Race And Ethnicity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Race And Ethnicity - Essay Example The Act and its subsequent amendments offer protection regardless of whether an individual propagates racism deliberately or not in the society (Tonry, 1998: 49). However, racial discrimination persists in British society a situation that has resulted to serious social crisis in the country. Access to medical services is one sector where racism and racial discrimination is prevalent in Britain. Findings from research study conducted by Smedley (2001) established that people from minority groups in United Kingdom experience worse health than those from the majority group. (Smedley, 2001: 25). Though there are various opinions regarding these findings, noted that the minority groups experienced many socioeconomic challenges that undermined their access to medical care. In health sector, Smedley, (2001) argues that perceptions attributed to the biological and cultural differences of the minority groups undermine their accessibility to health in Britain (Smedley, 2001: 37). These percept ions are usually used to justify unfair medical attention in health care institutions across the country. The study established that these negative perceptions prevented minority groups from interacting with medical staff in the country. The minorities face other additional social-economic challenges such as poor economic status and when these unjustified perceptions are included, access to good medical care becomes a difficult challenge. According to Benzeval et al (1992), racial discrimination in the United Kingdom affects health of the minorities in various ways. They include poor sanitation and living conditions, which arises from inequitable distribution of resources, poor treatment due to lack of resources... This paper stresses that health care system in the United Kingdom lacks important aspects, which perpetuates racial discrimination in the sector. These include lack of representative medical staff from the minority groups, insufficient policies and regulations to address patients from minority groups, in addition to very few users from the minority ethnic groups. Other aspects in the health sector include lack of medical staff qualified to work in ethnically diverse environment and poor relationship with non-governmental organisations that provides care to the minorities. Another major area of racial discrimination in Britain is the criminal justice system. In United States, African Americans a minority race continue to suffer from high levels of criminal injustice especially in capital offenses and imprisonments. This report makes a conclusion that the British government has made commendable efforts in ensuring that racial discrimination is eliminated, incidents of racial discrimination persists in the society and in institutions. This trend points to the widely construed notion that regards particular social group of people to certain characteristics. Regrettably, the ascribed notions have been used to draw and direct inhuman treatment to that particular group. In this regard, it is important for all British citizens to realize that respect for human dignity especially to the minority groups is the ideal measure of the country’s social economic development. This can be attained by ensuring equal access to justice, health, employment, education and in the political structure of the country.