Discrimination towards African American women in the healthcare system

By: Nya Hudgins

April 3, 2024

Going to a hospital to get help is something everyone has to do in their lifetime, but what happens when you don’t get the help you need because of who you are? Survey says 17% of African American women are having trouble with discrimination within the healthcare system due to nurses' lack of integrity.

The healthcare system is installed to assist people and help them improve on their health by preventing, treating, curing, and diagnosing certain diseases, injuries, and illnesses.

Some African American women have endured discrimination within the healthcare system all because a handful of nurses see them as less of a person solely because they are Black women.

Pregnancy is very scary for some women let alone African American women. Statistics show that the mortality rate for pregnant African American women is 69.9 per 100,000 live births which is 2.6 times more than a White woman who’s mortality rate is 26.6 per 100,00 live births

Women like McKenzie Nash, a social worker are E&S have experienced discrimination in a hospital. During her pregnancy, she felt as though her voice was not heard and her feelings were invalidated.

“I Had a doctor who wasn’t listening to what I wanted. There were very specific things that I wanted to do and interventions that I didn't want. I felt like the doctor at the time was really trying to push an intervention that they thought was helpful or that they wanted to do to make life easier for them” Nash said.

Going to the hospital can be scary for some African American women, they might feel that they are not taken seriously or that they are being treated like a child. Madison Wardlaw, a science teacher at E&S, and migraine sufferer explains that she always has to take certain precautions before walking into any hospital.

“ It makes me really anxious because it’s like when I tell you stuff or things I'm curious about, will you believe me? Will my issues or whatever be taken seriously and are they valid? Or will you just play in my face” Wardlaw says. “ I think it also just makes going to the doctor so much more complicated, like I can't just google doctors near me and feel like that’s enough. I feel like I have to do a serious vetting process or feel like I can't go with traditional doctors.”

Along with going to some doctors and not feeling comfortable another part of healthcare is the health insurance aspect. It is normal for health insurance to cover 80% of the expenses while you take care of the 20% that is left.

The uninsured rate for Black people is 10% which is higher than White people’s uninsured rate which is 6.6%. One in eight black women do not have insurance; this might be because they are not eligible or they can’t afford it. Black women who do have health insurance are still struggling to pay their 20% because it can simply be too much.

The healthcare system should be improved by allowing people to get their meds, procedures, surgery, checkups, etc. for free. Norma Watson, a retired 79 year old black woman explains that it's just not fair especially for unemployed or retired black people to have to come out of pocket for some of these things.

“ Every time I went in there I had to give them a co-pay. Insurance is a scam and it's a money making thing for the insurance companies.” Norma said. “ I think if you’ve worked all your life, I think once you retire, you shouldn't have to worry about your healthcare. You shouldn’t have to worry about your medicine, if you need stuff, you need it.”

Allowing the workplace to be more diverse and addressing these problems with the staff that work at these hospitals will lower the mortality rate for Black women. There is a group names the “ Black Maternal Health Advocacy group” also known as the “ Balck Mammas matter Alliance”