Were you aware?....

A picture to highlight some of the issues discussed in class this weekAccording to my test results, I am not at all aware of equity and diversity in the US. I have fallen victim to the many myths embedded within American culture, which perpetuate a deceptive notion of a lovely diverse melting pot where everyone is created and treated equally. Much to my surprise and dismay, I answered two questions correctly. My strategy for answering the questions on the Equity and Diversity Awareness Quiz was to choose moderate answers. The possible answers were either percentages or something to do with comparing numbers. So, I thought things in the US are obviously not equal, but I didn't imagine the answers being to either extreme of too low or too high. I sat with confidence, reading and answering the test questions, thinking that even if i didn't know the correct answer, my strategy wouldn't steer me wrong and I would be better off than merely guessing the answers.  My strategy failed me miserably.I will begin by addressing the two miserly questions I answered correctly. The first one dealt with the issue of the US military budget.  The question was: 

The U.S. military budget is by far the highest of any country in the world. How much higher is the U.S. military budget than that of China, the world’s second biggest military spender?- I answered 7 times higher. It baffles me that we can spend so much money to kill people (essentially that is what happens in a war) but we are having an issue reforming health care so that every citizen can aafford to see a physician or reform our school systems so that all school are given the same resources to excel. Just a thought.

The next question I answered correctly was:

A Princeton study of elite universities in the U.S. found that legacy applicants—people, usually white and wealthy, with a parent or grandparent who attended the institution—are far more privileged by legacy status than applicants of color are by affirmative action policies. The study determined that legacy status was roughly equivalent to how much of a boost to an applicant’s SAT score?- I answered 160 points. Basically legacy status allows a university to offer preferential treatment to a college applicant who has a family member who attended the university. What a joy to know that I could work as hard as I want but if my parent didn't attend my school of interest it could cost me 160 points added to my SAT score. This validates the statement that it's not what you know but who you know. Very sad but true.

Two questions shocked me when I learned the answers. The first dealt with drug possesion laws for conviction:

Powder cocaine (largely used by wealthy people) and crack cocaine (largely used by economically disadvantaged people) contain roughly the same amount of the drug per gram. Under federal law, how much of these substances must an individual be convicted of possessing to be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of five years in prison?- I answered 5 gram of powder or crack cocaine. This is because I didn't read the question thoroughly, I know I have heard of this before, the laws are called the Rockerfeller laws in NY. The answer was actually 500 grams of powder or 5 grams of crack cocaine. Looking at who usually uses what drug by race signifies the embedded racism in our legislative system. If this isn't blatant racism, I don't know what would be considered such. This exemplifies the use of government and law to uphold a tradition of racist ideologies. 

The second question addressed the issue of the inequity in health care. Health care is a present topic of interest, the results of the following question highlight the issue of unequal access to health care:
Compared with White women, how likely are African American women in the U.S. to die during childbirth due to a lack of access to prenatal care, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality?- I answered twice as likely, the answer was in fact four times as likely. As a country, it is our duty to examine and heed to such statistics which attest to the current state of health care. This is among the many inequalities faced by people of color. It is something we need to get under control. It is unreal to be named one of the "richest countries in the world" and have citizens dying because of a lack of access to healthcare.


As an aspiring helping professional,it is imperative to begin to first educate myself and then others of the facts of inequality in the US. Addressing these issues is the only way to begin to remedy the wrongs caused by inequities in all aspects of society.


This is the link for the Equity and Diversity Awareness Quiz
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/quiz/quizNEW.pdf