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Racial discrimination

Introduction

Racial discrimination has been here with us for several centuries. It has had a big

negative impact on the lives of many people. Just as the name suggests, racial discrimination

entails prejudice that is based on the race of a person. In recent years, the news concerning racial

discrimination has become dominant. The main areas of concern in regard to racial

discrimination that has hit news headlines consist of among others police brutality, demand for

equality, and struggles for civil rights. While different groups based on various reasons have

instigated these demands for justice and struggle for civil rights, the underline reason is that they

protest the practice of racial discrimination. But what exactly is racial discrimination? This

phrase is used to refer to the practice of treating someone poorly or differently on the basis of

their skin (Paradies 5). How is the impact of racial discrimination affecting society? Is it

positively or negatively? This paper seeks to discuss these questions deeply as outlined below.

Impact on Health

Racial discrimination can be seen as being positive to the health of a person or as being

detrimental to their health. The nature of the effect is dependent on the side of the pie that one

lies. Firstly, while the victim can be affected negatively, it is important to note that the racial
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discriminator finds satisfaction in accomplishing racial discrimination. The reason why people

propagate racial discrimination is to create more space for the "superior" race to enjoy life:

employment opportunities, good education, to raise their ego, to have greater influence in

society, among many other reasons (Paradies 10). Thus, while racial discrimination can be of

negative health impacts on the victim, it impacts its proponent positively in various ways

including health wise.

However, hearing and witnessing of the cases and theories of racial discrimination can

indeed evoke feelings that can result in negative health conditions. There have been various

cases of kind of violence that is directed towards people of color. For instance, there was a

school that gave permission to the police to shackle the wrist of a black six-year-old girl. The

societal coexistence is full of such cases of different systems, communities, and structures

perpetuating hatred towards people of color in all their aspects. Such an act is likely to have an

elongated as well as the insidious impact on the victim. Some of the negative effects of such

treatments towards the victims may include depression, low self-esteem, and inability to

appreciate anything good in life (Hudson 233). These effects can eventually result in health

hazards on the victim. Thus, no amounts of benefit that a few draw from the racial discrimination

are worth of justifying its existence. It is evil and unwelcome to the larger society. Consequently,

because of this fact, I am against it.

Impact on the Health and Well-Being of a Nation

Various works of research have revealed that racial discrimination has many negative

effects on the welfare of the nation. There are health disparities of a nation that are influenced by

racial tensions and related violence. Such violence that is shaped by racism includes among
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others community tensions. Other vices witnessed in the society due to racial discrimination

entail barriers to high school graduation, an increased number of high school dropouts, and

inequality in accessing government provisions such as health insurance coverage due to racism.

Primarily, racial discrimination is the most challenging tool of social stratification in the attempts

to make improvements in the health of the public. Thus, if the issue of racial discrimination is

not addressed to the conclusion, it becomes almost impossible to counter its negative impacts on

the well-being of a nation. Thus, the nation will be hindered from realizing its full potential.

Consequently, there will result an increased number of negativities in the society that is likely to

cripple the nation down (Edelman 18). Thus, it is hypocritical for one to say that he loves the

nation while at the same time supporting racial discrimination.

Further, another cost of racism on American society has been the loss of the economic

mobility of the generations of the minorities (Chavez-Dueñas 20). In the recent weeks, there was

horridness that was on display in Charlottesville. People were full of anger, twisted faces

demonstrating for racism. Their demeanor revealed their personified bigoted views. Such views

are indicative of the reasons why it has become almost difficult to deal with the racial disparities

and discriminations in the United States of America. Since the early days of America's

independence, there have been racist policies. These policies have had negative impacts on the

general American society. Such negative impacts have been witnessed at workplaces where the

people of color are afraid of changing their jobs, investing their money, and seeking new and

better opportunities that are likely to result into better living standards. The reason for this fear is

because of the fact that there is so much prejudice in the society against the people of color

(Chae et al. 110). Thus, leaving a job and seeking another or making a private investment is

likely to result in unemployment. In a country where racial discrimination cannot allow the
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citizens to operate freely but instead instills fear in them indicates a country that is on the verge

of collapsing. Thus, racial discrimination should be abolished by all means for the collective

prosperity of the United States of America.

From the early days of slavery, the issue of racial discrimination has been at the center

stage of American society (Chae et al. 105). However, there are people who still refuse that there

was an era of slavery in America. The white people argue that there was no single case where the

African American people and other people of color were discriminated against in any form. They

argue that white settlers ensured that every laborer was fully compensated for their labor. Such

arguments reveal the level of arrogance within the whites that cannot help bring the vice of racial

discrimination to an end. Rather, they can easily act as a fuel for propagating the tension existing

between the white Americans and those of color. Racial being a vice, those who argue in a

manner to suggest they do not recognize its existence should also face severe punishment.

Impact on the Susceptibility to the Negative Impacts of Climate Change

Racial discrimination affects every sector of society. These sectors comprise the politics,

economy, education, healthcare, safety and security, environmental quality among others. These

power imbalances in various sectors of the economy have detrimental impacts on the different

races in society. A clear link between racial discrimination and increased chances of exposure to

the effects of climate change can be seen in the financial assets (Chavez-Dueñas 15). For

instance, the racism existing in this sector is likely to force people of color to access poor

municipal services and poor housing. Consequently, there are high chances that this group of

people will be exposed to areas that have greater climate threats to their health and well-being. A
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loss of the country’s populace due to racial discrimination-instigated factors is the worst thing

that can happen. Thus, this vice of racial discrimination should be fought tooth and nail.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I do not have any reason to support racial discrimination. It impacts of are

negative, widespread and pronounced. They cannot be hidden. From the early ages of American

history up to today, these impacts have proved to be a great threat to the fabric of society.

Although racial discrimination may serve the interests of a few, the larger portion of the nation

suffers from this vice. Further, no benefit that racial discrimination accrues to a few people in the

society is worth enough to justify the existence of this vice. Thus, it is wise to pull necessary

resources together to ensure that necessary actions are put in place to bring it to an end.
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Works Cited

Chae, David H., et al. "Discrimination, racial bias, and telomere length in African-American

men." American journal of preventive medicine 46.2 (2014): 103-111.

Chavez-Dueñas, Nayeli Y., Hector Y. Adames, and Kurt C. Organista. "Skin-color prejudice and

within-group racial discrimination: Historical and current impact on Latino/a

populations." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 36.1 (2014): 3-26.

Edelman, Benjamin, Michael Luca, and Dan Svirsky. "Racial discrimination in the sharing

economy: Evidence from a field experiment." American Economic Journal: Applied

Economics9.2 (2017): 1-22.

Hudson, Darrell L., et al. "Racial discrimination, John Henryism, and depression among African

Americans." Journal of Black psychology 42.3 (2016): 221-243.

Paradies, Yin, et al. "Racism as a determinant of health: a systematic review and meta-analysis."

PloS one 10.9 (2015): e0138511.