Public Opinion toward Equal Opportunity Issues: The Role of Attitudinal and Demographic Forces among African Americans

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terri Susan Fine
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Opinion Dynamics ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Disadvantaged Populations ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores African American opinion toward equal opportunity issues using a demographic-attitudinal focus. Previous explorations have focused on black-white opinion comparisons. In this analysis, attitudinal forces, particularly core values, are identified as playing an influential role in policy support. Further, these patterns of values tend to reflect those expressed by whites on similar questions: the more individualistic and conservative one is, the less likely one is to support government intervention on African Americans behalf. In responding to questions concerning governmental responsibility, higher SES African Americans express stronger support than do their lower SES counterparts. This finding suggests that those who are experiencing “glass ceilings” are concerned about government guarantees of equal opportunity, despite their individualistic beliefs. This is inconsistent with previous explorations that analyze these beliefs among disadvantaged populations. The implications of social changes in the African American community and the impact of these changes on opinion dynamics are discussed.

scholarly journals Sleep as a Mediator in the Pathway Linking Environmental Factors to Hypertension: A Review of the Literature

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwaseun A. Akinseye ◽  
Stephen K. Williams ◽  
Azizi Seixas ◽  
Seithikurippu R. Pandi-Perumal ◽  
Julian Vallon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Main Outcome Variable ◽  
The Impact

Environmental factors, such as noise exposure and air pollution, are associated with hypertension. These environmental factors also affect sleep quality. Given the growing evidence linking sleep quality with hypertension, the purpose of this review is to investigate the role of sleep as a key mediator in the association between hypertension and environmental factors. Through this narrative review of the extant literature, we highlight that poor sleep quality mediates the relationship between environmental factors and hypertension. The conceptual model proposed in this review offers opportunities to address healthcare disparities in hypertension among African Americans by highlighting the disparate impact that the predictors (environmental factors) and mediator (sleep) have on the African-American community. Understanding the impact of these factors is crucial since the main outcome variable (hypertension) severely burdens the African-American community.

SHIFTING POWER

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 417-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianna Remster ◽  
Rory Kramer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Racial Inequalities ◽  
Rural Districts ◽  
Contemporary United States ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Legislative Districts

AbstractWhile prisoners cannot vote, they are counted as residents of the often rural legislative districts where they are incarcerated rather than their home districts. We examine the extent to which incarceration shifts the balance of a representative democracy by considering its impact on legislative apportionment. Drawing on data from the Census, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and Pennsylvania Redistricting Commission, we develop a counterfactual framework to examine whether removing and returning prisoners to their home districts affects equal representation. Because prisoners are disproportionately African American, we also employ this counterfactual to assess racial differences in the impact of prison gerrymandering. Findings indicate that incarceration shifts political power from urban districts to suburban and rural districts through legislative apportionment. Moreover, non-White communities suffer the most. We conclude by considering how our findings fit a growing literature on the role of mass incarceration in [re]producing racial inequalities in the contemporary United States.

Post-Slavery? Post-Segregation? Post-Racial? A History of the Impact of Slavery, Segregation, and Racism on the Education of African Americans

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (14) ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Span
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Archival Data ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

This chapter details how slavery, segregation, and racism impacted the educational experiences of African Americans from the colonial era to the present. It offers a historical overview of the African American educational experience and uses archival data and secondary source analysis to illustrate that America has yet to be a truly post-slavery and post-segregation society, let alone a post-racial society.

Consequences of a match made in hell: the harm caused by menthol smoking to the African American population over 1980–2018

2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056748 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mendez ◽  
Thuy T T Le
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Smoking Initiation ◽  
African American Community ◽  
American Population ◽  
The Public ◽  
African American Population ◽  
Menthol Cigarettes ◽  
Life Years

BackgroundFor many years, national surveys have shown a consistently disproportionately high prevalence of menthol smokers among African Americans compared with the general population. However, to our knowledge, no prior study has quantified the harm that menthol smoking has caused on that population. In this work, we estimate the public health harm that menthol cigarettes have caused to the African American community over the last four decades.MethodsUsing National Health Interview Survey data, we employed a well-established simulation model to reproduce the observed smoking trajectory over 1980–2018 in the African American population. Then, we repeat the experiment, removing the effects of menthol on the smoking initiation and cessation rates over that period, obtaining a new hypothetical smoking trajectory. Finally, we compared both scenarios to calculate the public health harm attributable to menthol cigarettes over 1980–2018.ResultsOur results show that menthol cigarettes were responsible for 1.5 million new smokers, 157 000 smoking-related premature deaths and 1.5 million life-years lost among African Americans over 1980–2018. While African Americans constitute 12% of the total US population, these figures represent, respectively, a staggering 15%, 41% and 50% of the total menthol-related harm.DiscussionOur results show that menthol cigarettes disproportionally harmed African Americans significantly over the last 38 years and are responsible for exacerbating health disparities among that population. Removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit the overall US population but, particularly, the African American community.

scholarly journals African American Health and Posttraumatic Slave Syndrome: A Terror Management Theory Account

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Halloran
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Terror Management Theory ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Trauma ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
American People ◽  
Posttraumatic Slave Syndrome ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this article is to explicate a terror management theory (TMT) analysis of the poor social and psychological well-being of African Americans by drawing upon a model of cultural trauma to explain the antecedents and effects of posttraumatic slave syndrome. Cultural trauma is defined as a state that occurs when a people’s cultural worldview has been destabilized to the point where it does not effectively meet its TMT function of providing a buffer against basic anxiety and uncertainty. The article outlines how the impact of slavery was a significant trauma to African American people, which was carried forward through successive generations; providing an explanation of their current anxiety-related conditions, poor health, and maladaptive behaviors. Findings from health and justice research and qualitative data from narratives of African Americans are presented to substantiate the adaptation of a model of cultural trauma for understanding the contemporary situation of African Americans.

scholarly journals The Ramifications of Covid-19 Within the African American Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Libby Goodman ◽  
Fayetta Lake ◽  
Chinyere Maureen Ndu
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
African American Culture ◽  
African American Population ◽  
General Article ◽  
Perceived Reasons ◽  
Healthcare Leaders

The coronavirus (Covid-19) perplexed many aspects of everyday life. Sadly, Covid-19 took a greater toll on African Americans. As Covid-19 developed, medical professionals, health care authorities, and advocates recognized several day-to-day living situations and intrinsic medical conditions that distressed African Americans with higher mortality rates during the pandemic. It is imperative that healthcare leaders understand the ramifications that have occurred and that may continue to surface from the Covid-19 affliction, which could be utilized to adjust and amend current policy surrounding the adversely affected African American population. We explored several substantial questions regarding this pandemic: the perceived reasons for the vast impact of Covid-19 within the African American culture; and what recommendations are needed to aid healthcare leaders in the fight against Covid-19 within the African American community. There are six ramifications that the authors address in this general article, including- employment, poverty, deaths, mental illness, and distrust. We offer suggestions to implement, prevent, and educate the African American public to circumvent these ramifications for present and future pandemics.

scholarly journals The Effect of Social Class on Political Party Affiliations in the African American Community

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sindiso Mafico
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Social Class ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Political Party ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Political Party Affiliation

Does social class affect political party affiliation in the African-American community? Drawing on two contrasting theories: the theory of group interests and class-based theories of stratification put forth by Wilson and Shelton (2006), I propose that African -Americans who report being of a high socio-economic class are more likely to be Republican than African Americans of a lower socio-economic class. Through secondary analysis of data provided by the General Social Survey (GSS), I investigate the relationship between political party affiliation and social class in the African-American community. By combining data across 20 years between 1996 and 2016, the sample size is 1557 African-Americans. Measures of socio-economic status are limited to a single variable that asks respondents about their subjective social class, while the dependent variable was operationalized by a variable that inquires the respondent's political party affiliation. Multiple regression analysis reveals that there is no statistically significant relationship between social class and political party affiliation. There is however, a relationship between political party affiliation and another measure of social class, specifically the respondents' level of education. The strongest predictor of political party affiliation is the age of the respondents which gives insight on future voting patterns in the African-American community. While the hypothesis is not supported, the results shed light on the potential reasons for increased support for the Republican Party among African-Americans and could be used to predict voting outcomes among African-Americans for future elections.

scholarly journals Self-concept of cervical cancer patients after chemotheraphy in Yogyakarta

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-43
Author(s):  
Nur Azizah Indriastuti ◽  
Riski Oktafia ◽  
Novika Riswanti
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The World ◽  
Chemotherapy Patients ◽  
Physical Changes ◽  
The Impact

Cervical cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer that attacks women in the world. One of the treatment efforts for cancer is chemotherapy. Patients with cervical cancer who receive chemotherapy more than twice will experience impaired self-concept. This study aims to determine self-concept in cervical cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy in Yogyakarta. This research uses qualitative method with phenomenology approach. Data collection is done with interview and observation. Participants totaling five people were determined by purposive sampling. The validity of the data used source triangulation and checked the data back to the participants. Analysis of data were by comparing among categories, marking and describing descriptively. The results of the study are 6 themes, namely physical changes, emotional changes, changes in sexual relations, changes in relationships with family, changes in the role of parenting and social changes in society. The impact of chemotherapy causes various changes in cervical cancer patients which make the self-concept of cervical cancer patients undergo changes

Racial Discrimination and Trajectories of Problematic Alcohol Use Among African American Emerging Adults: The Role of Organizational Religious Involvement

2021 ◽  
pp. 109019812110516
Author(s):  
Danielle R. Busby ◽  
Meredith O. Hope ◽  
Daniel B. Lee ◽  
Justin E. Heinze ◽  
Marc A. Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Religious Involvement ◽  
Problematic Alcohol ◽  
Stable Class ◽  
Problematic Alcohol Use

Racial discrimination jeopardizes a wide range of health behaviors for African Americans. Numerous studies demonstrate significant negative associations between racial discrimination and problematic alcohol use among African Americans. Culturally specific contexts (e.g., organized religious involvement) often function protectively against racial discrimination’s adverse effects for many African Americans. Yet organized religious involvement may affect the degree to which racial discrimination increases problematic alcohol use resulting in various alcohol use trajectories. These links remain understudied in emerging adulthood marked by when individuals transition from adolescence to early adult roles and responsibilities. We use data from 496 African American emerging adults from the Flint Adolescent Study (FAS) to (a) identify multiple and distinct alcohol use trajectories and (b) examine organizational religious involvement’s protective role. Three trajectory classes were identified: the high/stable, (20.76% of sample; n = 103); moderate/stable, (39.52% of sample; n = 196); and low/rising, (39.72% of the sample; n = 197). After controlling for sex, educational attainment, and general stress, the interaction between racial discrimination and organized religious involvement did not influence the likelihood of classifying into the moderate/stable class or the low/rising class, compared with the high/stable class. These results suggest organized religious involvement counteracts, but does not buffer racial discrimination’s effects on problematic alcohol use. Findings emphasize the critical need for culturally sensitive prevention efforts incorporating organized religious involvement for African American emerging adults exposed to racial discrimination. These prevention efforts may lessen the role of racial discrimination on health disparities related to alcohol use.

Spirituality among African Americans

2021 ◽  
pp. 154-176
Author(s):  
Jason E. Shelton
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
National Survey ◽  
African American Community ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Spiritual But Not Religious ◽  
Blacks And Whites

This chapter assesses the importance of spirituality among African Americans. More specifically, it examines the extent to which respondents in a large, multiyear national survey view themselves as a “spiritual person.” Four sets of comparative analysis are offered: (1) racial differences among black and white members of various evangelical Protestant traditions, (2) racial differences among black and white members of various mainline Protestant and Catholic traditions, (3) denominational differences specifically among African Americans, and (4) racial differences among blacks and whites who view themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” The findings reveal significant interracial and intraracial differences in how spirituality shapes one’s personal identity. Because organized religion has historically been so central to African American community life, the implications for the growth in noninstitutional spirituality are considered.

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