Yo Is This Racist

Madalyn Morman

As terrible as it is, racism still exists in all sorts of places around the world and even close to home here in The United States of America. It is so horrible that such cruel events happen to those who are from a different race than another person. Racism occurs when people think that a certain race or color of the skin is superior to another, and based on that they do not treat those people fairly. In this article, I will be discussing two events that demonstrate an example of systemic injustice along with analyzing the situations and how they need to be corrected. 

We are all well aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and how hard it has been on everyone, especially those in the healthcare field, but what about how hard it has been for many African Americans. There was an article that talked about how African-American doctors have to carry double the load as they have to fight a virus that has unreasonably harmed their communities more than others while dealing with discrimination at the workplace (Williams). On top of the stressful job, the doctors have to deal with constant discrimination they get because of the color of their skin. 

“Being a black man in a white coat has never been easy”

-Dr. Steven McDonald

Many patients would ask for another doctor when an African-American doctor would walk into the room or they would rate them lower for patient care and cleanliness. Dr. Steven McDonald says that “being a black man in a white coat has never been easy” (Williams). These physicians are also more likely to practice medicine in underserved communities with fewer resources and testing, making them more vulnerable to contracting the COVID-19 virus compared to white colleagues (Williams). African American doctors have faced many more hardships in the healthcare field compared to white doctors. 

The pandemic may even take away all of the progress that has been made in increasing the number of African American physicians. This is due to all the stress, depression, and survivor guilt that they face every day (Williams). All of this is evidence of the “minority tax”. This is the invisible cost that people in minority groups face while working in a mainly white environment. 

So the question asked, “Is this racist?” and the answer would be yes. We see in this example that African American doctors are not being treated with respect by their white patients or their white colleagues. We also see how much harder it has been for African American doctors during this pandemic. I would label this as an example of systemic injustice because the system of power uses its authority to promote unjust behavior and prejudice against a social group. Here the system in power is the predominantly white workplace and profession and it is putting down against the African American physicians working there. The category of identity involved in this situation was race, and that should not be a factor in a workplace environment.

I think we can relate this problem to the concept of the One and the Other. The One claims superiority over the Other and the Other is defined through the dominant One. In this example, the One would be the white individuals either the patients or the fellow doctors who mistreated the African American doctors. That makes the African American doctors part of the Other and classified as inferior compared to the Ones. 

It is awful to hear about this current example of systemic injustice especially in this difficult time for healthcare workers. Not only do they have to worry about saving lives and preventing the spread of COVID-19, but some individuals have to carry the weight of having colored skin in a world where racism still exists. I believe that for this wrongdoing to be changed, essentially the profession has to recognize that racism in the workplace is inadequate for not only the patients’ health but also the physicians’. But also, the citizens and patients need to realize that they are only being part of the problem by acting racist or biased towards the African American individuals not only in the healthcare field but in general. 

We also hear another yet similar example of systemic injustice that has occurred recently and it happened to be in our own beloved country… again. The United States is well known for the racial segregation era of the 1900s. This was a time where many schools, restaurants, restrooms, and many other things were labeled as “white’s only”. Many people discriminated against African American citizens because they had a different color of skin. That historic and horrendous part of history eventually led to the Civil Rights Act which prohibited discrimination of individuals based on race, color, sex, etc. Still to this day, racism and discrimination exist in some sort of way in various places around the United States of America. 

In this current example, we see the school boards of many American school districts stepping up and deciding they are going to create an “equal” dress code policy. In reality, the enforced policy was racist and discriminatory. Several individuals even labeled this new enforcement of bigoted dress code policies to be the new “White Only” signs. This example appeared in a newspaper headline that stated that many school districts across the United States started to enforce dress code policies that restricted associations with the African American style. Male students are not allowed to have their hair extend below the eyebrows or the top of a t-shirt collar (Perry). Students were disturbed by this sudden dress code policy that was put in place. 

One high school student, DeAndre Arnold, has always worn his hair in dreadlocks. DeAndre had an in-school suspension and was told he could not attend class, prom, or graduation until he followed the dress code policy (Perry). Another student was pulled out of class in California because he had shaved-in designs in his hair which would be too “distracting” to his classmates. 7-year-old, Tiana Parker, was sent home from school one day because the school did not think her locs looked “presentable” (Perry). Several students have been told that their hairstyles represent “gang culture” and that they need to “fix” their hair to return to class. 

 

So again the question asked was, “Is this racist?” and the answer would be yes. The way that this sounds like is that the school boards are asserting authority over African-American students based on their hairstyles, but hair has nothing to do with academic success. We just heard that the school board gave a high school student an in-school suspension because his hair was in dreadlocks. Not only did another school district send a student home because of their hair, but the fact that it was a little 7-year-old girl makes it even more heartbreaking. These are primitive years for children and what they will remember from their childhood school would be the time that they were sent home or threatened to be suspended. What makes it, even more, worse would be the fact that it was not because of their behavior or grades, but because of their hair. 

I believe this is an example of systemic injustice because the system of power uses its authority to suppress African-American students the right to wear their hair in a way that connects them to their ancestors, family, and traditions. Here the system in power is the school boards enforcing bigoted dress code policies.

I think we can make a connection between the African-American students and the concept of  Spivak’s subalterns. The school boards have silenced these students and ingrained this as a “normal practice” within the school system. The students are being denied their right to express themselves and have no say in the rules being installed. Just like Spivak’s subalterns, the students must accommodate themselves to the new change to continue getting their education. 

The category of identity involved in this situation was race and ethnicity, and that should not be a factor in school districts. Having a racially diverse school board would protect against dress code policies from being prejudiced against individuals and be more understanding of the children’s traditions and lifestyle. It would allow for more of a broad understanding and allow more viewpoints to be expressed before making an irrational executive decision. 

After discussing these incidents, it is clear that racism is still present in today’s world, and it is occurring right under our noses. It is dreadful to hear about the African American doctors dealing with the current hardships from the pandemic and on top of that experiencing racism at the workplace. It is also heartbreaking to learn about the young students being forced to follow the new racist dress codes so that they can attend school. These were just two examples that were pointed out to be discussed, there are so many other unmentioned examples of systemic injustice going on in the world still that we need to be aware of and help shut them down.

Now the question is, what can you do to help. One of the best ways to help stop discrimination or racism is to bring about awareness. Make people acknowledge racism in the situation and try to bring about equality. 

Perry, Andre. “Racist Dress Codes in Schools Are the New ‘Whites Only’ Signs.” The Hechinger Report, 30 Mar. 2020, https://hechingerreport.org/dress-codes-are-the-new-whites-only-signs/  

Williams, Joseph P. “With Black Patients and White Colleagues, Black Doctors Carry a Double Load.” U.S. News & World Report, 1 Feb. 2021, www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-02-01/black-doctors-covid-burden-patients-social-ills-and-workplace-bigotry. 

Websites for Pictures

https://malden.wickedlocal.com/news/20170522/cook-family-retains-legal-defense-fund-aclu-to-explore-legal-action-against-mystic-valley 

https://tulsaworld.com/archive/schools-criticized-for-bans-on-dreadlocks-afros/article_1336da02-f6a3-5a42-9fcd-08659d0755a7.html 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/us/barbers-hill-isd-dreadlocks-deandre-arnold-trnd/index.html 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/philadelphia-doctor-takes-streets-black-communities-tested-covid/story?id=70405257