history of segregation, access to adequate healthcare can be determined by geographical location. Prior to the Civil Rights Act, advocacy efforts aimed at addressing discriminatory health care practices led to the provision of “separate-but-equal” policies aimed at improving the access of African-Americans to medical care (K. K. Thomas, 2006, p. 824). The Hospital Survey and Construction Act, more commonly known as the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, was introduced to improve African-Americans’ access to sufficient quality health care. The provisions of the Act involved the allocation of grants and loans to health care institutions in return for broadened availability and access to services for everyone in that facilities area (K. K. Thomas, 2006). The Act also directed hospitals to provide “a reasonable volume of care” to those that could not afford to pay, at a free or reduced rate (K. K. Thomas, 2006, p. 864). The passing of the Hill-Burton Act by the federal government substantially increased African-Americans’ access to health care (Collins, 2006) as it meant that health care professionals and institutions could no longer discriminate in their provision of services, on the basis of race or class (K. K. Thomas, …show more content…
As such, CRT argues that the Civil Rights Act and other civil laws are tools used to impede racial progress to a pace acceptable to mainstream White society. CRT is a way to theorize and challenge the ways race and racism impact society. CRT also proposes that Community cultural wealth has the potential to transform access to educational institutions and other social institutions (see, Yosso, 2005 for further explanation). This counters the idea that students of color come with cultural deficiencies as we briefly discussed in class. I intend to discuss the negative impact of racism on African-American women’s health, and the role of social identity in my dissertation plan.
In sum, for both theoretical and methodological application, employment has clear implications on African-American women’s health. The scarcity in research exploring African-American women’s labor market experiences has left many unanswered questions that I hope to explore in my dissertation. Research questions and aims include:
1. The impact of overwork on African-American women’s health, labor force participation and employment retention.
2. What is the influence of socio-demographic factors and perceived discrimination on employment status and job-related stressors?
3. How does health status