scholarly journals The Necessity of Economic Reparations for African-American Families from an Abolitionist Praxis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Dhami
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
African American ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
African American Families ◽  
Upper Class ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Public Resource ◽  
Societal Problems ◽  
American Families

Racism has caused untold societal problems throughout U.S. history, damaging reputations, job prospects, livelihoods, and the physical and mental well-being of millions. While economic reparations will not wholly resolve the problem, they will serve as an acknowledgment of the problem and the associated damages that have been caused as a result of the manifestation of racism in every arena of life. The degree to which racism is present in the United States has been an ongoing and repeated problem within the country since the 1600s. Racism leads to inequality in public resource allocation; inequality in public resource allocation goes against the founding principles of the nation and are still evident in today’s society. Current efforts to address systemic racism are most frequently viewed as points of contention, which disproportionately decreases the ability to effectively resolve the problem by fostering and creating an environment in which people are pitted against one another instead of working in conjunction to address the problem. One way that this divide can be addressed is through the provision of economic reparations made by the upper class. From an economic praxis, members of the upper class must pay reparations to African-American families due to their historic use of racism as a means of exacerbating wealth inequity.

scholarly journals LAY YOUR BURDENS DOWN: DEFERRED RELIGIOUS COPING AS A MARITAL STRESS BUFFER FOR OLDER AFRICAN AMERICAN COUPLES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S932-S933
Author(s):  
Antonius D Skipper
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Religious Coping ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Marital Stability ◽  
African American Families ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Open Coding ◽  
Work Family ◽  
African American Couples ◽  
American Families

Abstract Although growing bodies of research explore the dynamics of minority families, few consider the African American family from a strengths-focused perspective. Stressors that threaten familial stability, such as financial strain, health disparities, and sporadic employment, disproportionately affect African American families and contribute to high rates of dissolution. In response, African American families often rely on religion as a source of coping and resilience. While existing literature adequately captures the frequency of religious-based responses to stress, opportunities to examine the nuances and underlying processes of religious coping for African American families exist. This study addresses the need to move beyond the broad measures of religiosity and religious coping, in exchange for a more in-depth exploration of how various forms of religious coping, specifically deferred coping, impact well-being. Deferred religious coping is characterized as a complete reliance on a higher power during a time of stress. Thirty-five older African American couples (N=70 individuals), representing 11 states in the U.S., were interviewed regarding the dynamics of deferred religious coping in the marital dyad. Following the digital recording and transcription of the narrative data, the interviews were analyzed with an open coding procedure consistent with grounded theory and Numeric Content Analysis (Marks, 2015). Analyses reveal that nearly 75% of the couples interviewed utilized deferred religious coping in response to stressors that could threaten marital stability. Further, salient themes include: (1) The Three-Party, Divine Triangle of Marriage, (2) Deferring Health Problems Reduces Worry, and (3) A Healthy Work-Family-Prayer Balance. Implications for practice are also discussed.

scholarly journals Feasibility and Acceptability of a Tailored Infant Safe Sleep Coaching Intervention for African American Families

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4133
Author(s):  
Trina C. Salm Ward ◽  
Jane McPherson ◽  
Steven M. Kogan
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Text Message ◽  
The United States ◽  
African American Families ◽  
Safe Sleep ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
American Families

Background: Approximately 3600 infants die suddenly and unexpectedly annually in the United States. Research suggests limitations of current behavioral interventions to reduce the risk for sleep-related deaths among African American families living in under-resourced neighborhoods. Guided by the theory of planned behavior and the socio-ecological model, the My Baby’s Sleep (MBS) intervention intends to reduce the risk for sleep-related infant deaths while addressing complex needs of African American families living in under-resourced neighborhoods. Objective: To assess feasibility and acceptability of MBS, a 7-month intervention that includes four home visits and multiple check-ins via phone and text message. Methods: This was a single-arm feasibility and acceptability study with quantitative and qualitive measures. African American families were recruited from community agencies that served an under-resourced metropolitan area. Results: Eight families (eight mothers, nine co-caregivers) completed the intervention. Families reported high acceptability of MBS content, process, and format, as evidenced by qualitative data and mean evaluation scores. Conclusion: MBS is feasible and acceptable among African American families living in under-resourced neighborhoods. These results suggest further investigation of MBS intervention efficacy in a large-scale randomized controlled trial.

We've Been Post-Raced: An Examination of Negotiations between Race, Agency, and School Structures Black Families Experience within “Post-Racial” Schools

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (14) ◽  
pp. 148-170
Author(s):  
Rema E. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Families ◽  
African American Families ◽  
School Structures ◽  
American President ◽  
Education And Society ◽  
American Families

This chapter draws from empirical research on middle-class African American families to examine the ways middle-class African American parents and students make meaning of their experiences within public schools. In light of the current mainstream contention that the United States has entered a post-racial epoch with the election of the first African American president, this work posits that post-racial rhetoric obfuscates the continued racialized experiences of Black families regardless of class status. In particular, this work examines how middle-class African American families navigate conversations about race, agency, and structure as they relate to access and opportunities in education and society as a whole.

Capturing Context: The Role of Social Support and Neighborhood on the Psychological Well-Being of African American Families

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-94
Author(s):  
Amittia Parker ◽  
Angela Blackwell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
African American ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neighborhood Context ◽  
African American Families ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
American Families

BackgroundMental health is a serious public health concern that is uniquely devastating for African American families.ObjectiveThis study systematically critiques the body of work documenting the mediating role of social support and neighborhood context on the psychological well-being of African American families.MethodsThis review used the PRISMA multistate process.FindingsSeveral important findings are drawn from this study: a) social support and neighborhood context shape psychological well-being, b) existing studies are limited in capacity to capture context despite having contextualized frameworks, c) African centered theory is missing.ConclusionsSocial support and neighborhood context matter. Future researchers must employ methods to capture this context and the link to mental health in African American communities where disproportionate risks exist.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Devastation of African American Families: Impact on Mental Health and the Consequence of Systemic Racism

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-393
Author(s):  
Sahra Ibrahimi ◽  
Korede K. Yusuf ◽  
Deepa Dongarwar ◽  
Sitratullah Olawunmi Maiyegun ◽  
Chioma Ikedionwu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
African American Families ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Primary Operator ◽  
American Families

African Americans are bearing a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 pandemic. To our knowledge, no previous study has delineated inequities potentially incentivized by systemic racism, and whether synergistic effects impose an abnormally high burden of social determinants of mental health on African American families in the era of COVID-19 pandemic. We applied the social ecological model (SEM) to portray inequities induced by systemic racism that impact the mental health of African American families. In our model, we identified systemic racism to be the primary operator of mental health disparity, which disproportionately affects African American families at all levels of the SEM. Programs tailored towards reducing the disproportionate detrimental effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of African Americans need to be culturally appropriate and consider the nuances of systemic racism, discrimination, and other institutionalized biases. Key words: • African American • COVID-19 • Mental health • Systemic racism • Social determinants of mental health   Copyright © 2020 Ibrahimi et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

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