Hello my name is Jada Smith and I am a freshman in Dr. Micginis' English Composition class. Today I will be having a podcast on the rhetorical analysis of an article written by Dr. Ashwin Vasan and Dr. Stephanie M. Le Melle titled “ Biden wants to fix racial inequality. Mental health access is an important place to start."
The main point of this article is to inform people about how the lack of mental health care in black and brown communities can affect a person's mental state, whether that is feelings of depression, substance abuse or anxiety. Dr. Vasan and Dr. Melles article first starts with them recognizing that President Joe Biden wants to change the systemic racism we have in the country. They then call out the Biden administration and stress how important it is to make mental health a priority in the black and brown communities. They tell us that during the pandemic, rates of depression, anxiety and substance use treatment is significantly lower among Black Americans. The authors then give examples of mental health impacts that Black Americans were facing pre-pandemic. These examples include intergenerational trauma,community violence, lack of culturally competent care and a higher likelihood of being misdiagnosed. They then tell us that before the pandemic " 119 million people were already living in a Mental Health Care Professional Shortage Area- also known as a mental health desert- meaning they were unable to access mentental health care because of the low number of mental health providers relative to the needs of the population." (Vasan and Melle paragraph 5)
Both of these authors have a medical background and with that they are trying to inform people about the lack and the need of mental health care in black and brown communities. An example of how they show their emotional appeal would be, " Mental health deserts are not just a result of lack of access to providers and healthcare, however, but also of community supports such as housing programs and holistic community-based mental health services like those provided by Fountain House." (Vasan and Melle,paragraph 15). I feel like these authors had a couple of different audiences like, the black and brown community, healthcare workers and the federal government. The tone of this article was formal and direct. This article is unbiased and shows all three of the emotional appeals
Overall I enjoyed this article because it shared information that people aren't aware of. These authors discussed issues that mental health isn't a priority in the black and brown communities. They also give ways on how the government and people that work in the community can help people with mental health conditions.