Racism in Employment and Health Care Throughout this course we have been talking about Indian culture and society and discussed the inequalities women suffer within the household, with their jobs, and such, but the affect racism has in employment and health care is an entirely different issue. Individuals are victims of racism in both the workforce and in health care. It seems as if minority groups suffer from lack of opportunity to prosper financially and medically. As mentioned earlier in this course, in India Muslim individuals had to alter their identity and falsify their true religion in order to attain a job. In Germany, when my mother used to live there, government related jobs, or the higher paying jobs were only taken up by Caucasian people. Similarly, in North America racism and discrimination of minority groups is a reoccurring issue that has partially but not completely been addressed. In order to reduce discrimination in the workforce legal action was taken with the creation of the “Employment Equity Programs.”
Leck defines in this article, Achieving Diversity in The Workplace:Canada’s Employement Equity Act and Member of Visible Minorities, “Employment Equity Programs (EEPs) are programs that attempt to overcome past discrimination in the workplace by providing more employment opportunities for traditionally disadvantaged groups”, ( Leck,1996,p.300). The government created these programs to help disadvantaged groups such as visible minorities and women to seek employment without any discriminatory barriers. After the establishment of the Employment equity programs and the enforcement of the Employment Equity Act, more women and visible monitories were employed, ultimately supporting the Canadian Economy. EEPs helped to improve effective hiring processes of women and visible minorities, allowing them to be contributors to improve Canadian growth by eliminating discriminatory employment barriers. EEPs have been adopted by many organizations in Canada, some voluntarily but most because they have been required by law (Leck, 1996, p.300). Policy-makers of all levels of government and employers were concerned about the complex issue of employment inequalities in both the private sector and public sector. This was a prevention method to better the opportunities of minority groups and lessen racist discrimination percentages.
Discrimination, as defined in the American Heritage Dictionary (1992), is "Making a difference in treatment or favor on a class or categorical basis while disregarding individual merit; (2) acting on the basis of prejudice; and (3) the denial of equal opportunity in education, employment, promotions, loans, housing, and health care". Too often racism is manifested in the attitudes of nurses and other health care providers toward patients and their fellow professionals of different ethnic groups. Ethnicity is distinct but often confused with race, and discrimination occurs along ethnic as well racial lines. Racism has an adverse impact on the health care environment and on those receiving health care services. In the health care arena, differential access to resources limits basic and preventive health care to members of some groups. Unequal distribution of health care resources results in morbidity and mortality rates that vary substantially among racial and ethnic categories and economic classes. Health care, as a resource, must be distributed fairly and equitably. Nurses and other health care providers may be victims as well as perpetrators of racial discrimination. Selective mistreatment often undermines the work experiences of individuals who are identified with groups that are the targets of discriminatory behaviors.
President Obama, in a surprise unscripted speech on July 19, talked about his personal experiences as an African-American and our history of racial injustices that continue to affect black people. More than a third of the US population reported belonging to a racial or