Key Concepts in Social Inequality, Healthcare, and Discrimination

Blockbusting

Discriminatory practice by real estate agents exploiting racial fears to encourage white homeowners to sell at below-market prices.

Redlining

Practice where real estate firms or banks deny loans to African Americans or minority neighborhoods.

Institutionalized deviance

When a form of deviant behavior becomes normalized and built into institutions.

Social welfare state

System where government uses taxes to provide social services, reducing inequality.

Compulsory heterosexuality

Societal system enforcing heterosexuality as the only normal/acceptable orientation.

Homophobia

Negative attitudes and behaviors toward homosexuality or LGBTQ+ people.

Native American Renaissance

Cultural revival of Native American identity, literature, and traditions from the 1960s-1990s.

Systemic racism

Racism embedded in institutions and culture that create disparities in wealth, housing, and education.

White disadvantage

Circumstances where white individuals can experience disadvantage, complicating the concept of privilege.

Affirmative action

Policies giving opportunities to historically disadvantaged groups to counter past discrimination.

Patriarchy

Social system where men hold primary power and privilege over women.

Family pathology

Dysfunctional family dynamics that harm the well-being of members.

Medicare

U.S. health insurance for adults 65+ or those with certain disabilities.

Medicaid

U.S. health insurance for low-income families.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

2010 law expanding healthcare coverage and access for Americans.

Medlining

Practice of diverting investment away from Black neighborhoods by banks or the FHA.

FHA and racial neighborhood transition

FHA funding favored white neighborhoods, worsening racial inequality.

Reciprocal racial neighborhood transition

Realtors' blockbusting + school boundary changes accelerating racial change.

Social problems definition by elites

Those in power often define what counts as a 'social problem.'

System blame vs. individual blame

System blame attributes problems to institutions; individual blame blames personal failings.

Structural discrimination theory

Discrimination is embedded in systems like schools, finance, and housing.

Feminist approach to gender inequality

Gender inequality results from social structures, not just individual actions.

Marx & Engels on gender

Capitalism reinforces gender inequality by exploiting women's labor.

Gender socialization in children

Boys given toolsets, girls given dolls—reinforcing gender roles.

Gender inequality in high school

Schools perpetuate traditional gender expectations.

Exploitation of women under capitalism

Women's unpaid labor supports capitalist economies.

Violence against women

Most often occurs in the home (domestic violence).

U.S. healthcare spending

Highest per capita in the world; tied to profit motives and inefficiency.

Employer strategies to reduce healthcare costs

Shifting workers to part-time, cutting benefits, or layoffs.

Health and poverty link

Poor people face higher risks, less care, and worse living conditions.

U.S. healthcare system

Privatized and insurance-based; lacks universal access.

Impact of ACA

Expanded coverage, added protections for pre-existing conditions, improved access.

Health insurance gender gap

Men often have lower coverage rates than women.

Cancer mortality racial disparity

African Americans have higher mortality due to later diagnoses and less access.

Hospital profit strategies

Targeting wealthy areas, avoiding ERs, focusing on profitable treatments.

U.S. vs. other nations' healthcare

Other countries provide universal systems with lower costs and more equity.

Immigration and welfare

Restrictions on immigrant welfare access; family separation policies as deterrence.

What does Nicole Hannah

Jones say about racial wealth gap?

Writes about how Black people haven't had the generational wealth to pass on to their children and to their grandchildren. She traces that back to slavery and to post-Reconstruction and back to segregation in the South.

A "Call for Reparations" with Nicole Hannah Jones.

What happened to the land that was given to African Americans after the Civil War?

African American's wanted land that they had worked for generations to become independent and General

Sherman gave black families 40 acres. It was then taken back by Andrew Johnson after President Lincoln was assassinated.

How did children get "lost in the system"?

the parents would be criminalized and separated from their children. causing them to go to facilities that were overcrowded and even in different states and changing their status from family to individual.

How many children remained separated from their families?

1,000 out of the 5,000 children remained separated

What was the goal of the family separation policy by border czar Tom Homan and the Trump Administration?

believed that separating children from their parents at the United States border is the only thing harsh enough to convince people out of making the choice to come to the United States illegally.

What are strategies that for-profit hospitals use to maximize profit?

They avoid low-income areas by locating in states and

neighborhoods with well-insured populations.

Why is the death rate in cancer is higher for African Americans than

Whites?

Black Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer in its later stages, making survival less likely. This is due to differences in access to health care or lack of health insurance

Why are men less likely to have health insurance than women?

men are less likely to use health services regularly or seek medical care which can affect their access to insurance through jobs

How have employers attempted to reduce their health care costs in recent

years?

Some employers are turning to Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) where employees can put pre-tax money into a savings account to pay for medical expenses. "Use it or lose it" program.

How much more does the

U.S. spend on healthcare per capita (per person) than other countries?

U.S. $12,318

Germany (Bismarck) $7,383

United Kingdom (Beveridge)

$5,387

Australia (National Health Insurance model). $5,627

• What does he say about family pathology?

He said that _________ rolls from generation to generation like a fire in the woods, taking down everything in its path until one person and one generation has the courage to turn and face the flames. He says that that person will bring peace to their ancestors and spares the children that follow