In a new article for Time, Angelina Jolie interviewed Malone Mukwende, a medical student dedicated to educating others about racial biases in his field.
“When Malone Mukwende, 21, started medical school in London, he identified a fundamental problem: Almost all the images and data used in its teaching were based on studies of white patients,” she writes.
“But medical symptoms can present very differently on Black and brown skin, leading to misdiagnosis, suffering, and even death,” she continued. “Still a student, he has recently launched both a handbook, Mind the Gap, and Hutano, a new online platform intended to empower people with knowledge about their health.”
In the conversation, Angelina revealed that she’s noticed medical racism through her children.
“I have children from different backgrounds, and I know when there was a rash that everybody got, it looked drastically different depending on their skin color. But whenever I looked at medical charts, the reference point was always white skin,” she said.
“Recently my daughter Zahara, whom I adopted from Ethiopia, had surgery, and afterward a nurse told me to call them if her skin ‘turned pink,'” she continued.
Malone replied, “Almost the entirety of medicine is taught in that way. There’s a language and a culture that exists in the medical profession, because it’s been done for so many years, and because we are still doing it so many years later it doesn’t seem like it’s a problem.”
“However, like you’ve just illustrated, that’s a very problematic statement for some groups of the population because it’s just not going to happen in that way, and if you’re unaware you probably won’t call the doctor,” he said.
They also discuss the fact that “this goes beyond just looking at skin”: covering the fact that there “haven’t been studies on Black and brown skin because it wasn’t considered important,” as Angelina Jolie points out.
Read the complete article at: Yahoo
Also Read: Racism Derails Black Men’s Health, Even as Education Levels Rise
The disproportionate use of police brutality against people of color in America. Higher COVID-19 death rates of Black and Latinx people in the healthcare system. Lower percentages of homeownership and loans approved in Black communities. Society often labels these disparities as racism or prejudice against individuals with specific racial identities. American racism
But new research from UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute shows that these inequities are symptoms of a much more racially systemic problem — residential segregation.
“It’s the racial identity of the neighborhood you live in, and whether it is segregated or not, that really correlates with these negative outcomes,” said Stephen Menendian, the institute’s director of research. “And these outcomes have gotten worse over time. If you measure what the average neighborhood looks like for a particular racial group, you actually see that we are as segregated today as we were in 1940.”
Released today, the report provides an annotated bibliography of local histories of segregation from 60 American cities and an interactive mapping tool that illustrates the level of segregation for every city, region and neighborhood.
The research found that 81% of metropolitan regions were more segregated in 2019 than in 1990. That lack of integration has led to a disproportionate distribution of resources in segregated communities of color compared to segregated white communities, said Menendian, and a neighborhood poverty rate three times higher in those communities of color.
According to the report, Black and Latinx children raised in integrated neighborhoods earn nearly $1,000 more annually as adults and $4,000 to $5,000 more when raised in white neighborhoods, compared to those raised in segregated communities of color. Moreover, household incomes and home values in white neighborhoods are twice as high as those in segregated communities of color.
Read the complete article at: Berkeley News
Also Read: Teaching children that racism is structural is key to finally eradicating it
American racism American racism
This past year has been transformational in terms of not only a global pandemic but a sustained focus on racism and systemic injustice. There has been a widespread circulation of images and videos in the news and online. Just like adults, adolescents are exposed to these images with important consequences for their emotional health and coping. However, few studies have sought to understand the influence of racism experienced online.
According to a qualitative study published in JAMA Network Open adolescents expressed feelings of helplessness when exposed to secondhand racism online. Specifically, adolescents described helplessness stemming from the pervasiveness of racism in our society. This was illustrated by quotes, such as “[racist events are] just another day in the life” referring to racism as a constant force and unmovable by saying, “there’s nothing I can do.” However, many adolescents emphasized activism as a way to cope with the vicarious racism they experience. One adolescent stated, “Yeah, and then sometimes my response is it’s something I can do something about, like right now…” Further, participation in activism may help mitigate negative feelings.
Lead study author, Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, MD, MSc is a pediatrician and physician-investigator at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The study team conducted 4 focus groups of 18 adolescents across the Chicagoland area between November 2018-April 2019. Dr. Heard-Garris noted that teens felt that adults underestimated how much they witness discrimination around them. One adolescent said, “It’s funny because a lot of people think that teenagers are not socially aware, but I think the friends I keep around me, once we start talking about something, it goes on and on and on and on…”
Read the complete article at: News Medical
Also Read: Some Black parents see less bullying, racism with online learning and are keeping kids home
Some parents of Black Los Angeles school students opted to keep their children in distance learning after schools reopened in April because they wanted to shield them from inequitable and sometimes harsh treatment on campus, according to a report from a local advocacy group.
Among Black parents surveyed, 82% cited COVID-19 as one factor for keeping their children home and 43% said they were concerned about bullying, racism and low academic standards, according to the report by Speak Up, which conducted focus groups, analyzed district data and conducted its own survey.
The survey of 500 L.A. Unified parents — 96 of whom were black — asked parents about their children’s academic experiences during the pandemic. The opinions expressed by Black parents added new insights into the low return-to-school rates this spring in the nation’s second-largest school district.
Speak Up’s survey respondents roughly match district demographics. Additional Black parents were then surveyed to take a closer look at themes that emerged from focus groups that Speak Up conducted with Black students in 2020. The survey was conducted March 18 to 23.
Participants were recruited by Facebook ads that targeted parents who lived in L.A. and were screened to exclude those who did not identify as LAUSD parents. The survey was conducted by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research and has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points for the entire survey, the report said.
“Black parents were able to see how their children were treated by their peers and instructors while kids learned at home, and in some cases, saw a system that did not benefit them,” the report said. “Many of the same parents who saw that their children seemed to learn better and thrive emotionally away from school now question whether it is in their child’s best interest to return to campus.”
National polls have found that Black and Latino parents — whose communities have been disproportionately hit by COVID-19 — were far more likely than white parents to keep their children in distance learning when schools reopened.
Read the complete article at: LA Times
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The majority of U.S. children believe that people of different races are not treated fairly in their country, according to a new study releasing today by Sesame Workshop, the educational nonprofit behind Sesame Street.
In Coming Together: Family Reflections on Racism, shared exclusively with TIME, 86% of the children surveyed responded that they thought people in the U.S. were treated unfairly because of race; nearly half of the children surveyed said that they have personally experienced discrimination of some kind and many also noted that they have personally witnessed unfair treatment.
The study was commissioned last summer by Sesame Workshop to gauge how children perceived and were affected by the national reckoning with structural racism following the murder of George Floyd. To collect the data, Sesame Workshop surveyed 147 families across 35 states with children from ages 6 to 11. The children were first asked general, open-ended questions about their hopes, fears and the world around them; they were able to respond using drawings, writing, photos or videos. The questions intentionally did not mention racism or protests so researchers were able to gauge how top of mind the issues were for the children. Then, parents and children both answered questions explicitly addressing race and racism.
The study was conducted in two rounds that took place in June 2020 and again in January 2021, to see how the kids’ views may have changed. In the second wave, parents reported that they felt more comfortable talking about race with their kids and that they believed their children had a deeper understanding of racism than they had in the first round.
“Children understand the concept of race and identity much earlier than we as parents think they do,” Tanya Haider, Sesame Workshop’s Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Research and Ventures tells TIME. “They understand differences, they understand color. Children are enormously intuitive and perceptive, and they also pick up that people react differently to those differences.”
Read more at: Time
Police officers and racism have forced Black fathers to have an added responsibility to their parenting. Black fathers must have a conversation with their children about how to survive when encountering a racist civilian or police officer.
Infamous incidents such as George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Philando Castile are just a few examples in which their deaths resulted from a deadly encounter with racism. Former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on all three charges against him in the killing of George Floyd. However, police officers who conduct similar controversial actions do not always get the appropriate justice.
Even then, Black parents across America now have a responsibility to try to teach their children how to avoid such encounters in the first place if at all possible. In that regard, on this Father’s Day, Black fathers are having to double down on teaching their kids how to stay alive in a racist atmosphere; especially since their killers may not always receive justice. The lessons being taught are universal.
Quincy Williams, a Black father of a 23-year-old son from Laurel Hills, Calif., told his son that interactions with law enforcement are “not the time to prove that you are right.” Williams has told his son to “remain calm and make no quick movements so you can get home. We will handle the situation as needed.”
Dr. Eric Bell, a Black father in Northern Virginia, tells his 17-year-old son that “though we live in a society rich with opportunity only limited by ones imagination, there are segments whom aim to promote discourse and destruction through the advancement of division in people.” Dr. Bell also tells his son to “continue to seek out the good in people, educate the uninformed, and never allow yourself to be silenced through any form of oppression from anyone!”
Read the complete article at: Seattle Medium
Also Read: How Racism Affects Children of Color in Public Schools
A recent study finds that the vast majority of Black adolescents have experienced racism, that they experience anticipatory stress about experiencing racism again, and that their racial identity can influence that stress in a variety of ways.
“We know that racism is stressful,” says Elan Hope, corresponding author of the study and an associate professor of psychology at North Carolina State University. “Part of that stress is anticipatory—waiting for the next racist thing to happen. But not everyone experiences this stress the same way. We wanted to know how racial identity may influence the way teens experience this stress. Can racial identity buffer them from this type of stress? Can it make it worse? The answer is complicated.”
To that end, the researchers conducted an in-depth survey of 442 Black adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17. The survey included questions about each participant’s experiences with racism; various aspects of their racial identity; and questions aimed at understanding the extent to which they experienced anticipatory racism-related stress.
The researchers focused on three aspects of racial identity: centrality, private regard and public regard. Centrality is how important being Black is to a study participant’s sense of self. Private regard is how the participant feels about Black people in general. Public regard is how the participant thinks other people feel about Black people in general.
The researchers also examined four aspects of anticipatory stress: psychological stress; physiological stress; “perseverative cognition”—when you can’t stop thinking about something; and “secondary appraisal”—which assesses the extent to which someone effectively evaluates their ability to prevent or reduce harm caused by a racism-related event.
Ninety-four percent of the study participants reported experiencing racism.
“We found that racial identity is a mixed bag when it comes to its relationship with anticipatory stress,” Hope says.
Read the complete article at: Phys
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More education typically leads to better health, yet Black men in the U.S. are not getting the same benefit as other groups, research suggests.
The reasons for the gap are vexing, experts said, but may provide an important window into unique challenges faced by Black men as they try to gain not only good health but also an equal footing in the U.S.
Generally, higher education means better-paying jobs and health insurance, healthier behaviors and longer lives. This is true across many demographic groups. And studies show life expectancy is higher for educated Black men — those with a college degree or higher — compared with those who have not finished high school.
But the increase is not as big as it is for whites. This comes on top of the many health obstacles Black men already face. They are more likely to die from chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer than white men, and their life expectancy, on average, is lower. Experts point to a variety of factors that might play a role, but many said the most pervasive is racism.
Researchers note that Black women face many of the same challenges as Black men, but Black women generally have a longer life expectancy than Black men. (They also point out that it is hard to draw conclusions about Hispanic residents because of a lack of studies on the issues.) As a result, many experts said that the health problems stem from a persistent devaluation of Black men in U.S. society.
“At every level of income and education, there is still an effect of race,” said David Williams, a professor of public health at Harvard University who developed a scale nearly 30 years ago that quantified the connection between racism and health.
Read the complete article at: KHN
Also Read: Black women’s maternal health impacted by racism according to research, VP Harris weighs in
About a dozen people protested outside Monday night’s Bladen County Board of Education meeting with concerns about a new social studies curriculum they believe is harmful to their children.
In February, the State Board of Education approved new Social Studies standards for all students in grades K-12.
Some parents and grandparents do not agree with topics like gender identity potentially being included as a Social Studies topic.
“Teaching children that it’s okay if you’re a boy but you think you’re a girl, or vice-versa, you’re a girl but you want to be a boy, that is something that is for the parents to raise their children and teach their children,” said grandmother Tammy Heath.
Bladen County Republican Party Chair Wayne Schaeffer says another concern is teaching systemic racism as part of American History.
“This is not encouraging a legitimate or even a patriotic approach to America, it’s developing a sense of guilt on the part of these kids, especially the white kids,” Schaeffer said. It’s political garbage that’s being cloaked as an educational program. They’ve used very fancy words, but when you read between the lines it’s nonsense. I don’t want my kids or my grandkids being taught this.”
An earlier draft of the new standards included curriculums on systemic racism and gender identity, however the words systemic and gender have since been removed.
Supporters of the new standards say they will be more inclusive of historically marginalized voices.
Parents tried to attend Monday’s Board of Education meeting to have some of their concerns heard, but were turned away at the door along with WWAY.
WWAY asked board members for clarification of the new standards and were referred to superintendent Dr. Jason Atkinson.
Atkinson told us he had no comment at this time, and could set up an interview for a later date.
Source: WWAY TV3
Also Read: How Racism Affects Children of Color in Public Schools
In a new CBS This Morning interview, former First Lady Michelle Obama shared with Gayle King her lingering concerns over the safety of her two daughters, 22-year-old Malia and 19-year-old Sasha, both of whom are currently of age and licensed to drive, in the face of law enforcement.
“They’re driving, but every time they get in a car by themselves, I worry about what assumption is being made by somebody who doesn’t know everything about them—the fact that they are good students and polite girls, but maybe they’re playing their music a little loud. Maybe somebody sees the back of their head and makes an assumption,” Obama said.
“Like so many parents of Black kids … the innocent act of getting a license puts fear in our hearts,” she added. “I think we have to talk about it more and we have to ask our fellow citizens to listen a bit more and to believe us and to know that we don’t want to be out there marching.”
Obama declared it time for the nation to move past the fear-based othering that lies at the root of racism. “We have to ask our fellow citizens to listen a bit more, and to believe us, and to know we don’t wanna be out there marchin’,” she said. “I mean, all those Black Lives Matters kids, they’d rather not have to worry about this. They’re taking to the streets because they have to. They’re trying to have people understand that we’re real folks, and the fear that many have of so many of us is irrational. And it’s based on a history that is just, it’s sad and it’s dark. And it’s time for us to move beyond that.”
Read the complete article at: Harper’s Bazaar
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