Health

Essay # 1

Despite the fact that I have only been in this class for 3 weeks I feel I have retained sizeable amount of information on a variety of issues. Barely scratching the surface of American Indian (AI) history and I am discovering events\situations that I had no idea about and are challenging the way I approach and think about Health. The three specific topics which impacted my thought process are: 1st. There is no such thing as “race”, 2nd. The AI population is still fairly disadvantaged socially, mentally, and physically because of numerous deep-rooted racially charged issues within our country and 3rd. I have an improving sense of our nation's healthcare system and how it functions on a real life basis. I chose these topics for the main reason being that none of these issues are simple to understand. They provoke thought and make you question the systems or ideals that are in place today, particularly my first two topics. Through the writing process of this essay made me realize that I need to approach this class and the subject of American Indian health\history with a more analytical perspective, this is not just an ordinary health class. The path to achieving that mindset starts with this essay and the realization and understanding that race does not really exist, it is a manmade concept that seems to only cause problems for humanity.

It is almost, almost, humorous thinking about the origins and the concepts of how “races” started off innocently and how much that racial mentality has changed and is affecting the world today. To begin the idea of having races started off as a more efficient way for Anthropologists to categorize and classify human beings. Now-a-days it seems to be just a problem. Causing certain people to think they are better than others simply because of their race, an idea that has hardly existed for a couple hundred years seems twisted. Now that my mind has been opened to the reality behind the truths of race I automatically wonder what could put a stop to this outdated and broken train of thought? The idea of different races and the separation\distinction that each one has from each other has been consistently brought up and used to justify and condemn a variety of acts. A pattern that needs to change.

Looking at humans and seeing race or skin instead of the actual person has become such a natural habit, it is becoming ingrained in our society. So what is the answer, how can this type of thinking be fixed? There is no short term easy fix for this problem. I believe the answer lies in educating children at a young age and reaffirming the idea that everyone is the same and implementing the idea that there is no such thing as race. Create a thinking pattern that having one skin\race color doesn’t make you any better or different that someone with a different race\skin. This is probably not the easiest or most straightforward solution but it is one that I believe could work in the long-term. It would take a few generations and people would resist and not be open to change their beliefs but it could work, if not in this lifetime then the next. Race is such a huge and mainly negative factor, it is hard to imagine a place without the division of races and the racists that come with this type of thinking. With unrelenting dedication from a handful of people I believe that the notion of races could be eliminated and the world would be a better place to live without the judgement of races always being a part of life. I know that getting rid of this concept of separate races would directly and significantly benefit the AI population.

American Indian’s have long felt the negative destructive forces that the issue of race causes. Since AIs have came in contact with white people they have been used and discriminated against, an issue that is still present in today's society. The lack of care and respect still held against AIs is astounding. The lack of simple consideration against AIs should be in a much better place than it currently is. The main problem behind this discrimination is strongly influenced by the government. The government's approach and treatment of AIs has been unsettlingly unchanging over the years. There isn’t blatant outright racism but it is pretty clear that the AI community is not a priority to our government. Some subtle actions have revealed the government's