1 / 24

HEALTHCARE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS

HEALTHCARE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS. A. L. Renteria, MD. August 8, 2013. WHY ARE YOU HERE ? WHO DO YOU COME FROM ? IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HEALTH CARE FOR THE UNDERSERVED IN AMERICA, THEN YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN AMERICA.

onan
Download Presentation

HEALTHCARE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. HEALTHCARE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS A. L. Renteria, MD August 8, 2013

  2. WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHO DO YOU COME FROM? IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HEALTH CARE FOR THE UNDERSERVED IN AMERICA, THEN YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN AMERICA.

  3. I STILL HAVE A DREAM. IT IS A DREAM DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE AMERICAN DREAM. I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY THIS NATION WILL RISE UP AND LIVE OUT THE TRUE MEANING OF ITS CREED, “WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.” I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY…SONS OF FORMER SLAVES AND THE SONS OF FORMER SLAVE OWNERS WILL BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN TOGETHER AT THE TABLE OF BROTHER HOOD…THIS WILL BE THE DAY WHEN ALL OF GOD’S CHILDREN WILL BE ABLE TO SING WITH NEW MEANING, “MY COUNTRY, “TIS OF THEE, SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY, OF THEE I SING.” MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., AUGUST 28 1963

  4. NO, I’M NOT AN AMERICAN. I’M ONE OF THE 22 MILLION BLACK PEOPLE WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF AMERICANISM. ONE OF THE VICTIMS OF DEMOCRACY, NOTHING BUT DISGUISED HYPOCRISY. SO, I’M NOT STANDING HERE SPEAKING TO YOU AS AN AMERICAN, OR A PATRIOT, OR A FLAG-SALUTER, OR A FLAG-WAVER—NO, NOT I! … I’M SPEAKING AS A VICTIM OF THIS AMERICAN SYSTEM. AND I SEE AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF THE VICTIM. I DON’T SEE ANY AMERICAN DREAM; I SEE AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE! MALCOLM X, APRIL 3, 1964

  5. THE UNDERSERVED BELONG TO THE ECONOMICALLY DISENFRANCHISED AND THE DESCENDANTS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIAL LEGACY. LOS DE ABAJO THE UNDERDOGS THE LOWER SOCIAL CLASSES THE PROLETARIAT

  6. THEY ARE KNOWN BY MANY NAMES WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON IS POVERTY, SOCIETAL MARGINALIZATION, AND NO POLITICAL LEVERAGE/POWER IN AMERICA. THESE FACTORS ARE A CONSTANT STRESS ON GROUP AND FAMILY STRUCTURE. THE RESULT IS FRACTURED FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS.

  7. IT IS QUITE EASY FOR ME TO THINK OF A GOD OF LOVE MAINLY BECAUSE I GREW UP IN A FAMILY WHERE LOVE WAS CENTRAL… IT IS QUITE EASY FOR ME TO THINK OF THE UNIVERSE AS BASICALLY FRIENDLY MAINLY BECAUSE OF MY UPLIFTING HEREDITARY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES. IT IS QUITE EASY FOR ME TO LEAN MORE TOWARDS OPTIMISM THAN PESSIMISM ABOUT HUMAN NATURE MAINLY BECAUSE OF MY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES. MARIN LUTHER KING, JR., “AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT,” 1950

  8. I THINK THAT AN OBJECTIVE READER MAY SEE HOW IN THE SOCIETY, TO WHICH I WAS EXPOSED AS A BLACK YOUTH HERE IN AMERICA, FOR ME TO WIND UP IN PRISON, WAS REALLY JUST ABOUT INEVITABLE. MALCOLM X THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X, 1965

  9. THERE ARE MORE NATIVE AMERICAN AND MEXICAN AMERICAN GRADUATES OF THE AMERICAN PENAL SYSTEM THAN COLLEGE. THE INCIDENCE OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE IS HIGH IN THESE GROUPS. WHY? HURT------BY JOHNNY CASH.

  10. SUMMARY LIMIT ACCESS TO EDUCATION, READING AND WRITING LIMIT ACCESS TO GOOD PAYING JOBS LIMIT OR DENY ACCESS TO PARTICIPATION IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS EXAMPLES OF METHODS TO CONTROL A COLONIZED PEOPLE ARE THE FOLLOWING:

  11. 4. SYSTEMIC NEGATIVE STEREOTYPING OF THEIR CULTURE IN THE AREAS OF; LANGUAGE; FOREIGN, UN-AMERICAN. ETHNICITY; LAZY, STUPID, MANUAL LABOR. SEX; LAZY, UNCONTROLLED, DOMESTICS RELIGION; FOREIGN, NOT OUR GOD. 5. LIMIT ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE.

  12. ALL THESE FACTORS DIRECTLY IMPACT A PERSONS BASIC HEALTH STATUS.

  13. WHAT HAS TO CHANGE MORE PARTICIPATION BY THE UNDERSERVED IN ALL THE AREAS THAT I HAVE MENTIONED. ACCEPTANCE THAT THE VALUES OF THE DOMINANT CULTURE MUST CHANGE

  14. SOON THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WILL NOT BE OF EUROPEAN DECENT. THE MAJORITY WILL BE ETHNIC MINORITIES WITH LATINO AMERICANS BEING THE LARGEST GROUP. THE FACE OF AMERICA IS CHANGING. IS AMERICA READY FOR A LATINA PRESIDENT?

  15. WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE SINS OF OUR FATHERS. WHEN THOSE OF EUROPEAN DECENT ASK COLONIZED PEOPLE DO YOU HATE US? THE ANSWER IS COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT. MARTIN LUTHER KING WOULD SAY NO, I HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO FORGIVE YOU. MALCOLM X WOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT RESPONSE.

  16. WE CANNOT SOLVE THIS PROBLEM WITH RETALIATORY VIOLENCE. WE MUST MEET VIOLENCE WITH NONVIOLENCE… WE MUST LOVE OUR WHITE BROTHERS NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO TO US…REMEMBER, IF I AM STOPPED, THIS MOVEMENT WILL NOT STOP, BECAUSE GOD IS WITH THE MOVEMENT. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., JANUARY 30, 1956

  17. FOR THE WHITE MAN TO ASK THE BLACK MAN IF HE HATES HIM IS JUST LIKE THE RAPIST ASKING THE RAPED, OR THE WOLF ASKING THE SHEEP, “DO YOU HATE ME?” THE WHITE MAN IS IN NO MORAL POSITION TO ACCUSE ANYONE ELSE OF HATE!... HOW CAN ANYBODY ASK US DO WE HATE THE WHITE MAN WHO KIDNAPPED US FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AGO, BROUGHT US HERE AND STRIPPED US OF OUR HISTORY, STRIPPED US OF OUR CULTURE, STRIPPED US OF OUR LANGUAGE, STRIPPED US OF

  18. EVERYTHING YOU COULD HAVE USED TODAY TO PROVE THAT YOU’RE A PART OF THE HUMAN FAMILY, BRING YOU DOWN TO THE LEVEL OF AN ANIMAL, SELL YOU FROM PLANTATION TO PLANTATION LIKE A SACK OF WHEAT, SELL YOU LIKE A SACK OF POTATOES, SELL YOU LIKE A HORSE AND A PLOW, AND THEN HUNG YOU UP FROM ONE END OF THE COUNTRY TO THE OTHER, AND THEN YOU ASK ME DO I HATE HIM? WHY, YOUR QUESTION IS WORTHLESS! MALCOLM X

  19. SOCIAL JUSTICE USUALLY DOES NOT MEAN MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO OR “ORDER” COLONIZED PEOPLE ARE TOLD TO WAIT. IT TAKES TIME TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES, YOU HAVE TO BE PATIENT.

  20. FOR YEARS NOW I HAVE HEARD THE WORD “WAIT!” IT RINGS IN THE EAR OF EVERY NEGRO WITH PIERCING FAMILIARITY. THIS “WAIT” HAS ALMOST ALWAYS MEANT “NEVER”… WE HAVE WAITED FOR MORE THAN 340 YEARS FOR OUR CONSTITUTIONAL AND GOD GIVEN RIGHTS. THE NATIONS OF ASIA AND AFRICA ARE MOVING WITH JET LIKE SPEED TOWARD GAINING POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE, BUT WE STILL CREEP AT A HORSE AND BUGGY PACE TOWARD GAINING A CUP OF COFFEE AT A LUNCH

  21. COUNTER. PERHAPS IT IS EASY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER FELT THE STINGING DARTS OF SEGREGATION TO SAY, “WAIT.” BUT WHEN YOU HAVE SEEN VICIOUS MOBS LYNCH YOUR MOTHERS AND FATHERS AT WILL AND DROWN YOUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS AT WHIM; WHEN YOU HAVE SEEN HATE FILLED POLICEMEN CURSE, KICK AND EVEN KILL YOUR BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS; WHEN YOU SEE THE VAST MAJORITY OF YOUR TWENTY MILLION NEGRO BROTHERS SMOTHERING IN AN AIRTIGHT

  22. CAGE OF POVERTY IN THE MIDST OF AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY;; WHEN YOU ARE HUMILIATED DAY IN AND DAY OUT BY NAGGING SIGNS READING “WHITE” AND “COLORED”;…WHEN YOU ARE HARRIED BY DAY AND HAUNTED BY NIGHT BY THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A NEGRO, LIVING CONSTANTLY AT TIPTOE STANCE…FOREVER FIGHTING A DEGENERATING SENSE OF “NOBODINESS”---THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO WAIT. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL

  23. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S BASIC DEMANDS WERE THAT THERE NEEDED TO BE A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE SOCIETY, A REVOLUTION OF VALUES. THIS WOULD LEAD TO SOCIAL EQUALITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND A REDISTRIBUTION OF POWER AND CAPITAL THAT TRULY BENEFITS AMERICA’S POOR.

  24. REFERENCES MEMMI, A. THE COLONIZER AND THE COLONIZED, BEACON PRESS. FREIRE, P. PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED. SMITH, L. T. DECOLONIZING METHODOLOGIES, ZED BOOKS, SECOND EDITION. WALDSCHMIDT-NELSON, B. DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES, MLK AND MALCOLM X, UNIVERSITY PRESS FLORIDA.

More Related