Born Into An Entanglement: 5 Ways African Americans Experience Discrimination | The Odyssey Online
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Born Into An Entanglement: 5 Ways African Americans Experience Discrimination

In case you live under a rock, here are some of the many, obvious yet subtle, ways African Americans are discriminated against in America.

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Born Into An Entanglement: 5 Ways African Americans Experience Discrimination


Police Brutality

This is a very common way America has oppressed black people. It's the reason you see protests taking place all over the world.

The Police initially started as a slave patrol, which was used to catch runaway slaves and return them to their owners. Once the 13th Amendment was ratified, it made it possible for slavery to thrive through the criminal justice system.

There's a lot that goes unseen through the justice system, far too much for me to fit in one article. How does it go "land of the free," SIKE.

Education

As we all know, education is very important. Like very important.

Nonetheless, getting an education has many more obstacles for black people. It really starts sooner than kindergarten. Making up 18% of the preschool population, a black boy is 2X more likely to get suspended than his white counterpart. Whereas white preschoolers makeup 43% of the population, but only makeup 26% of those who get suspended.

If you're wondering why that sucks for black kids and their growth, you're not thinking. Being told you are a bad person at the ages of 3,4,5 really molds you into someone you're not. Furthermore, black kids are more likely to drop-out because of repeated suspension and expulsions. Hence why their graduation rates are disproportionate to their white counterparts.

Health Care

Challenges from the beginning. Being a doctor is all about taking care of people, but some stats show otherwise.

A black woman is 3x more likely to die while giving birth as opposed to white women. Black babies are 2x more likely to die in comparison to white babies. In fact, people of color are more vulnerable to diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Just to let you know black children are TEN times more likely to die from gun violence.

There have been many stories where black women die in the ER, in fact, Deborah Gatewood recently died from Coronavirus after she tried to get treated by the same hospital she had been working at for decades. Imagine drowning and there's a lifeguard making eye contact with you as you continue to struggle, except instead of doing his job he continues to watch you as you take your last breath. That is what it feels like being Black in the healthcare system.

Housing

As we know America has always had a problem with land and its distribution. It's seen through the California gold rush, Native Americans, and the many other marginalized groups. I mean really, how could you take away land that in no shape, way, or form is yours, and then force the people who had already inhabited the land to live in reservations.

From redlining to telling minority buyers that a house is listed for a higher price than it actually is, racism takes place EVERYWHERE.

Here's a link to a video that explains redlining. Watch it, its a minute long :)

Employment

You're probably tired of seeing numbers and stats, so to sum it all up: workplace discrimination is illegal, however, wages and salaries are all different and are based on many factors. From race, to gender, to education discrimination thrives at work.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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