see that black and white lungs differ has a long history dating to the early years of the US slavery-based republic.

Minorities have been targeted in research and largely affected. Moreover, minority populations are not represented equally within the Health care industry. If, the United states doesn’t come up with a plan, to make better health insurance and policies the same problems will remain. physicians will keep having the ability to discriminate against unserved patients within healthcare system.  The percentage of people who die from health circumstance will always be high for minorities, and the rate people die from thing such as heart failure will stay high for the urban communities. The reason African Americas, and Latinos have more health problems are not from a genetic difference, it is because the discrimination they receive and underrepresentation within the healthcare system           

Fearing death is one thing, but along with that comes the strength to overcome that fear as well. Life waits for no man, and will continue to flow down its long stream, and does not stop for those who inhabit it. That is no way to live. Being able to live with your fears are something that humans must be able to do.  Death is a very scary thing. It is not a slasher movie murderer, or a scary monster that lives under your bed. It is much more real than those, and it is absolute.

Orenstein, David. Brown University . 3 6 2013. 1 3 2017. <https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/06/spirometers>.

Braun, Lundy. Race, ethnicity and lung function: A brief history. Ed. RCTR 51.4. Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy: CJRT, 2015.

Cartwright, Dr. Samuel A. Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race. Volume XI. Debow's Review . New York: AMS Press, Inc. , 1851.

Race and politics affect on Stereotypes in the Black Community X Boondocks

Race and politics run hand-in hand with one another and affect many decisions in society that impact the whole world. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “Politics are the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.” Race and Ethnicity is best described as an active and social processes rather than fixed biological categories; people treat other people differently because of their differences (Markus). Politics and Race are affected through different governing bodies, like the FDA, Federal Food and Drug Act, and the Affordable Care Act

 In 2005, Aaron McGruder created a show titled the Boondocks that used satire to catch the attention of young adults between the ages of 18 – 34. The show was used to bring light to Political and Race issues that African Americans face in today’s society. McGruder Created characters, such as Huey Freeman the main protagonist to display a mature black male versus that of the stereotypical inner-city youth in the show. By doing so McGruder was able to create a narrative that depicted both sides of the spectrum. Huey Freeman has a positive impact on the black community in the show by being both the voice of reason and the most mature in many controversial situations.

Huey Freeman was a revolutionary pro-black male that lives with his grandfather and brother, Reilly Freeman; following the death of both of their parents because of a tragic accident. Huey made it a point not to do things that are typically expected of black people. Race is such an important social construct because it has the power influence how people judge health and illness. There are several stereotypes that state biologically heart diseases, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are said to be predominantly found in African Americans rather than whites. The cause of this can be from finances, discrimination from pharmacists and physicians, and minorities not having the ability to afford health care. For example, this construct is shown when Huey and his family came together for dinner. Instead of eating the food like everyone else was he informed them that they should not be eating unhealthy food, because doing so they would end up like the grandmother off Soul Food: having diabetes and having to have their legs amputated. Soul Food is a popular African American movie in which the grandmother dies because of common stereotypical African American diseases.

Even though heart diseases, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are said to be more predominate in African americans, it has nothing to do with them genetically being of African American descent. A  publish by the Columbia University Press called Race in a Bottle  states at a white house ceremony President Bill Clinton famously declared, "I believe one of the great truths to emerge from this triumphant expedition inside the human genome is that in genetic terms, human beings, regardless of race, are more than 99.9 percent the same", and the 0.1 percent had nothing to do with race.

Huey Freeman shows the audience that they should not follow what the rest of society believes, instead the most important thing is to read and formulate your own beliefs. Many of Huey Freeman’s actions were based off his looks. For instance, he had an afro to show that he relates to the civil rights movement and does not cut, it because if he did it would mean that he is cutting piece of himself. He also wore clothes that resembled that of Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Martin Luther King Jr wore.

In America, it is hard to talk about the problems that African Americans face on the day to day basis. While producing The Boondocks, Aaron McGruder found a way to talk about these issues by adding a comedic twist to it, so it does not make it too real for the viewers and amplified their enjoyment. The Character Huey Freeman is a major factor in this being possible because he shows that the viewers do not have to act like what people expect them to be. The Show the Boondocks does a great job proving that the stereotypes of African American families are wrong

Markus, Puala.M.L.Moya and Hazel Rose. Diong Race. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.

Orenstein, David. Brown University . 3 6 2013. 1 3 2017. <https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/06/spirometers>.

American heart association . New statistics show one of every three U.S. deaths caused by cardiovascular disease. 16 12 2015. 15 3 2016. <http://newsroom.heart.org/news/new-statistics-show-one-of-every-three-u-s-deaths-caused-by-cardiovascular-disease>.

Braun, Lundy. Race, ethnicity and lung function: A brief history. Ed. RCTR 51.4. Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy: CJRT, 2015.

Cartwright, Dr. Samuel A. Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race. Volume XI. Debow's Review . New York: AMS Press, Inc. , 1851.

FDA. FDA. n.d. 2 3 2012. <https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/default.htm>.

Hewstone, Miles. "Intergroup Bias." 05 08 2002. Annual reviews . School of Behavior sciences. 12 3 2017. <http://www.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/392F-%2706/HewstoneRubinWillis.pdf>.