Individuals who are multiracial

One thing that has been discovered among multiracial populations in the United States is that most biracial babies were born in 1967 after the legislation against race-mixing was repealed. Multiracial people make up 2.4 percent of the population, with some being multigenerational multiracial (Roberts & Gelman, 2015). Since they must adapt to a country where race is a significant factor, the characteristics and strengths assigned to the groups are appropriate. The groups' strengths include a high degree of psychological adjustment, low-stress levels, several advantages over others, and enhanced cultural competency, to name a few. They also have a strong feeling of alienation, which may make them find it difficult to mix with the others. Multiracial groups face several challenges such a racial ambiguity in which they find it difficult to explain their race (Roberts & Gelman, 2016). Understanding their strengths can help them in adjusting to different environments and socializing with different groups. This can help them in finding solutions to challenges that they face daily and survive in places with high discrimination rates. They are marginalized since the society has refused to see all races as equal and accord them similar treatment. Since they are used to ambiguity many of them select multiracial as their ethnic identity and their physical appearance determine their clarification. Their characteristics and strengths are vital since they help the multiracial individuals to accept themselves.
Some actions to advocate for the needs of this group include counseling them especially children who may be facing rejection from the peers, use of media to highlight their problems, and using advocacy groups such as human rights associations to help in discussing their problems. Ensuring representation at various levels of government is equally important since it will facilitate allocation of resources to the group and other needs. Video clip: https://www.c-span.org/video/?292635-7/tavis-smiley-black-agenda-forumReferences
Roberts, S. O., & Gelman, S. A. (2015). Do children see in Black and White? Children's and adults' categorizations of multiracial individuals. Child development, 86(6), 1830-1847.
Roberts, S. O., & Gelman, S. A. (2016). Multiracial Children’s and Adults’ Categorizations of Multiracial Individuals. Journal of Cognition and Development, 1-15.
Unit 2
Arab and Muslim Americans
One unique thing I have learned about this group is that it has faced discrimination since the 9/11 attacks (Byng, 2008). More than 3.5 million Arabs live in the United States and are heterogeneous in religion, race, and politics. They come from countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Jordan (Byng, 2008). The challenges they encounter include stereotyping in which they are associated with terrorism and religious extremists, racism, and prejudice. In movies it is likely to see them portrayed as barbarians, sheiks, and terrorists. They are therefore feared due to being associated with violence and bombings. The characteristics and strengths assigned to the group such as family and community support enables them to live together and assist one another when in need. This helps them to deal with prejudice and discrimination they face daily in various places such as schools, malls, and other social places. Since they are concerned about their community welfare, newer immigrants have no problems in adapting to the environment since they are welcomed and accepted by the existing communities. The strengths and characteristics enable them to cope with issues they face in the United States. Advocating for the needs of this group may need one to convince the authorities that the Arabs are harmless. Since they are associated with terrorism, strong advocacy skills are required. One way is by showcasing their unique culture, believes, and customs and airing them on different media. Holding Arab’s cultural events can help to highlight their challenges and encourage leaders to consider their needs and meet them. video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t14_KZwDA1I
Refugees
The things I learned from this group is that refugees are individuals that flee from their countries due to persecution while asylees are the ones that qualify for refugees status. Many of them are from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Haiti (Schick, Zumwald, Knöpfli, Nickerson, Bryant, Schnyder ... & Morina, 2016). The challenges that were a surprise includes the impact terrorism have on attitudes towards refugees and immigrants as they always fear deportation. The characteristics and strengths assigned to these groups are real since refugees are big contributors to the growth of the US economy. They are also loyal the US as their homeland and support each other to cope with the new culture. To help this group I will need to use various media to raise awareness of their problems such as access to basic needs and their rights. Helping them to make advocacy groups can also help since they will air their grievances in one voice. Video Clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNQP6-GPeg0
The Jewish Americans
One thing I learned about Jewish is that they are found in the United States and they make a population of 4.2 million (Goldscheider, 1982). In the whole world, the Jewish population found outside Israel is the largest in the United States. Jewish Americans been discriminated for a long time as well as faced hate crimes. Majority of them are immigrants of Austria, Russia, Romania, and Hungary. This immigration took place between 1880 and 1942. Most of the Jews found outside the United States are immigrants of the former Soviet Union (Goldscheider, 1982). There is a rapid drop in the population rate due to the decrease in the birth rate, assimilation, and intermarriage. Jewish Americans do not follow all religious tradition but rather celebrate holidays such as Passover, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah.
The group has experienced several challenges consisting of historical and socio-political backgrounds, which are quite surprising. The Jewish people have gone through persecutions from the time of the middle age. For several years they have gone through some stereotypes which include greed for wealth, power and control. Some of the Jewish people face problems, which include, poverty, displacement and also have no families as a result of killings of over 6 million by the Holocaust (Goldscheider, 1982). They also help in adapting to the environment especially where racism is rampant. The group has unique characteristics and strengths which help them to survive and meet their needs and rights. Understanding themselves helps them to interact with others, control their tempers, and coexist peacefully with everyone. Some of the advocacy actions include writing their history and sharing it with the media for publishing, advising them to take leadership positions in the government, and taking their issues to the local and national ladders for action. Understanding their religion is also important since it will help in addressing their needs without contradicting their culture.video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlkhGehvYAU
References
Byng, M. D. (2008). Complex Inequalities: The Case of Muslim Americans after 9/11. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(5), 659-674.
Goldscheider, C. (1982). Demography of Jewish Americans: Research Findings, Issues, and Challenges. Understanding American Jewry. New Brunswick-London: Transaction Books, 1-55.
Schick, M., Zumwald, A., Knöpfli, B., Nickerson, A., Bryant, R. A., Schnyder, U., ... & Morina, N. (2016). Challenging Future, Challenging Past: The Relationship of Social Integration and Psychological Impairment in Traumatized Refugees. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 7.
Unit 3
People with disabilities
One thing learned from this group is that people with disabilities constitute about 56.7 million and about 21 families in America have at least one person with disability (Waltz, Finkelstein & Rupp, 2014). They also experience high rate of unemployment and many do not complete college. The characteristic and strength assigned to this group indicates that this group faces several challenges in life since they have to compete with their colleagues without disabilities in many things. The Americans with Disabilities Act should be enacted fully to reduce suffering of this group as members struggle to earn a living. The actions I would take to advocate for this group will involve following up on legislation that defend the right of those with disabilities. In addition, forming an association will help in airing the grievances via various media such as social media to alert everyone about their daily challenges. Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_8g-nF_pY
Older People
One major lesson about this group is that older individuals in America are above 65 years and constitute about 16.2 percent of the American population (Santuzzi et al., 2015). The population is expected to hit 20 percent by 2030 raising the dependency rate. The challenges that were a surprise include stereotyping of older individual which leads to discrimination. Older women face more prejudice compared to old men and are likely to encounter more challenges. The ratio that has hearing impairment is 30 percent, which is very high. Some of them especially the minorities have serious health issues with majority having heart disease or diabetes (Santuzzi et al., 2015). Actions to advocate for his group include counselling the group to encourage them to love themselves and live positive lives. The other activity would include media campaigns, lobbying legislatures to defend the rights of the group, and media campaigns. Video clip: https://www.c-span.org/video/?292635-7/tavis-smiley-black-agenda-forum
References
Santuzzi, Prince, M. J., Wu, F., Guo, Y., Robledo, L. M. G., O'Donnell, M., Sullivan, R., & Yusuf, S. (2015). The Burden of Disease in Older People and Implications for Health Policy and Practice. The Lancet, 385(9967), 549-562.
Waltz, P. R., Finkelstein, L. M., & Rupp, D. E. (2014). Invisible Disabilities: Unique Challenges for Employees and Organizations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 7(2), 204-219.
Unit 4
LGBD Individuals
I learned a lot about individuals of this group such as the violence and discrimination they face in the society. However, acceptance has increased and LGBT can associate fairly with others in the society. Some of the specific challenges that were a surprise to me include their ability to have awareness of sexual orientation as early as during teen years (Gibbs & Goldbach, 2015). They also have disconnected with their biological sex one is born with also known as gender dysphoria. They realize that they are different from the rest at an early age and some are highly stigmatized at school. Those that struggle for identification they have internal perceptions that contrast the external ones. The characteristics assigned to these groups are quite unique since most of them realize that they are different at a young age. The characteristics and strengths help the society to understand their needs and accept them in the community. This reduces prejudice that they face daily due to discrimination (Rostosky, Black, Riggle & Rosenkrantz, 2015). They can create their families of choice and seek social support from those that understand them. Helping this group may be quite challenging since individuals who advocate for its rights are assumed to support same sex relationships. To advocate for their rights one must understand gender orientation and identification. Campaigns via the media and other platforms such as social gatherings can help to enlighten the community to understand their unique needs. This group should be accepted by the society and educating the public about their existence is very important. Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmOX70piKf8
References
Gibbs, J. J., & Goldbach, J. (2015). Religious Conflict, Sexual Identity, and Suicidal Behaviors among LGBT Young Adults. Archives of Suicide Research, 19(4), 472-488.
Rostosky, S. S., Black, W. W., Riggle, E. D., & Rosenkrantz, D. (2015). Positive Aspects of Being a Heterosexual Ally to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) People. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(4), 331.