African American Equality Issues in the U.S.

Racism has been a serious issue in the United States. Black Americans have been
struggling to achieve equality in a deeply divisive and racial society. It is important to investigate
how far African Americans have come in their quest for equality. Such an undertaking would
help ensure that America becomes a more just society that is willing to correct some issues that
African Americans face on a daily basis.

Annotated Bibliography List

Allen, W. R., McLewis, C., Jones, C., & Harris, D. (2018). From Bakke to Fisher: African
American students in U.S. higher education over forty years. RSF: The Russell Sage
Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 4(6), 41-72.
One of the problems that African American people have faced relates to legal barriers
that prevent society from embracing true equality. The journal article analyzes the legal
precedents that have disadvantaged African American students in the United States.
African Americans have been disadvantaged in the education sector, and this has been a
huge barrier the access to higher education. The authors indicate that postsecondary
education in the United States is still characterized by high levels of racism. The article
thus concludes that a lot still needs to be done for society to be just and fair.
Craemer, T., Smith, T., Harrison, B., Logan, T., Bellamy, W., & Darity Jr, W. (2020). Wealth
implications of slavery and racial discrimination for African American descendants of the
enslaved. The Review of Black Political Economy, 47(3), 218-254.

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There is a huge wealth gap between African Americans and whites. The wealth gap was
estimated to be in excess of three hundred thousand dollars per capita in the year 2018.
The wealth gap can be traced back to slavery and the effect it had on wealth. Slaves were
forced to work for years without pay. When slavery was finally abolished, no sufficient
compensation was extended to former slaves. This generated a disparity that continues to
date.
King, L. J. (2020). Black history is not American history: Toward a framework of Black
historical consciousness. Social Education, 84(6), 335-341.
The article traces the history of African Americans in the United States. Black history has
for long not been viewed as part of American history. However, the history of America
cannot exclude African American history. American history does not exist without racial
tensions that have characterized the past and continue to torment African Americans
today. The author indicates that the United States Supreme Court has been instrumental
in ensuring that equality before the law is guaranteed. African Americans have received
various levels of reprieve from the United States Supreme Court. Evidently, the author
argues that equality has only been achieved as a result of legal battles.
Prather, C., Fuller, T. R., Jeffries IV, W. L., Marshall, K. J., Howell, A. V., Belyue-Umole, A., &
King, W. (2018). Racism, African American women, and their sexual and reproductive
health: a review of historical and contemporary evidence and implications for health
equity. Health equity, 2(1), 249-259.
The sexual and reproductive health of African Americans has been neglected for a long
time. Discriminatory healthcare practices have characterized the reproductive health of

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African American women in the United States. African American women have been
unable to access various services, and this has affected them negatively. There is a need
to develop new ways of doing things that factor in the problems that African Americans
have experienced in the past.
Thakur, N., Lovinsky-Desir, S., Bime, C., Wisnivesky, J. P., & Celedón, J. C. (2020). The
structural and social determinants of the racial/ethnic disparities in the US COVID-19
pandemic. What’s our role?. American journal of respiratory and critical care
medicine, 202(7), 943-949.
One of the problems that have confronted American society in recent times is the
COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic resulted in millions of Americans dying as a result
of the coronavirus disease. The health system was put to the test, and socio and economic
activities halted. One observation is that Black Americans were disproportionately
affected by the pandemic. Approximately thirty percent of the infections were reported in
Black Americans. This is despite the fact that African Americans constitute
approximately 13 percent of the population in the United States. The authors argue that
this is a result of discrimination in the healthcare system. They were unable to access
critical services, and this led to the spread of the disease among this population.