Title of the conference: ‘The Intersection of Health Care, History and Justice”

             On March 28 2012, I traveled to Harlem to attend a conference. It was my first time to go to Harlem, and I was nervous because I have heard that Harlem is a dangerous place. I am Asian but not racist. Before coming to the United States, I was warned by friends in Korea that I should not say “black” to African-Americans and Harlem is dangerous, so I should not go there. It is a Korean stereotype. In Korea, most of the information about the United States comes from the media, such as drama and movies. I remember a scene in Die Hard 3 where Bruce Willis goes to Harlem to look for a suspect and the suspect wanted Willis to wear a panel in Harlem on his neck which said, “I hate Negroes.” Everybody in Harlem considered Willis to be crazy and one guy shoots him. Those kinds of movies give foreigners a stereotype.

         When I got to Harlem, the atmosphere was not the same as the movies. Kids walk on the streets freely. After getting to the Schomburg Library, I was prepared to listen carefully to the speakers at the conference. I thought the topic of the speech would be about health care, history, and justice. However, the topic was about discrimination and difficulties for  minorities in getting health care services and the fight for those services. The speech was surprising to me because I thought discrimination in the welfare system was a past problem. However, Alondra Nelson shocked me by saying “public awareness of the way in which medicine was not only healing but particularly harmful in communities of color.” The problem still exists within the Black community.

For me, that is a little strange as I think whites and blacks are just simply Americans to me.  There are so many black people in the media, entertainment, and sports. The President of the United State is black. For me, America looks like a complete mixture of people and races, however, I am wrong. The melting pot has not been mixed well.  Discrimination still takes place and attempts to eliminate those problems are still the work of social activists.

In Korea, there is a concept of discrimination, called “Sa-Dea-Ju-I” which means worship of the powerful country. Korea discriminates in favor of foreigners. I remember watching a documentary once broadcasted on EBS on August 13, 2008.  The documentary showed that when a white person asked for directions, everyone wanted to help, and even walked the person to their destination. In contrast, when an Asian asked for the same help more than 70% of the people ignored him. Korea is a small country and was conquered several times, so Koreans admire the power of developed countries. In addition, South Korea is not a melting pot like America. It is mostly a Mongolian heritage.

 In Korea, there is not much chance to meet people of white heritage. One of the stereotypes Koreans believe is that white people are from rich countries and it is acceptable not to respect other Asians.  Koreans now realize this problem and they should throw away those old ideas.  South Korea is not a country of immigration but it is learning.

The United State is a country of immigrants. The American Indians lived in continental North America first, and Europeans have settled since Juan Ponce de Leon came to America on April 2, 1513.  Black Africans were forced to live in America in slavery, however, Abraham Lincoln repealed the law of slavery in 1861. Martin Luther King began the civil rights movement in the 1960’s and Malcolm represented black people. Eventually, one black person was elected  President of  the United States, Barack Obama.

However, I am curious about America. Even though black people have fought with social discrimination and achieved, why is there still discrimination of color? Why does this continue in one of the most wealthy countries in the world? Why can this country not solve its inner-problems? No matter what color, Americans are American, why is there is a difference in distributing welfare to citizens because of color? Why can the sick not get health care because one is black? I strongly believe that every citizen has the right to have health care and the government and people must not let allow the unfair distribution of welfare based upon color.

First, all citizens must be afforded equal access to health care and welfare programs.  Do whites pay more taxes than blacks? Or is there a “white tax” for whites only? Or is there some civic duty which only white people are required to perform in America? If so, I would not complain about the unfairness. However, there are no different taxes, civic duties, or responsibilities, among blacks, whites, or Asians. Civic obligations are equal among all citizens, and all citizens should have equal rights in American society. Societies must treat all citizens fairly.

Second, governments have a duty to allocate welfare fairly and to ensure that individuals within the welfare system do not prevent citizens to have equal access. In American society, there are differences among individuals. By recognizing the differences among individuals, and making fair but equal accommodations, American society can be healthy and promote variety. Any society which allows discrimination cannot be healthy and developing. The ideal society demands justice and fairness for all its citizens. Discriminating and taking away the rights of others is a kind of crime. Injured persons can lose the will to live and discrimination can cause social disintegration.

Third, welfare systems should be open to all. The government and society are sustained by the efforts of individuals. People cannot live alone, so we establish a society to cooperate with each other. People can make power, power can be big, and big power can affect people negatively. If the government has the power to support people, the government should support  the development of the whole society. If welfare is closed to some people and other people monopolize those rights, the government loses its legitimacy..

It is possible that discrimination and inequality of treatment existed in the past because immigrants from Europe established the United States. However, the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution of the United States, cast away those old rules and thoughts. Americans became the masters of North America but they were also invaders who killed many Indians. Whites were immigrants and even the founding fathers came from different backgrounds and heritage. America needs to eliminate a past way of thinking, discrimination by color.

Why the unfair distribution of welfare can take place in a country like the United States and why people allow the unfairness is puzzling. The government is made by the people and people give the government power. So, the government must use its power to fairly serve its people and remove racism. There can be individual differences in ability but there should be no differences among groups. If people take away privileges and rights because of racial differences, then that society is not just. People should eliminate those thoughts and strive for a society based on fairness and justice.