Recently, the United States in general, and Black people in particular, were gobsmacked by SCOTUS when it forced Affirmative Action to bite the dust. This is a sad state of affairs when you consider it is a strategy that was apparently needed in order to help level the playing field for qualified individuals who would have been overlooked had it not been in place. No doubt, in today’s climate this might end up with fewer college-educated African Americans.
The possible reduction in the number of Black people with access to higher education will have a deleterious impact on the economic well-being of an already beleaguered Black community. The college acceptance process is costly and stressful. It is known that stressors, i.e., those issues that cause challenges to people’s health and well-being, will be added to the other issues facing the Black community. Stress impacts health!
In addition to the Affirmative Action SCOTUS decisions, along with others, there is the probability that the health of the community might be further imperiled as a result of stress generated by political intrigue. The community has already been devastated by years of maltreatment due to white supremacy. These new attacks on the rights of Blacks (and others) will present another hurdle the community must master.
This problem is more serious than it might seem. Right now, the country (actually, the world) is enduring a health crisis. The COVID pandemic has wreaked havoc on the health consciousness of Americans with many people losing their lives.
Another issue, most likely caused by climate change, is the air quality in some American cities has added to health problems of citizens, due to huge fires burning in Canada. This, added to ozone challenges and other toxins in our community, is lowering the health outcomes of all Americans!
It has become very apparent there are a lot of other dangerous elements citizens are subjected to, based on the actions of corporate America. It is obvious corporate America is making citizens sick. It has become obvious that the quest for economic gain has been the motivation behind a lot of environmental pollution cases that are causing illnesses.
The strategy seems to be, “Let’s make as much money as we can with what we know are noxious products, and if we get caught, we might have to endure lawsuits, but we’ll take our chances.” We now know certain corporations might have behaved in this manner.
Logic would dictate that with all of the community issues that impact us, there should be greater concern about helping to reduce the stress experienced by Americans, since a lot of the health challenges are ultimately caused by corporate stealth attacks that are economically driven. But no, that does not seem to be on the agenda.
Another thing causing stress among Blacks is popular culture, which is routinely creating and tolerating music so toxic it has resulted in a “life imitates art” situation.
Musical misogyny has created fissures in the Black community to such an extent that more than 70 percent of Black children are growing up in single-parent homes, and more rappers have been killed than any other group of contemporary musicians.
While this may seem like doom and gloom, it might represent an opportunity.
Black people have endured slavery, Jim Crow and a whole lot more, yet in every challenge presented, Blacks triumph. African Americans have been primary influencers in many fields even though they have been denied access in the past. Couple this with the increasing awareness that is resulting from the discovery of the true influence that Black people have had all over the ancient AND modern world and an interesting picture emerges.
The imprint of our community can be felt all over EVERYWHERE! Actually, oppression has had a positive impact if it is possible to overlook the challenges the community has traditionally faced. There is enough expertise, money and other assorted resources in the Black community that can serve as economic engines for the whole community.
The only impediment to this is the animosity Blacks demonstrate against each other. Currently, most unwealthy Americans are faced with scuffling for a share of dwindling resources and economic despair fueled by an increasingly right-wing GOP.
The stress in our communities would be significantly lessened and the wealth increased if we could work with each other; a unified community would be a formidable foe for ANY group that demonstrates animosity toward the community. If the details of this could be worked out, stress in the Black community could be lessened, and health and wealth outcomes would improve. It’s time to save ourselves! A Luta Continua.
Reprinted from the Chicago Crusader
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