M3: Current Events Discussion

Instructions
The current news cycle is in constant flux and traveling at warp speed. This discussion board will be used to highlight current articles about a specific topic. These articles will be selected by the assigned group and will focus on specific stories related to the topic. As social work students, it is imperative that you are constantly attuned to the environment, social policy, and specific events that impact the lives of your clients.

This discussion board will be about race, racism, ethnicity, and privilege.

1. Read all of the articles that your classmates post.
2. Create your initial post. Answer the following:
    How have these articles increased our understanding of the topic?
      What impacts do these issues have on contemporary society in the United States? In your discussion, include the effects on both the targeted population as well as the population as a whole.
Respond to posts from at least two other classmates, answering the discussion questions provided by your classmates.

Readings:
First article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/racism-medical-school-health-disparity/2020/11/06/6608aa7c-1d1f-11eb-90dd-abd0f7086a91_story.html#comments-wrapper

Questions to Discuss:

1. Do you think that medical schools should require a mandatory class on systemic racism and teaching students how to recognize and fight racism?  Why or why not?

2. What do you think about the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) creating an anti-racism curriculum for every step of medical education?  Do you think it should be enforced to use this curriculum around the country? What are the benefits of this curriculum? How do you think this will affect medicine today and the way doctors treat patients?

Second article:
https://time.com/5910949/black-pete-netherlands-zwarte-piet/

Did Yanos mom do the right thing by shielding him from the Black Petes? If yes, why? If not, what other actions could she have taken?

At Jerry Afriyies school, most of the students were people of color while the administration and the teachers were white? What messages do you think this power structure taught students about race?

If a tradition is deemed to be racist, who has the obligation to either change or get rid of the tradition totally?