Institutional Discrimination in the United States

Race and ethnicity are at the forefront of many conversations today-be it in politics, the media, personal discussions, etc.  The United States and the world has had a long history of racial and ethnic tensions, and while many today believe that we have overcome our dark past these tensions never really disappeared but today new attention to these issues has been raised given a number of incidences (e.g. Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and many others).  Today’s blog post is, however, not dedicated to discussing these topics that are at the forefront of everyone’s attention but instead I will be discussing the underlying institutional discrimination that has been and continues to occur here in the United States.  The goal is to bring attention to these issues and inform the reader of them to explain the public outcry and need for change in our society.  Institutional discrimination is the mistreatment of individuals and groups of individuals by society and culture and the institutions (e.g. education, government, health care, etc.) within them.  Institutional discrimination as it relates to education, land and property, and healthcare will be addressed herein.

Education

Education is important for two reasons: first, it prepares individuals for further education and job training, and second, it provides the basic socialization skills necessary to navigate our very social world.  Students who do not receive a good education in primary school tend to do poorly in middle school and high school.  This leads to further detriments in regards to college/university education, which is meant to prepare individuals for specific occupations and careers.  Those who are not properly educated during primary school are less likely to be successful in post secondary institutions.  Minority students, however, often do not get strong educations due to how our current education system is funded and prejudices felt by educators and peers. 

The lack of equal opportunities in education, particularly higher education, are linked to de jure (legal) discrimination, also known as de facto segregation, which is the legal and socially acceptable means of discriminating against certain groups or individuals.  Unfortunately, the United States has had a long history of institutional discrimination, particularly that which has gone unchecked by society.  One of most common examples is segregation, the forced separation of people by race as a means of discrimination or unequal treatment, which very much affected equal access to education for minorities, particularly African Americans, in the United States throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. 

While educational segregation to that extreme is no longer legal, a trend of resegregation, a return to de facto racial segregation in public education, is occurring.  Starting in the 1970s, white middle class families left cities for the suburbs, which divided neighborhood public schools along racial and socioeconomic lines, creating inner city schools that are largely populated by lower-income, nonwhite students and those schools in the suburbs are populated by higher-income White students.  While this segregation was not legal, it was not illegal because it was not forced upon schools by the government, but it was instituted by society and its members (or at least the dominant members who voluntarily left one area to populate a new one).  This led to resegregation of the school systems because of how public schools receive their government funding.  Schools are funded based on the taxes collected from the local populations, so if the local population is proportionally made up of lower socioeconomic groups less money will be funded into the public school system than in areas where the local population is made up of higher socioeconomic groups.   Minorities on average make less money than whites due to expectations for pay and the jobs they are fast tracked into (e.g. low paying occupations), which leads to less funding going into the public schools where they live.  Less money creates many other problems, starting with not being able to hire quality teachers.  Lack of funding also inhibits quality textbooks, computers, and educational materials from being purchased, meaning students are learning inaccurate facts or less information compared to other schools that can purchase newer textbooks and technology.  The schools also cannot afford to expand or remodel, so heat, water, and capacity constraints become problems.  Also, students from poorly funded schools are not given opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities as the school cannot afford to hire and pay for coaches, equipment, stadiums/courts, uniforms, transportation, etc.  Collectively, this leads to educational disparities between urban, which are typically viewed as largely African American, schools and suburban, which are largely viewed as White, schools. 

Land & Property

Cities all over the United States have communities, suburbs, or neighborhoods that are considered to be characterized by a particular group: e.g. Los Angeles and Chicago both have Chinatowns, Dearborn, Michigan, is characterized as a Muslim/Arabic city; and Royal Lakes, Illinois, is considered an African American community.  These residential areas are characterized by their residential segregation, which assembles people in residential areas by defining characteristics, such as age, socioeconomic, status, religion, race, or ethnicity, but racial residential segregation will be the focus of this section.  

Residential segregation of any type may not be driven by choice but may be driven by either overt or covert discrimination.  Regardless of the cause, the results are very damaging to all races, but the consequences are harder on racial minorities, particularly African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans.  These groups are more susceptible to poverty, unemployment, welfare, unwed motherhood, and lack of education, which are perpetuated within segregated neighborhoods.

While we may be quick to think of residential segregation as a matter of the past, it remains a reality today.  One of the common reasons for why we see residential segregation continuing today is due to racial steering, which is the practice in which real estate agents “steer” or lead buyers or renters toward specific neighborhoods based on their race.  This keeps nonwhites from being socially mobile (i.e., increasing their social standing within society) and excludes racial groups from being contact with each other.  Between 1980 and 2000, the urban segregation of blacks decreased slightly everywhere except in the Midwestern and Eastern United States, but racial segregation of Asians and Latinos increased.  Residential segregation has occurred the least in the Southwestern and Western United States as these cities are relatively new, do not have established neighborhoods, and are continually growing and expanding.  Suburban segregation has decreased over this same period, as these areas are mostly populated whites, followed by Asians, then Latinos, and finally blacks, but this segregation is only in the sense that these minority racial demographics have increased but does not represent blending of neighborhoods.  The suburbs themselves are starting to resemble urban ethnic and racial segregation, with specific suburbs being labeled as the area of one racial group over another. 

Healthcare

Health is intimately linked to several factors, including physical fitness (how much one works out or is physically active), diet (what one eats), gender (males vs. females), socioeconomic status (access to personal funding or insurance to pay for medical expenses), as well as race & ethnicity.  It is a combination of these aforementioned factors that affect an individual’s access to health care, health risk factors, and quality of care, and it is continually shown in various studies that racial groups do have differential access to quality health care.  

The United States Congress, in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine, funded a study on health inequalities within the United States to determine what exact factors were at play in regards to health, and they ultimately concluded that race and ethnicity were primary factors as even in cases where other factors (e.g. SES) are equal.  There are several factors that cause race and ethnicity to be at the forefront of the factors of whether or not an individual will be healthy or not.  First, minorities are more likely to participate in unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, drugs, etc., because of the stress associated with their lives from work and prejudice, which automatically puts them at a compromised health status.  Approximately 80% of African Americans  surveyed claim to have experienced discrimination and prejudice of some type, which puts stress on them and makes them fearful in their everyday lives.  These types of racism and discrimination range from subtle to blatant forms of discrimination, both of which wear on someone and make them stressed, leading to other negative health outcomes. 

Also, the preconceived notions of health care professionals who are biased against and have specific stereotypical views about racial and ethnic minorities affect how minorities are treated.  Prejudicial medical professionals may overlook a medical diagnosis because they feel a patient is lying to them or may treat the wrong medical condition due to these ideals.  There is also a long history of racial discrimination in medical practice in the United States, including the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and the treatment of Native American women by the Indian Health Services throughout the 1960s and 1970s.  The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment occurred in the 1930s and was meant to treat African American men suffering from syphilis, but these men were provided false information as they were not receiving treatment.  Over the next 40 years (the length of the study) medical professionals studied the long term effects of syphilis on untreated men, and syphilis was unknowingly spread by the men to various women, many of whom were their spouses.  This led to the spread of the disease, as well as the poor health and deaths of several African Americans.  Ultimately, this led to distrust among African Americans against the medical community that was supposed to help them.  A few decades later, several Indian Health Service locations that provided health care to Native American women began sterilizing them without their knowledge or consent because the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare encouraged sterilization of poor and nonwhite populations.  Those who did know that the intention was sterilization were coerced into undergoing the procedures under false pretenses (e.g. being falsely told that they required the operation or they would die).  Because Native American women had limited health care options and Indian Health Services was funded largely by the federal government these women were taken advantage of, and the repercussions continue today as many Native Americans are incredibly distrustful of medical practitioners and the US government as a whole.

Conclusion

Today, race and ethnicity are commonly discussed, but there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstandings as to why these topics are continued to be discussed.  In today’s society there is the false perception that everyone is not only created equally but treated so as well, but as noted in this blog post that is not the case.  There has been a long history of discrimination that continues today, and minorities are becoming justifiably frustrated and seeking resolutions.  It is my hope that this blog post has informed you, the reader, of some of these injustices and makes you more sensitive and aware of the issues at play.  These are only some of many injustices that have and continue to occur in our society and culture, and I encourage you to learn more about the issues so you can be part of the positive change and the solution.

  

References Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevent.  2015.  "U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee."  CDC Website.

Pearson, M.  2011. Think Race and Ethnicity.  Pearson.

Population Studies Center.  No Date.  "Racial Residential Segregation Measurement Project."  University of Michigan.  

United States Department of Justice.  2015.  "Types of Educational Opportunities Discrimination."  DoJ Website.

Spotlight on Students: Social Institutions Essay

The following is a post dedicated to showcasing the work of one of my Anth 101 students.  Students were tasked with comparing three social institutions of a foreign culture to the same social institutions in American culture.  Please show your appreciation and support for this amazing work by an exceptional student.  :)

Saami Reindeer herder (Image Source: National Geographic)

Saami of Scandinavia

By: Kelsi Vincent

When many think of Scandinavia, they may think of the Vikings, the women, and the

cold weather. For the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, the latter is not far off from the

truth. The Saami are natives to northern Scandinavia and the cold weather, dark nights, and

heavy reindeer husbandry is their daily lifestyle. The Saami are nomadic reindeer herders in

Lappland ("Erika Larsen: The Reindeer People"). The Lappland covers parts of upper Finland,

Sweden, Norway, and Russia (Transun). Saami culture is very tightknit.

The people in Saami culture work independently but can come back to family members to tell stories and share a temporary home ("Erika Larsen: The Reindeer People"). Modern society, however, has greatly affected the ways of a traditional Saami culture. Most Saami families may have several homes that they take turns in when the herd moves and may also occupy Lavvu's (a tent-like structure made out of branches and deerskin) (“The Last Generation? – Sami Reindeer Herders in Swedish Lappland, Documentary"). With a belief that truth is becoming, Saami are considered pragmatic individuals (Anderson). The Saami are an indigenous culture that varies greatly compared to American cultures, yet still experiences the modernization that has changed their lifestyle ever so slightly over time.

Today Saami culture and lifestyle is becoming endangered. With new technology, came

different ways for the Saami to travel, communicate, and become educated. Many Saami have

lost their native language as they do receive their education from public schools (“The Last

Generation? – Sami Reindeer Herders in Swedish Lapland, Documentary"). Saami culture is

most heavily endangered by heavy lumbering of Lappland areas (“The Last Yoik in Sami

Forests”).

On the other hand, the United States is a thriving group of cultures existing in one

country in North America. The U.S. does not have one specific culture but consists of many

micro cultures that branched off of a white, male, Protestant society (Henderson). With a variety

of cultures, there is not a specific, standardized way of American life besides educational needs.

The Saami foodways consist of pastoralism as their mode of subsistence. The Saami diet

consists mainly of reindeer meat and reindeer byproducts ("Erika Larsen: The Reindeer

People"). Being a nomadic pastoralist culture, the Saami proudly observe transhumance. During

the summer, the Saami move their herds towards the north; during the winter, the herd moves

towards modern civilization (“The Last Generation? – Sami Reindeer Herders in Swedish

Lapland, Documentary"). Saami pastoralism relies heavily on forests with older evergreens that

can grow the lichen that reindeer graze on (“The Last Yoik in Sami Forests”). The Saami dry or

cook reindeer meat, and may use the blood in a variety of dishes ("Erika Larsen: The Reindeer

People").

In the U.S., the foodways consist of pastoralism, industrial agriculture, and some people

even rely on private horticulture as their mode(s) of subsistence. American diet varies as some

people may be vegans, pescetarians, omnivorous, etc. Most people do not grow or raise their

food themselves but rely heavily on grocery stores. Farms and farmers along with many labor

workers, produce the food that gets distributed to stores across the U.S. A typical U.S. diet

contains many reinforced, processed foods.

Saami have believed in the shamanistic values for many centuries (Schnurbein). In early

shamanistic beliefs exhibited by the Saami, they believed in the ability to transform into a bear

(“Brown Bear Hunting and the Sami Traditions and Mythology”). Saami shamanism believed in

the soul of all aspects of nature and as with most shamanistic beliefs, had a strong spiritual need

("Religion"). The drum was an important religious symbol in Saami shamanism that met the

spiritual need of transcendence when a specific shaman individual possessed it ("Religion").

Chants called a joik, are a very important part of Saami culture and can signify the mourning of a

death, a strong connection, or to pass along a legend ("Religion").

For the Saami, religion had been a strong feeling and connection that many believed were

evil ("Religion"). Sweden had undergone a national church culture period that the Saami had

become swept up in (Olafsson). The national law had made Christianity the national religion that

had caused many traditional symbols and Saami holy places to be destroyed as they had been

considered evil witchcraft (Olafsson).

In the U.S., religion started out as significantly Protestant. The U.S. was created on the

grounds of escaping a standardization of religion in Europe. Religion in modern days is a

completely different story, however. In modern society in the U.S., religion can vary

tremendously. The majority may remain under a monotheistic religion, but many other religions

are exhibited among citizens. With the freedom of religion under the Bill of Rights, U.S. citizens

may express their religion and customs/symbols that accompany their religion.

In Saami culture, genders role options are either male of female. It is common to see both

men and women doing laborious work. You may see both male and female reindeer herders in

Saami culture, especially in modern times. There was a time when women experienced

insubordination, however. During the Christian movement, women's equality was undermined

(Prince). While men traditionally, were the herders, hunters, and craftsmen; women were the

ones to raise children, cure meat, make the clothing, and cook (Prince). Women are very

important to the Saami culture because they are the ones to pass their culture on to their children

and ensure children's survival (Andrews). Saami women today have taken a part of the feminist

movement to try and speak for their rights that they had lost in the Christianity movement

(Andrews).

Genders in the U.S. offer more variety than the male/female society of the Saami. In the

U.S., you have third genders such as transgender, cross dressers, etc. The roles of genders in the

U.S. can be specified by religious stereotypes, however with larger media coverage, equality is

becoming more widespread, and women and men can partake and contribute to all roles in

society. Like the Saami, the feminist movement is a very large role in the equality of genders in

U.S.

Learning about the Saami was an eyeopener of how modernization works in several different ways. The modernization of the Saami culture humbled me and made me realize how important culture is and how fragile it can be. Even with a proud culture identity, an influence such as the introduction of Christianity was able to shape greatly Saami daily life in the sense of changing gender based power and stance. Another change that greatly shaped Saami daily life

was the introduction of technology that brought new methods of herding, traveling, and living.

I also learned that culture, in general, is always changing. The diversity of cultures around the world contribute to the changes that happen to specific cultures. With new technology advances, cultures will continue to shape whether it be for better or for worse; American or Saami. The diversity of cultures is what makes Earth a great place, and if the Earth did not have the variety of cultures that is does, it would not as advanced and amazing as it is today.

Works Cited

Anderson, Myrdene. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 2.4 (1996): 763–764.

Web. 22 November 2015.

Andrews, Sarah. “Women in Saami Society.” Sami Culture. Web. 22 November 2015.

“Bill of Rights of the United States of America (1791).” Bill of Rights Institute.Web. 22

November 2015.

“Brown Bear Hunting and the Sami Traditions and Mythology.” Wild Life Film. Erik Ferström.

Sweden. Online Media.

“Eirka Larsen: The Reindeer People.” National Geographic Live!. National Geographic.

Washington, D.C. 9 March 2014. Online Media.

Henderson, Phyllis. “Educational Theories and Philosophies.” Truckee Meadows Community

College. Dandini Campus, Reno, NV. 26 October 2015. Lecture.

Henderson, Phyllis. “Social Issues in American Education.” Truckee Meadows Community

College. Dandini Campus, Reno, NV. 3 November 2015. Lecture.

Mathiesen, Per. “Saami Pastoralism at Risk”. Current Anthropology 36.3 (1995): 525–526. Web.

22 November, 2015.

Olafsson, Haraldur. Man 29.3 (1994): 749–749. Web. 22 November 2015.

Prince, Marion. “Women’s Role in Sami Culture.” LinkedIn. 12 May 2015. Web. 22 November

2015

“Religion.” Milwaukee Public Museum. Web. 22 November 2015.

“Religious Landscape Studies.” Pew Research Center. Web. 22 November 2015.

Schnurbein, Stefanie. “Shamanism in the Old Norse Tradition: A Theory Between Ideological

Reticulum 6

Camps.” November 2003. The University of Chicago Press. Vol. 43, No. 2. pp. 116138.

Web. 22 November 2015.

“The Last Generation? – Sami Reindeer Herders in Swedish Lapland, Documentary.” Gällivare,

Lapland. 20122013.

Online Media.

“The Last Yoik in Sami Forests.” Signs of Life. Saami Council and Cooperative Marjarinteen

Metsäpuutarha. 2007. Online Media.

Transun. “Where is Lapland? A Guide to Exploring This Unique Destination.” Transun Travel.

31 October 2014. Web. 22 November 2015.

Krampus: The Dark Side of the Christmas Season

In a previous blog post, I discussed a holiday tradition that I grew up with: the celebration of St. Nicholas.  I have very fond memories of this holiday, and I look forward to celebrating it in some capacity in the future.  What I do not remember, because I do not recall being exposed to it, is the corresponding celebration observed in conjunction with the St. Nicholas holiday: Krampus.  Krampus has gained popularity in American culture, particularly given the recent release of a movie of the same title, but I wanted to learn more about this holiday and the entity surrounding it.  Therefore, this blog post is dedicated to discussing the origins of Krampus and the holiday traditions corresponding with him.

Figure 1: Krampus (Image Source: National Geographic)

The name Krampus is derived from the term krampen, which is German for claw.  He is depicted as a beastly creature that is covered in thick fur, bares sharp teeth, and has long sharp horns and claws (Figure 1).  Krampus is associated with Norse mythology, although he is largely identified in cultures throughout southwestern and southeastern Europe, which is far from where the Norse originally existed.  It is believed he originated from other mythos, as well, such as ancient Greek myths that have several different fantastical creatures that could have been drawn upon for the creation of Krampus. 

Krampus is the dark counterpart of St. Nicholas.  Whereas St. Nicholas is meant to reward good children with gifts in early December Krampus is meant to punish the deviant ones.  He does this by capturing the awful children, whipping them with a switch, and/or taking them deep into the underworld where they are never heard from again.  This horrific end may have been why my parents shielded me from such tales as I was prone to fits of fear over the littlest thing, and if you think about the depictions of Krampus and his goals you cannot really blame them.

 

Figure 2: Krampuslauf (Image Source: Smithsonian Magazine)

Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night, is celebrated by European adults who don Krampus costumes and walk in the Krampuslauf, which either takes the form of a run or a parade (Figure 2).  Adults participate by drinking and celebrating the coming of Krampus.  It is unclear as to why specifically adults embrace this aspect of the holiday, but it may be a way to vent frustrations associated with the holiday season, which always in one respect or another has been a bit stressful.  In this way, Krampus may be the opportunity for adults to vent their frustrations or do away with the responsibilities associated with strict religion restrictions associated with the holiday season.    

Bibliography

Basu, T.  2013.  Who Is Krampus?  Explaining the Horrific Christmas Devil.  National Geographic Magazine.

Billock, J.  2015.  The Origin of Krampus, Europe's Evil Twist on Santa.  Smithsonian Magazine.   

No Author.  2011.  Who in Hell is Krampus?  Krampus.com 

No Author.  No Date.  Krampus Is Coming: Bavaria's Scary Christmas Tradition.  The Local.