Racism has been known as the significant social determinant of health akin to education, employment, and health equity barriers. Publicized anti-Black violence negatively affects the mental health and psychological wellbeing of many Black Americans. It is not mandatory if they experience it directly, but the brutal events happening in the country may have poor mental health outcomes (Newsome, 2021). It reflected that the Black people are more concerned about the systemic injustice they see and face. However, such feelings also resonate with personally lived experiences that are reflective of racism. Undoubtedly, the violent incidents are so emotionally and physically draining. Exposure to racial prejudice is chronic, frequent, and likely to happen at any stage of life.
Police violence is also among the primary cause of death; black people are highly expected to be killed by cops than the white population. Racial discrimination poses harmful impacts; it causes stress, depression, lower self-esteem, sense of helplessness and affects psychological health. The young have suffered racism at schools and on different social media platforms (López, 2020). Racism has been an ugly reality for many years. There is a long history of African Americans and Latinos being stopped or treated by law enforcement personnel disproportionately. The minorities continue to be stopped discriminately to their representation in the population. African Americans and Latinos usually reside in highly segregated areas with high crime rates resulting in them being more exposed to police officers than whites inhabiting other parts of the city.
The youth encountering prejudice is found to see making suicide attempts, due to which they feel hated, worthless, isolated, and unaccepted in their society. The Black communities encounter sheer humanity and go through tough times, even having access to fundamental civil liberties (Newsome, 2021). However, modern policing and the laws consistently fail in charging the police officers for ending the lives of Black people. Therefore, we need to change our mindset to look and treat everybody with equality regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion.
We must not ignore the vast history of injustice associated with the living of the Black community. The things happening in the world stir and stimulate us, and we realize the minorities are only human when we show them that they matter. Systemic reforms are highly needed in the stream of the criminal justice system. We all need to understand the crucial role of small steps in dealing with violent acts and how stepping back negates the positive approach. Although racism cannot be dismantled entirely, the trends of racial discrimination must be stopped, and racism should be eradicated because it is our responsibility to make this world a better and peaceful place. Humanity is an important concern that must be acknowledged and provide everybody with equal opportunities.
References
Lopez, R.J. (2020). Toward Creolizing Schooling. Black Issues in Philosophy. https://blog.paonline.org/2020/06/23/toward-creolizing/schooling/
Newsome, M. (2021). News about Racial Violence Harms Black People’s Mental Health. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/news-about-racial-violence-harms-black-peoples-mental-health/