Blog Post 9 Health Inequality, Environmental Racism, and Transnational and Transracial Adoption

   Health Inequality, Environmental Racism, and Transnational and Transracial Adoption 

    Unfortunately, we live in a country where racism is deeply imbedded and is found so prevalently that we don't even recognize it. Environmental racism refers to the racial discrimination that occurs in environmental policy making and enforcing. This is closely linked to health inequality, which refers to differences in how people are treated in the healthcare system due to their population groups. An unfortunately common example of this the discrimination of Black people in the medical system. For example, they are twice as likely to die from diabetes than a white person, women of color are more likely to be sterilized during procedures, and Black people live, on average, six years less than their white counterparts. 

    There are many factors that perpetuate health inequalities, many of which I had never considered before. Segregation and the remnants of it (still very prevalent today), affects educational opportunities for children, concentrates poverty and resources, and forces many African Americans to live in unhealthy and unsafe environments. I was aware of these, but I never really connected that these factors can cause diabetes, heart disease, obesity, hypertension, and so much more. This coupled with the fact that they are often discriminated against in the healthcare system and are less likely to receive adequate care, mean that these are serious health issues. Providing areas know to be lower SES with resources, medical sites, better food options, etc. could all go a long way to helping these groups. 

    Transracial adoptees have a very unique experience. These individuals do still experience racism, because they are part of a minority group, however, their family is not. This offers a new challenge, because this person's family does not experience racism and do not understand that experience firsthand. Since the adoptee does not look like or have similar experiences to their adopted family, this might make them feel like an outsider, or like they don't belong to one particular group. You also must take into account cultural differences as well. The adoptee must come to terms with their identity both as they were born and in their adopted family. In some families these differences are celebrated and explored, but not always. Children who are not adopted might still face challenges regarding their race, ethnicity, etc. but they usually have a family who understands their experiences and whom they can talk to. Adoptees might have a safe space to discuss their experiences, however it is unlikely that their adoptive family will be able to deeply understand them.