Author: meath.3

Text Review Assignment-The Hate U Give

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The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1) by Angie Thomas

The book I chose to review is The Hate U Give written by Angie Thomas. This story follows Starr Carter, a sixteen year old black girl, who witnesses her black friend, Khalil, get shot and murdered by police. The Hate U Give is about her struggle with police brutality, activism and racism after this traumatic event. Khalil’s shooting is the first major example of injustice in the story as he was unarmed, defenseless and was causing no threat to the policeman who shot him so it’s obvious it was because of the color of his skin. Racial injustice continues to be shown throughout this novel as the government and media try to cover up Khalil’s death by portraying him as a drug dealer instead of trying to bring him justice. The jury ultimately ends up not charging the policeman, who was white, even after Starr testifies. This leads the Garden Heights community to try to peacefully protest, which ends up quickly turning violent, to show their frustration towards their criminal justice system failing them. I think that this story is the perfect example and depicts injustice towards black people and other minorities in today’s society very realistically. In this case I believe Starr, Khalil and other black people in the Garden Heights community are considered the “Other” because they are treated as lesser and constantly faced with racism. I also think identity plays a strong role in The Hate U Give. Starr struggles to balance her life at her mostly-white school, Williamson and her Garden Heights life. She is afraid that people at her school will think she is too “hood” and that people in Garden Heights will think that she thinks she is better than them. Starr feels that she cannot be herself and that she can not have both aspects of these identities in her life. Throughout the story Starr learns that she does not need to hide who she really is and that she can belong in both communities at the same time. Overall I think that The Hate U Give is a great story for this class because it represents many of the topics we have discussed in this class such as injustice and identity.

Yo, is this racist? By Kathleen Meath, Mackenzie Cordosi and Kristen Currin

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Mackenzie: Hi everybody I’m Mackenzie. 

Kathleen: I’m Kathleen

Krin: And I’m Krin.

Mackenzie: Welcome to “Yo, is this racist?” Today we’re going to be analyzing and discussing racism in the healthcare system within the United States. Racism in the United States has been an ongoing issue for quite some time, and it creates negative consequences for both patients and healthcare workers. That being said, it leads to higher risk of illness and lower standards of care for people of color. This example of systemic injustice has become even more evident with the ongoing covert 19 pandemic.

Kathleen: So, first off we’re going to start by talking about some of the statistics that show this example of systemic injustice.

Krin: A study from May 2020 estimated that in the United States, black people were 3.57 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than Caucasians. There were similar statistics within the LatinX population being two times more likely to die.

Mackenzie: So the US Department of Health and Human Services has found several examples of health and equity for POC in the United States. Some of these examples include lower life expectancy, higher blood pressure, lower rates of the flu vaccine, and strains on mental health.

Additionally, people of color have less access to health insurance, and in 2014 about 20% of black adults were unable to access health insurance compared to the 10% of white and Asian adults. Furthermore, 35% of Latinx adults were unable to access health insurance, and another study found that zip codes that were predominantly black were 67% more likely to have a shortage of primary care physicians. And I personally think it’s difficult to see that people of color are facing some difficulties when it comes to their health because they’re just trying to take care of themselves like every other human does, but they oftentimes face discrimination when doing so. So, next we’re going to talk about any examples, or accounts from people who have experienced this firsthand.

Kathleen: So I’m going to give some background first. Which is, racism is also prevalent within healthcare itself. This can cause doctors to neglect, disbelieve, provide lesser care, or even actively be racist towards patients. These acts can then cause people of color to be more hesitant when considering going to the doctor. When I was researching this issue, I found an article on harvard.edu, where a patient went to the emergency room for a painful medical condition where she reported that they did not treat her pain and she quoted “They treated me like I was trying to play them, like I was just trying to get pain meds out of them”. She was a middle aged, church-going lady, with no history of substance abuse. She didn’t even go in asking for pain medication. She was convinced she was treated this way because she was black. Do you guys think this is why she was treated this way?

Krin: I think if you went in there for her medical condition and did not even mention pain medication, and she has no history of substance abuse, there was no basis for the accusation, which makes me think it was due to her skin color.

Mackenzie: So yeah, I’ve been admitted to the hospital on several occasions for kidney stones, where I did not request pain medication but was prescribed opioids like Percocet and oxycodone on the spot. It’s hard to think about how the woman we previously discussed had this experience, when I as a white woman walked in and got opioids prescribed on the spot. It really makes you think about, was racism playing in her situation? So I have two black cousins that are the same age as me, we’re 20. And growing up, they’ve told me they’ve obviously experienced a lot of racism but they have experienced it in healthcare as well. I know they have felt uncomfortable going to see their primary care physician because they do feel like they were treated differently. And for a few years they’ve actually stopped going to see their primary physician for their yearly physical, so I know firsthand that people do feel this way and that’s really hard to think about

Kathleen: Does this affect workers in healthcare too?

Krin: Yes, this does as workers are receiving differences in pay based on their race within healthcare. In this field there can be a difference of wage of $10,000 to $100,000 between white male doctors and doctors of color. This field requires lots of time and stress related issues. Money should be distributed fairly as these are lives someone is dealing with, especially during the coronavirus where workers of color were 20% more likely to take the risk and help those infected. Despite receiving unequal pay. .

Mackenzie: This is an issue that personally really bothers me because they’re doing the same exact job, they probably have very similar education’s. So, in my mind, you know that it’s because of the color of their skin. So do you guys think that this makes people of color fall into the concept of the other that we’ve discussed in class so far?

Kathleen: Well, my understanding of the definition of the other is someone or a group of people  who is perceived by another group of people or population as not belonging or lesser. And this group of people sees itself as the norm and judges those who do not meet the norm. In this situation I think people of color are being treated as lesser than white people and doctors are viewing people of color as not belonging and untrustworthy, like the black lady from the previous story where they thought she was only in there for pain medication because they didn’t trust her. Probably because of the color of her skin.

Krin: Doctors are obviously in the position of power when treating patients, which makes it difficult for these people to stand up for themselves. This also contributes to making people of color feel like an other because these people feel helpless and lesser.

Mackenzie: So, the CDC right now says that they are committed to addressing racism in healthcare. I want to know if we think this is true?

Kathleen: On the website I found a direct quote, they wrote, where they want to “promote a public discourse on how racism negatively affects health and communicate potential solutions. Working with the broader public health community, we will serve as a catalyst to further investigate the impact of racism on health, and efforts to achieve health equity for all.” They also have claimed to have implemented many programs and policies, but have any of them actually made a difference? Personally I have not heard about any of these programs or policies so I don’t think they are very effective or well implemented if they’re not well known.

Mackenzie: So, even in their mission, it’s difficult for them to achieve it because nothing can be done when it’s the doctor’s personal negative views. So a lot of times, doctors themselves are racist or actively discriminate against patients. So, the CDC’s  goal of working for the broader public, it’s hard to make it come to fruition anytime soon because they can’t control what the doctors themselves think or do.

Krin: I work in the hospital as a patient safety companion and I’m lucky enough to work with people who do not have these racist views or biases. So that being said, this isn’t the case for all healthcare workers, but it is a problem elsewhere.

Kathleen: What else do you think can be done to fix this issue?

Krin: During medical education future doctors should be trained to identify and control their own implicit biases. They need to be able to manage apparent bigotry, learn from it, and educate others. There should be more trauma centers and primary care physicians closer to areas that are primarily black. This is an issue that needs to be addressed and can be accomplished fairly easily. By placing trauma centers closer to black zip codes, people of color would have wider access to health care.

Mackenzie: So, I know oftentimes I’ve previously researched these kinds of issues with black zip codes. And a lot of times they are in areas that are poor, oftentimes, they are impoverished. So, in these situations people of color they may not have cars, they might have less access to public transportation, they oftentimes they work multiple jobs so they can’t even find time to make it to a doctor’s appointment at an office that is far away from them. So, putting more trauma centers in areas closer to blacks zip codes I think could be really useful for multiple reasons like I previously stated. 

Kathleen: I also know we talked about doctors in medical school right now, should be educated on, like, controlling their biases and stuff but do we think that like current doctors who are already in the field should have to take classes on this stuff so we can try and fix what’s going on right now?

Mackenzie: I think that is an option and even so, like, in my opinion, up and coming professionals are, in my opinion, inherently less racist than people that grew up, like professionals right now are like in their 50s and stuff like they grew up in a different time so I think one, we’re already one step closer, but two, if they were to take these kind of classes like at school I think that it can be really beneficial.

Kathleen: Okay, so I guess we can just like cap it off and be like, so do we think that this is a prevalent issue in racism, and I guess we can answer the question “yo, is this racist”

Mackenzie: To me, it’s very obviously racist because looking at all the statistics, like, those aren’t just a coincidence like that doesn’t just happen, so obviously that is from my opinion racism, but it’s not just black people, people of color like Latinos, and Asian people as well. They all have experienced some sort of racism in their lives and I think that it’s prevalent in healthcare, so yeah I do think this is racism.

Kathleen: Yeah, I agree with that too. There’s just too many stories and statistics that point in that direction so it’s like it’s definitely something our society needs to work on. So everyone because health is like a basic human right, and everyone should in that factor be equal, for sure.

Mackenzie: I agree.

Krin: I also agree that this is racism, because you could go online and look up racism in healthcare, and I looked this up earlier and there was like millions of articles that popped up with the evidence supporting this on how people think this is unequal and like just terrible treatment, and it’s like known all over the world. Not just like specific healthcare associations, but, like, it’s not even just in America but like in different countries where like everyone is noticing it, but there

isn’t much like being done about it.

Mackenzie: Yeah I agree with you there, there’s a lot that can be done and hopefully something will be done soon.

Kathleen: Okay that’s all we got for today.

Everybody: Thanks!

Diary Of Systemic Injustice Showcase: Wage Gap

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A prevalent example of systemic injustice is the pay gap between women and men. This systemic sexism can also be considered systemic racism because women of color are being punished even more. On average, women in the United States are paid eighty-two cents for every dollar paid to men. Women of color are paid even less with Latinx women being paid fifty-four cents, Native American women fifty-seven cents and black women sixty-two cents on the dollar of a white man. This leads to women losing nearly half a million dollars over the course of their career and women of color losing nearly one million. This has a huge impact on women, especially women of color. About fifty-one percent of Latinx women and forty-eight percent of Black women do not have enough money to pay for basic needs such as food and housing. “Over forty-five percent of women do not even have three hundred dollars in their savings compared to only twenty-seven percent of men” (Livingston). When women are earning less this also has a negative effect on their families. Their children are more likely to grow up in poverty and as a consequence they are more likely to have poor health, behavioral problems, do poorly in school and end up poor themselves. Some ways we could approach fixing this problem could be with pay transparency, more flexible work schedules, more child care options, integrating women into male dominated fields, stronger labor unions and more family-friendly policies ,such as paid sick days, paid parental leave, and protecting caregivers. This example of systemic injustice shows how sexism and racism is still very much in play in today’s economy/society. 

Gender pay gap in the United States - Wikipedia

Data about the gender pay gap – Lean In

This example can be considered a systemic injustice because it is prevalent throughout the entire job industry in the United States, not just a few individual businesses or individuals targeting women. 

This shows how women are still considered an “other” in today’s society, especially women of color. This example of systemic injustice particularly relates to Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of the “one” and the “other” in The Second Sex. Her theory that men fundamentally oppress women and treat them as the “other” is clearly shown in the pay gap between men and women. 

 

“Gender and Racial Inequity during Crisis: The Pay Gap.” TIME’S UP Foundation, 30 July 2021, timesupfoundation.org/work/times-up-pay-up/gender-and-racial-inequity-during-crisis-the-pay-gap/. 

 

https://www.moneycrashers.com/gender-pay-gap-inequality-effects/

Author: Amy Livingston

Employing Undocumented Asian Americans and Labor Exploitation

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Labor exploitation is a huge problem in the United States when considering undocumented immigrants. These immigrants are working in low-wage, “unskilled” jobs without proper papers and most of the time will not speak up about missed wages and harassment because of their fear of being deported. When thinking about labor exploitation and undocumented immigrants we are familiar with Mexican and Latino American immigrants but usually overlook the Asian American immigrants. Over 40% of migrants to the United States are from Asia, with over 1.7 million of them being undocumented. More than a quarter of them are living below the poverty line.

Most undocumented Asian American immigrants usually find themselves working in the service industry. The two most common being restaurants and nail salons. Restaurants and other food services represent over 600,000 workers, nail salons and other personal care services represent over 180,000 workers. In these industries undocumented Asian American immigrants face many forms of labor exploitation.The most common form of labor exploitation is economic exploitation, the most significant example being wage theft. These immigrants are often not paid for all hours worked, are not paid the agreed rate, and have their tips confiscated. Other examples of economic exploitation that these immigrants face are scheduling long hours with no break, dangerous work environments and unlawful termination. Undocumented Asian Americans are more likely to work in jobs with these conditions due to high poverty rates, lack of english and stereotypes.  

According to a report by Desis Rising Up & Moving, within the restaurant industry 74% of South Asian immigrants make less than minimum wage and 94% make less than New York’s “Self Sufficiency” Standard in New York City. Represented in Lisa Ko’s “The Leavers” by Polly Guo, Deming’s mother, nail salons are the second most common place of employment for undocumented Asian American immigrants, especially women. Women working in nail salons face the most evident forms of labor exploitation by being paid less than minimum wage, having to pay a training fee and not being paid for the first few months of working.  Undocumented Asian American immigrants are especially vulnerable to facing these abuses in the service industry because they most-likely will not do anything about it due to fear of being deported.

 

“Addressing Labor Exploitation: An Examination of Undocumented Asian Americans in the Workplace.” Asian American Policy Review, 3 Sept. 2020, https://aapr.hkspublications.org/2020/06/02/addressing-labor-exploitation-an-examination-of-undocumented-asian-americans-in-the-workplace/.

“Not Just a Latino Issue: Undocumented Asians in America.” Asia Society, https://asiasociety.org/northern-california/not-just-latino-issue-undocumented-asians-america.

Ray, Mohar. Undocumented Asian American Workers and State Wage Laws in the Aftermath of Hoffman Plastic Compounds. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals%2Faslj13&div=7&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals.