Smedley And Smsley Analysis

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In the reading this week by Smedley and Smedley, the differences between ethnicity and race are discussed and the terms defined. Ethnicity is described as a group of people who have a common cultural trait, share a common language, area of origin, religion, and history (Smedley & Smedley 2005). The culture is learned, and is transferable to other people within the group (Smedley & Smedley 2005). Race is defined as physical features such as skin color or hair texture (Smedley & Smedley 2005). “Ethnicity was recognized as plastic, and transmissible, but race conveyed the notion of differences that could not be transcended” (Smedley & Smedley, 2005, p. 19). An example of the difference between the two mentioned in the reading was how a person can moved to different place in the world, and learn how to become a part of their culture, but race is something which cannot be changed (Smedley & Smedley, 2005). A person is more likely to be discriminated against due to their race as opposed to their ethnicity, because race is a visible difference between people. …show more content…

The reading states African-Americans and Hispanics tend to receive lower quality healthcare, more likely than Whites to receive less desirable treatments for their illnesses, and differences exist with disease prevention, clinical factors, clinical settings such as hospitals which can lead to an increase in mortality for minorities because they are not receiving the same quality of care as Whites (Smedley & Smedley). I find this information to be very unsettling. In the first assignment for this week, I stated one of my beliefs is all people have the right to access healthcare regardless of their ability to pay, and now I need to add to that statement “and regardless of