For class we will be viewing the film “When the Bough Breaks” that elaborates on internalized racism and its effects on the body.
YOUR TASK:Ā Please watch thisĀ video OR you can choose to read the author’s article HERE. (Or you may select to do both). Ā After viewing (or reading), please leave your brief comment on the material below.
After reading this article, I agree with the analogy that the author has used. She relates planting a garden to the racial segregation and lack of attention and equal rights and environments within society. In relation to the red and pink flowers planted in good and bad soil, we as people go about putting others in environments where we know it is extremely hard to flourish and become successful. With this being said, the people that grow up in these environments and areas that have a low success rates have an increased stress level which then leads to low immunity and an unhealthy overall well being. This then not only affects one person in a family setting, it is a stressor to relationships as well as children that are within the home.
It is no secret that America doesnāt have the best national health. One way to improve your nationās health is by ending health disparities. We can argue those affected by health disparities receive poor quality of care or even no quality of care. The lack of quality in healthcare is found to affect the low-income population and racial minorities other than whites. Individuals of other ethnicitiesā such as Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, American Indians and Alaskan Natives are found to have higher rates of illness and disabilities consequential from poor access to quality care in healthcare. Factors of poor quality for these ethnicities, is language barrier, lack of insurance, low socioeconomic status and legal status. Therefore, the necessary standard of care for individuals with asthma, diabetes, heart disease, immunization, mental health care, prenatal care and screening are not routinely performed for such patients. Those affected by language barrier struggle to communicate with their healthcare provider preventing quality of care. Uninsured individuals or those illegal do not receive basic routine care. Low socioeconomic status usually is associated with substandard access to care, fewer community resources, and higher mortality. In fact, African American patients are found to visit doctors that are less likely to be board certified, āwhites and minorities typically receive care in very different setting. Low-income neighborhoods facilities are deprived of technology resources. Such patients lack recommended vaccines, poor prenatal care and mental treatment and in some cases never receive care for illness or injury.
After seeing Dr. Camara P Jones interview she gave me a clear understanding in how racism still exist here in America. One important point she mention is, that racism is important for public health professional, because it’s affecting the ethical and racial health disparities in health outcomes. She mention three levels of racism and gives a clear definition and description of these three levels. These three levels of racism are institutional racism, personal mediate, internalize racism. I agree with the internalize racism as she mention is a individual accepts of racism, which cause them not to believe in them self. Therefore, not letting them take advantage of opportunities being given to them or doubt them self because of the believe that “white race is better” . Another level she mentions is internal mediate racism, which is unintentional racism, and I have seen that in many cases for example people being scared of a African American because they are seen as violent and harmful, or someone assuming a Hispanic is a illegal immigrant that doesn’t know how to speak English. Even though, the person doesn’t want the person to take it personal it is still consider unintentional racism because the person didn’t want to harm the person. As these three level of racism still exist today in American and I think it would never stop slavery was abolish more than 200 years and African American’s are still attacked, also Hispanics are consider illegal and unwanted in American, therefore, we can still do something to prevent people creating stereotypes or make them disbelieve what they think is the truth.
After viewing the film, I was very surprised to learn that African American women have a higher risk of giving birth to premature or low birth weight babies. From the previous section of the film, we learned that those with more money have better health. It is unfortunate that this is not the case for some African American women, especially those that have a higher education and upper social class. It was also surprising to learn that my brother and I were both healthy babies, (my brother being born 9lbs. and me being 11lbs.) even despite my mother’s lack of education and social class. Hopefully, this means that there is data that has not been yet researched.
After reading the article I have to say I was always taught the broad definition of racism. The author helped me further understand what racism really is when she broke it down into three levels. The first level is what interested me more and it was institutionalized racism. I was more interested in this level because it seemed to be the foundation of what racism is today. Because institutionalized racism branches off of materials and power it also is the foundation for the association between socioeconomic status and race today. I highly agree with this because as i was reading what institutionalized racism was I was thinking to myself, if there is racism in just the distribution of goods and services it must of have been branched off of what that persons socioeconomic status was as well as what stereotypes are already being put on that person due to their skin color or gender, etc.
After reading the article Level of Racism, I became more aware of the in-depth details of racism. Institutionalized, personally mediated and internalized. I really like how the author related the two flower boxes, the old one and the new one. The old box already contained soil whereas the other box received new soil, the gardener preferred red flowers over the pink so the rich soil was used for the red flowers and the old pot contained the pink flowers. What the author is relating to is that the gardener is the government who has control and gets to make the decisions and not concerned with equality; I agree with the author and I really like how the story of the flowers relates to a real life scenario.
In the article, Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener`s Tale, the author gives a great example of a gardener with 2 flower boxes that relates to racism. The gardener was being unfair to the pink flower because of the pink flower`s appearance and she like the red flower better than the pink flower. Because of this, she puts the pink seed in a poor soil while the red seed is in the rich soil, causing the pink seed to have a hard time growing. It relates to people who are racism because they treat other people who are from different races differently and did not give them the same opportunity as other people such as job, education, and health benefit.
Camara Phyllis Jones uses the allegory of āa Gardnerās Taleā to depict the different levels of racism; institutionalized, personally mediated, and internalized. Jones created a way of explanation which simplifies the intricate and deeply rooted nature of racism in the United States making it pedagogical in her breakdown of the three categories of racism because she also intends for this tale to be used in that sense while still educating the reader. I think itās incredibly important to have a structuralized method of addressing the key issues to identifying racism, which because of how normalized and strategic racism is, could otherwise be overlooked by someone who is unaware of the subtleties. Itās also important that Jones offered ways of solving the major issues in hopes that it will lead to fixing the smaller ones. The largest issue being institutionalized racism which spawns from our government. Having a structural argument that is easy to understand will definitely help the cause towards breaking down institutionalized racism because it is relational to something that is a common hobby; gardening. Overall this article demonstrates how much power is in the hands of the āgardenerā to stop being blindsided by the real issue which is seeing the potential of both flowers and serving them equally. Itās almost frustrating to read. If it is so simple, if this solution is so clear, then why is it so hard to achieve equality? This leads to being oppressed which advertently leads to the other two levels of racism which are the more psychological levels that directly affect the mental and physical health, personally mediated and internalized racism. It is all cyclical because of the lack of the greater part of the wholeās willpower to stand forth and eradicated this institutionalized racism.
The video with Dr.Jones is very informing on racism and how it effects people of color in this day and age. She is right about the government and how they are the cause of racism in this country because they are leading by example. The government has to ability to bring about the change that is needed for a better society and put a stop to people being bias towards anyone of color. I did not know there were three levels of racism in society, but the last level was internal racism and i know that is a fact because i have seen it first hand in my neighborhood. They put their self’s down all the time and think they can’t do more in or get more out of life. The people in my community don’t aspire to be a lawyer, doctor, engineer or have a career at all, once they have a job to put food on the table, pay bills, and go out that’s all good for them. Personally to me, it’s a mental thing because of what they read and see on television. Dr.Jones made a valid point about how black people would rather go buy ice from the white mans store, see a white doctor or lawyer then a black one just because they think whites are better. In the end it all needs to change and i know it is happening slowly but we have to pick up the pace on ending racism.
After reading this article, I couldn’t help but ask myself “If racism is not ‘biological’, why does it still exist? Why do we still separate ourselves from each other if we are all aware that under our skin, we are all the same?” Research shows racism has a huge negative effect on the body, and the fact that people of color are still discriminate is sickening. I really enjoyed her explanation of the different levels of racism. Her example of connecting the 3 levels (the gardeners tale) was even better. She definitely gave me a better understanding of racism in general. I also agree with her when she says the gardener is the government. They have so much power, and yet they have done nothing to stop it. Sometimes I wonder if they truly understand how it feels to be discriminated against and if they were what would they do about it.
This article presents a multifaceted approach to the subject of racism by classifying it into three different levels: institutionalized, personally mediated, and internalized. However, the author argues that the institutionalized level is the most intricate and fundamental one. The allegory about the gardener was used efficiently to shed light on the importance of institutionalized racism and the gardener’s role in society. The gardener enforces institutionalized racism by initially preferring the red over the pink flower. He condemns the pink flower on the basis of his predetermined views about both flowers. In fact, he fails to look beyond the surface, and discover the potential of the pink flower. He perpetuates the superiority of the red flower and enforces the barrier, which constantly separates both flowers by placing them in different soils. The pink flower lacks control since the gardener decides the soil to which the flower is originally exposed. How can the pink flower be equal to the red flower when it lacks the resources? The author implies that the gardener represents the government, but I think it represents both the government and the people. In the gardener’s tale, the gardener was an individual whose education led him to adopt this kind of behavior. He then becomes the physical representation of racism; however, if the gardener (both people and government) were to realize the detrimental consequences of institutionalize racism, then it would eliminate internalized racism. It is certainly difficult for pink flowers to flourish when they lack access to the necessary resources.
In a first part of the Article āLevels of Racismā, the author started by spotting the lights on the three different levels of Racism. Beginning with āInstitutionalized levelā, which consists of a differential access to goods, services and opportunities, the writer revealed that this kind of racism establishes itself in material conditions and in access to power. Next, she talked about āPersonally mediatedā racism. Even if it can be intentional as well as unintentional and as she defined it, this level is frequently used by the public to define āRacismā since most of us will classify āprejudice and discriminationā as ways to express Bias. The author ended this part by defining the third level of racism. According to her, āinternalizedā racism and as the term āinternalizedā means, this form can be exercised within the stigmatized groups and it happens when certain members of a given group will not believe in themselves as well as on others from the same group.
This given definitions made me become aware of the boundaries that exist between the three levels of racism because I had never thought about this classification earlier in my life. Also and as the author illustrated it in the second part of the article, I really like the example that she used to demonstrate the levels of racism. The example had shown clearly the first two types of racism. Some of us use the skin color of a person intensively to make judgements, preferences and other things while others use the same approach unintentionally in some circumstances, as it was the case with āRed and Pinkā flours. Theses preferences can lead to other issues such as the performance and well-being of individuals based on the way they were treated and on their environment settings. Because the Gardner liked red flours, he used fertile and rich soil box to plan the seeds. It is obvious that these flours will flourish better that any other kind if it was planted in a poor soil. The outcome of this racial practice can have a negative and direct impact on those who are treated unfairly (stress, health complicationsā¦) but, in the long run, it will pull back the normal development of the whole society.
I agree with the article and video. I also enjoyed the analogy she used to help understand her levels of racism and how it plays into our society. One point that really stuck with me was the the pink flowers looked over to the red flowers and believed that they were better. The pin flowers didn’t know that they were planted in soil that wasn’t as good as the red flowers. All they knew and could see was that they were bigger and better.
In the article, the author reveals different kind of racism and how they are affecting in our society. The author mentions three types of racism which are institutionalized, personally mediated, and internalized. In institutionalized level, power is the main factor to deal with and according to the author it is the one which should mostly concerned. Personally mediated level of racism are mainly concern with personal opinion. There are many people who feel they are the victim of racism although it might not be the case. There are many racial classes in our society and certainly they may feel they are treating miserably because of their race. Internalized racism consider the internalization by people of racist attitudes towards members of their own ethnic group, including themselves. The author also mentions the story about gardening where he draws the picture of racism through the fairytale.
It’s good to see that racism does have a lot of both psychological and physiological negative effects on the body so that it can be another reason to repel it from our society. To think that some still believe that racism does not exist is still hard to believe. The excuse that segregation and slavery are over just adds to our ignorance because it is still existent differently in our time. Dr. Jones gave a great analogy with her garden illustration about how the red flower boxes are taken care of and the pink flower boxes are ignored. Therefore, since we tend to look and get used to praising the red flowers, we fall into a trap of habits and forget to be ethical. My interest peaks at our gardener however, why is such a problem is this not payed much attention to? Or at least only when an incident occurs. Instead of pointing fingers at each other, we, as humans, should point all of our fingers at the problem. We must realize that the issues in front of us are not going to be resolved by this matter and learn to evolve on this planet so that future generations do not recreate racism of any kind. In other words, make the gardener plant and care of all the color flowers that he plants.
In the article, the author describes three types of racial levels. In our society, we still treating based on our skin colors, which is a great shame for us. Although our society are developing day by day, we still canāt take out us form the racial concept. People still treating badly for their racial background which makes them mentally sick and destroy their feeling to be achieve something good. In the article, we see how the author tells the reason of racial existence and the main thing she points out are the ignorance of he government. The author compares the garden owner as a government and pink and red flower are demonstrate the different races. It is very clear that, Government should be the one to come forward to demolish the concept of racism which will help to create a balanced society.
In this article we are informed about how the author has developed a framework for understanding racism on 3 levels: institutionalized, personally mediated, and internalized. This framework is useful for raising new hypotheses about the basis of race-associated differences in health outcomes, as well as for designing effective interventions to eliminate those differences. In this framework, institutionalized racism is defined as differential access to the goods, services, and opportunities of society by race. Institutionalized racism is normative, sometimes legalized, and often an inherited disadvantage. Moreover we are told a story about flowers that has a clear relationship with how society and race works today. The gardener in this case enforces institutionalized racism by initially preferring the red over the pink flower. The gardener sets up the pink flowers for failure from the beginning by not providing the pink flowers with the same fresh soil amongst other things. Indeed, her assumption that red is better than pink may contribute to a blindness about the difference between the soils. What the author was getting at is if they where both given the same care and the same opportunity both can and would grow to be equals. To conclude this story illustrates the relationship between the 3 levels of racism. It also highlights the fact that institutionalized racism is the most fundamental of the 3 levels and must be addressed for important change to occur, and once institutionalized racism is addressed, the other levels of racism may cure themselves over time.
beata kobylarz on October 8, 2015 at 11:28 pm said:
In the article, Camara Phyllis Jones presents racism as a measurement of conscious social classification and social interpretation of phenotype. The racism is unfairly disadvantages particular group of people and communities. Is something that destroys human potential and value of a person. The author of the article depicts racism as different and unequal access to opportunities and goods, which particular nation or society offers. She hypothesizes racism as main source of health difficulties among communities. Based on author, there are 3 types of racism: ~institutionalized, ~ personally -mediated, ~internalized. Institutionalized raceme deals with differential access to social services and goods. For instance, unequal access to education, housing, and income. Personally-mediated racism describes wrong and negative assumptions about motives and nature of people. That particular type or racism is associated with deep discrimination and social stereotypes. Lastly, internalized racism depicts stigmatized self picture and self devaluation.
In conclusion, in my opinion racism is negative social creation, which is harmful for any social group and community. Racism creates negative stereotypes, motives, and unnecessary prejudgment. Racism is a tool destroying not only lives, but minds as well.
Im sorry Dr. Almond, I have posted my response in wrong section.
After reviewing the film, I had a different knowledge about health in race and social status. It doesn’t matter if you have more wealth and you have received a degree, it will not opt you out from having more risk in having a premature baby, or being detected with a disease, or etc. If a white female with lack of education and from a poor society were to give birth, she would have. Ore likely a chance to give birth to a healthy baby. Society often think that just because a lawyer, doctor, and etc. is “white” they are better at their job than an African American. Also I remember the doctor is always seen like a sign of danger just because he’s African American, when he goes on a public transportation. This results in racism because just because he isn’t wearing his suit, or just because of his color doesn’t mean that they will go and rob, or kill someone. the government also is held responsible why entirely people focus on racism too much. The government seems to promote racism in always categorizing race in a job application, in the news, or other sites.
I started reading this article many times and maybe because I have not a long time living in this contry, I have not seen these situations, or maybe because for me that is something that I do not pay attention, feel, has been part of my life or culture, and for that reasons it was dificult for me give an opinion. But what I can say is that the most common between the three categories mentioned in the article that looks like or I have witnessed is Internalized racism. I have seen how people defend situations and rights trying to say that they are victims of racism, especially when the skin color of the other person is different
I think that is as simple as it gets.. However a simple explanation does not mean simple correction. Everyone must be there own agent for change. We seriously have to go inside ourselves and correct any unhealthy thoughts beliefs or ideas we have not just about other but ourselves. Until we can be honest about ourselves we cannot be honest with others. Race in my humble opinion is simply for someone to identify a specific group of people. No harm done.. but when you are identifying them to insult, put down, keep down, use them as scape goats, prevent them from having all the opportunities that your race or culture or that of other races and cultures have. such as access to certain types of housing in certain areas, access to state of the art health care and schools then that is a flaw with not the people who you intend to put down but the one who is putting there time and energy into such segregation. This is a world wide problem not just American. It’s just that the people or gender differ.
It is good to find out that many organization are taking interest in understanding racism; why it exist, how it exist, its impact on the people affected and on our society on a whole. In the video the CDC is making an effort to stamping out racism and to improve the health and wealth of the minorities. Racism is even classified into three categories to break down the tasks of achieving equality. These categories are; institutional, personally mediated, and internalized racism. This approach will help to strategically dissolve racism rather than taking the common broad approach.
Following the above statement, a reference made by the speaker about a farmer and her flower garden where the farmer would sew the seeds of red roses in good soil but would sew the pink ones in bad soil. The farmer would even pluck the buds of any pink rose that shows up in her garden to stagnate the population or re-population of any pink rose. The speaker also talks about by changing the mind of the farmer to like pink rose and to cease her attitude towards it is not necessarily allowing the pink flowers to flourish and populate without providing good soil.
Based on the studies it has showed that health and wealth are well related. If someone has a good and fair income she or he will have better chances and facilities to keep a good health. Where to if someone has a low income will have a harder time to keep up with health due to the fact that she or he does not have the money to purchase health foods and get access to gyms and what not. How ever sometimes health and wealth can be rolled out of the picture. It has shown from research that African american women give premature birth despite the fact if a African American woman is in good health and as a good income. So health is also related a lot with genetics.
It is very helpful to me after read this article. Specifically, the author is broke down the racism in three levels: institutionalized, personally, and internalized. Iām very interesting on institutionalized level. I think it is the main problem that the Americanās society is carrying. The example how the gardener enforces to grow the red and pink flower is similar to how the government of the United States pushes on the population. It was stronger and clearer how well they treated White people in the past, as same as the red flowers in the article. I absolutely agree with the idea of the author that the government should provide a new soil to another box or mix the soil together. Because it is not fair when you are giving different resources between red and pink flower and then you expect them get the same result. Today the pink flowers is growing up much better than the past, but the soil resources between red and pink flowers are still not the same.