SOCIOLOGY: David R. Williams, “How racism makes us sick.”
Racism has to be a significant aspect of the lives of individuals living in different societies. Different social groups face much discrimination from access to some opportunities such as education, medical attention/care, and also employment. According to David Williams, racism makes individuals sick as they undergo various difficulties to find their way out. In his speech, he creates attention to the audience on the aspect of racism, by describing how the blacks are treated and attended to by different social institutions. He makes sure that his description of the audience is explained, and the concept is well understood. The social, economic status, and education are considered most for the health of individuals through the speaker.
The speaker chronologically arranges his ideas in a well-structured form. David Williams arranges his presentation in an orderly manner when he speaks about the three scales involved in discrimination. One of the presented levels is the one capturing discrimination experiences where people are unfairly fired from offices and also the police acts of stopping people considering their racial originality. There is also the Everyday discrimination scale where the blacks acquire poor services in stores/restaurants, and other people are acting as if they are afraid of one another. In every section, David Williams introduces a new point and gives a full description of it, thus making it well known to the audience.
David explains how many discrimination aspects have been associated with the increase in heart diseases, abdominal obesity, premature mortality, blood pressure, and also breast cancer. Many of the discrimination cases from black teenagers in the United States showed that stress hormones, blood pressure, and weight were at high levels. According to the speaker, David Williams, blacks are also discriminated from accessing medical care, which seems to be a norm in the United States. The speaker considers his vocals as his pronunciation is correct and mistakes or stammering is not heard. He is also fluent enough as the audience can hear the message well and understand every bit of his speech. His volume and speed of the speech are average to ensure that the audience is not finding difficulties in following the entire session. David uses expressive language to express his thoughts and experiences on racism perception and how humans should understand racist acts. David provides evidence by quoting some of the sayings from prominent professionals to enhance the audience’s understanding.
The speaker’s knowledge, perspectives, and skills have a significant impact on the audiences or to any other who watches his speech. Many people may be lacking knowledge of how racism has risen or its levels of advancement. When a person has a perception of a certain stereotype about a person or group, it is evident that this remains in the subconscious mind, and when one meets one of the members of the group, this stereotype is automatically processed, discriminating to cross boundaries at a fast rate.
In the United States, according to David Williams, there is institutional discrimination that has lived many decades amongst them. This speech generally impacts the audience on the understanding of how racism/discrimination is practiced. Residential segregation on race is one of the aspects that should have impacted the audience. This is because whites and blacks live in different locations, thus creating racial inequality. The speaker emphasizes that blacks are termed as poor, violent, dangerous, lazy, and cheerful, while the whites are considered progressive, educated, wealthy, and successful. It is not that police have a negative perception of the blacks; they grew knowing that the blacks have their way of being treated in the United States societies.
In conclusion, David R. Williams’s connection of racism with discrimination has aided as a driving force of understanding ways in which racism in the United States is demonstrated. This has also facilitated the understanding of the community we are living in today. The speaker’s speech is an academic disciplinary that aid in understanding that race is not a determinant of one’s destiny, and efforts are being made to ensure that such deeds are eliminated. While presenting a speech, it is essential to be fluent, be decent, and organize ideas well to avoid collisions/repetition while explaining other ideas on stage.