Reflection on Sociological Issues

Reflection on Sociological Issues
Name
Institution
Racism
I think human beings designed race in the precept of classifying people into different social groups on features such as skin and eye color, physical appearance, and genetic heredity. Race is not a biological concept but a social construction that strives to benefit or deny benefits and privileges. American society induced about the race ideology to defend the new system of capitalism. However, these classes have not just come up lately. Earlier, social stratification depended on whether one was free or a slave. Slavery was not permanent since people could gain freedom through marriages or even declarations by leaders. Also, people of darker skins were not automatically considered as slaves, since there were others like the Irish and native Indians.
Racism comes in different forms. The forms include; Individual and Interpersonal racism, Institutional and Structural racism. Individual racism exists from within, whereby a person holds negative ideas or prejudices about his/her own culture. Sometimes this form brings about xenophobic feelings. Interpersonal racism occurs between individuals whereby they have a deliberate attitude towards a particular race by existing stereotypes. Also, Institutional racism identifies certain practices by institutions to perpetuate inequality like the TSA racial screening and apartheid. In structural racism, joint institutional arrangements produce radicalized outcomes even without racist intentions. Accordingly, racism is embedded within societal foundations.
We can deal with racism only after learning the depth of the problem. Consequently, reforms toward policies and rules governing institutions should advocate for equality. Wealth and services should be distributed in key sectors such as healthcare, education, and justice systems.
Healthcare
The private sector and non-governmental organizations control the healthcare system in the US. The provision of public health in the US comes from programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Child Health insurance, veteran health administration, and part of the population that insure themselves and their family members. The federal government insures those people working in the public sector, while other people do not have insurance covers at all. Several people view the health system in the US negatively as they feel they do not get the best as contrasted to other countries. Foremost, the primary health care system is costly as compared to that in Canada and other European countries. Emergency services are not as reliable compared to the response from the fire department and other agencies. Access to pharmaceutical drugs is a tedious process, considering most of these drugs are manufactured within the US.
It is believed the welfare state's creation was to act as a safety net to give relief during hard times, Workers ought to contribute monthly or weekly to the national insurance scheme to help build a fund that benefits those who became sick or unemployed. However, individualistic cultures emphasize the needs of an individual over the needs of groups. Individualistic cultures dictate that being dependent is shameful, as people ought to be self-reliant.
We in the West have spread our kn...