Introduction
Racial injustice dominates the US society, denying minority groups essential services, including quality healthcare services. One of the most affected groups is black women who continue to experience various social inequalities, including physical and sexual assault and poor healthcare. White supremacy has suppressed the voice of black women in society rendering government institutions ineffective in addressing challenges experienced by back women. However, there is a significant development of activist groups that aim to advocate for the rights and concerns of black women (Bartholomew et al., 2018). This paper argues that despite the laxity of government institutions in addressing issues affecting black women, activist groups have been effective in sensitizing black women on their rights and guiding them to get social justice. This paper discusses the thesis statement based on the themes of racial healthcare disparities and selective birth control in the United States.
Black Women’s Rights
The gap between black women and their white counterparts in the quality of healthcare services continues to widen significantly. Racism has been one of the major obstacles preventing black women from accessing quality healthcare. Most African-American women experience unfavorable healthcare determinants, including poor education, lack of employment, and poor housing (Taylor, 2020). I perceive white supremacy among white healthcare providers to be another significant factor contributing to healthcare disparity.
The healthcare providers have widely disregarded black women, especially those requiring maternal healthcare compared to white women. As a result, more deaths result from pregnancy in black women than in their white counterparts. For instance, in Linda Villarosa’s article Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis, Simone Landrum delivers a dead child because she did not receive adequate care from her doctor. Besides experiencing severe symptoms, the doctor did give her the quality services she needed. According to the Landrum, “…he warned her that he was planning to go out of town and told her that he could deliver the baby by C-section that day if the wished, six weeks before her early January due date” (Villarosa, 2018). This statement demonstrates professional negligence that presents a greater risk to Landrum. The doctor is insensitive to the patient’s health because she is a black woman.
However, social activist groups have proved essential in ensuring that black women seeking maternal care do not experience what Landrum endured. Besides advocating for the rights of black women. Activists groups have been sensitizing these women and providing them with the necessary care they cannot obtain in the hospitals. For instance, during her second pregnancy, Landrum is given the essential maternal care at Birthmark Doula Collective that enables her to conceive successfully (Villarosa, 2018). The institution’s founder, Latona Giwa, is an African American woman determined to offer the necessary care to expectant black women seeking quality healthcare. Giwa is one of the many activists providing services that the government should be delivering. Therefore, despite being neglected by society, black women find care and hope in the activists advocating for their rights.
Black women have been subjected to selective birth control programs to control the black population and promote white supremacy. I think the agenda of the eugenics movement is still in practice in the modern world. Eugenics and racism represent the same ideology of white supremacy. Therefore, the existence of racism in contemporary society creates a conducive environment for the thriving of the eugenics agenda (Stojanović, 2019). The movement has evolved and presented itself in the form of contraceptives. Black women have been victims of defective contraceptives that prevented them from having children in the future. However, the black activists who have been victims play a significant role in educating the unsuspecting women on the need to have freedom over their bodies.
Black activists have been at the forefront of addressing the concerns about the birth control methods being subjected to black women. For instance, the co-founder of SisterSong Women of Color and human rights activists Loretta Ross discovered at 23 that she could not conceive because the IUD she was using altered her reproductive system. In her article Birth Justice & Population Control, Ross says, “this theory was created by Black women because we fight for the right to have the children that we want to have because we’re always subjected to strategies of population control” (Ross, 2015). I believe that the initial goal of the birth control methods was to discriminate against the black community and prevent its growth. Therefore, the existence of contraceptives and policies that limit the ability of black women to decide on having children is a eugenics agenda that aims to propagate white supremacy. However, the mass awareness conducted by the black activists has been essential in sensitizing women on their rights and freedom, thus reducing their vulnerability to such selective policies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, racial injustice has significantly affected black women and denied the majority of them access to essential services, including quality maternal healthcare services. However, activists have played a significant role in advocating for equality and educating these women on their rights. Additionally, activist groups have provided black women with the quality services they lack in hospitals. Furthermore, women have often been subjected to birth control strategies that have destroyed their reproductive systems. However, activists groups are sensitizing black women on their reproductive rights and having freedom over their bodies.
References
Bartholomew, M. W., Harris, A. N., & Maglalang, D. D. (2018). A call to healing: Black Lives Matter movement as a framework for addressing the health and wellness of Black women. Community Psychology in Global Perspective, 4(2), 85-100.
Stojanović, M. (2019). Eugenics. Facta Universitatis, Series: Law and Politics.
Taylor, J. K. (2020). Structural racism and maternal health among Black women. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 48(3), 506-517.
Ross, L. J. (2015). Birth justice and population control. In Birthing Justice (pp. 72-80). Routledge.
Villarosa, L. (2018). Why America’s black mothers and babies are in a life-or-death crisis. The New York Times Magazine, 11.
Religious Instructions At Home And Their Importance
Introduction
Raising a child is a complex process that requires theory and supporting factors. Proper upbringing determines the kind of person a child grows up to be, one’s attitude to life, and one’s place in society. It also determines how the child will relate to parents and whether one will respect and care for them in the future. In addition, upbringing formulates the child as a person, since in childhood, one receives, accumulates, and analyzes the information received. In the future, this data becomes decisive in shaping a person’s place in society. Religion is an important factor that helps to give the child the correct information in childhood. The aim of this paper is to analyze Childhood Religious Instruction at home and its role in spiritual formation.
The Role of Childhood Religious Instruction
Religion is an essential collection of moral principles and norms, which are some frameworks for the formation of a person. It helps to set priorities in life, and to explain to the child in a variety of ways what is right and what is not. In addition, religious teachings formulate the unification in this information of both moral rules and the history of the world. This is important in the context of the general development and education of the child, which formulates his horizons and knowledge. In addition, as a rule, certain rules are observed in families that are related to a particular religion. It is crucial as part of the formation of the child’s knowledge of the discipline and accustoming the child to the fulfillment of obligations.
Talking about why Childhood Religious Instruction at home is critical to Spiritual Formation, one may highlight several factors. First, it is necessary to understand what children’s spirituality is and consider the definition of this term. Children’s spirituality is how a child relates to certain things, a deep understanding of values and moral standards, and a relationship with God (Lawson & May, 2019). Thus, one may notice that children’s spirituality is, in fact, a fundamental factor in the development of a child as a person. It includes those core values and knowledge that the child needs in order to understand how to do the right thing in the future.
Given the importance of children’s spirituality, one might conclude that Childhood Religious Instruction at home is an inevitable part of a child’s development. It forms the fundamental factors of children’s spirituality, without which the process of growing up cannot be adequate. In addition, given that this process takes place at home with the participation of parents, it also acts as a strengthening of the relationship between the child and parents.
Moreover, this is more effective since the child perceives such information better from relatives and not from strangers. The process allows one to explain to the child why certain actions are wrong, and other are good without coming up with arguments. Childhood Religious Instruction helps the child to be comprehensively developed and to have enough information about those factors that go beyond the usual education. The transition between childhood and young adulthood is one of the most vital in the process of spiritual formation. Some catalysts of changes, such as media-based experience, public school experiences, and radical individualism ideas, can affect the shaping of religious perceptions of young people (A theology of maturity, n.d.). The role of Religious Instruction is significant during such periods because there are many distortion factors that can prevent the normal process of spiritual formation.
Catechisms for Religious Instruction are an appropriate format for explaining to a child the basic concepts of religion and moral standards. This information is presented in the form of a question-answer, which contributes to a better understanding of the basic principles. However, one can highlight both the pros and possible cons of this format. One of the issues is the formation of strong established concepts in the child, regardless of whether the parents want it. In other words, the child will form one’s own vision of this information, and sometimes it may be invalid. Therefore, it may be difficult to correct the child’s understanding in the future because it will be associated with exactly how the child understood subconsciously.
Talking about my experience or the practice of my congregation regarding Childhood Religious Instruction, I can mention several points. Firstly, it was formulated by the fact that in childhood, I was provided with Childhood Religious Instruction at home. This was argued by explanations about the creation of the world and interaction with the environment. In addition, the first concepts of what is good and what is wrong and what actions cannot be done were formulated. It also included the history of religion, interesting facts about the origin of religion and the world, and the interaction of man and church. Further, this consisted of going to the local church, where I received information about traditions, culture, and rituals. All this formed my basic concepts about life and interaction with the outside world.
Conclusion
To conclude, religion is an essential factor in formatting the child’s image of the world and humanity. It provides basic norms and rules about how to build one’s relationships with the environment. Childhood Religious Instruction home is critical to spiritual formation as it helps to formulate its basic principles. Accordingly, a child’s spirituality is an inevitable part of forming the child as a future individual. Catechisms are an essential option for religious information providing, being in the form of answers and questions. It is appropriate for children; however, it may formulate solid invalid notions which would be difficult to correct in the future.
References
A theology of maturity: The life-cycle crisis [PDF document]. (n.d.).
Lawson, K. E., & May, S. (2019). Children’s spirituality, second edition: Christian perspectives, research, and applications. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Roman Republican Busts And Coins
One can depict or assume a lot about a past culture from their portraits, statues and other works of art. Throughout history, Romans have been known as a very powerful and warmongering nation. They respected older people and valued three virtues: pietas (respect for authority and tradition), fides (being true to one’s responsibilities), religio (common belief) and gravitas (seriousness). These values can be traced throughout the portraits minted on the coins and the busts of valuable historical figures.
By looking at the facial structure, the people portrayed seem to prioritize power and seriousness over aesthetics and fashion. Their stern expressions look very threatening and unsettling to me, which is not surprising, considering some of those people were highly respected figures in their culture. I find their toughened representation as a striking contrast compared to the usual portrayal of high ranking officials, which focused on making them look more aesthetically pleasing than they were in real life.
From the perspective of modern people, they would have seemed rather authoritarian, strict and rough, both visually and in terms of personality. The men portrayed on the coins and busts would have been perceived as a serious threat or someone not worth angering. Moreover, these busts could provide people with an idea of how the portrait and the idea of the perfect person have changed in society.
In conclusion, I find the men portrayed on the busts and coins to be rather unusual looking. However, I can certainly comprehend the values and personality that they may have represented during their time. The society of that time respected seriousness and worshipped strength, thus conveying that in the portrayal of the officials. The people of the present may not have found those men to be attractive, but they would have certainly felt unsettled and threatened by simply looking at these works. Thus, one can see the shift in the portrait of the perfect person in the past and nowadays.