The Continuing Significance of Race in Meeting Health Care Needs of African American Elderly

Abstract

That older African Americans stand in unique relationship to various aspects of African American life is in part a reflection of the era in which they spent their formative years. In the 1940s and 1950s African Americans shared a sense of commonality and community based on their race, a bond that is less prevalent in the experiences of younger people (Smith and Thornton, 1993; Carprini, 1989). They grew up at time when separate but equal was the national credo, and there were two unequal societies, one white and one black. Those born before World War II encountered overt and systematic discrimination designed to impede if not fully circumvent social and economic progress for African Americans. Although the postwar period was characterized by a reduction of overt and systematic racism and expansion of political and economic power, and much progress has occurred, present data illustrate that African Americans generally and older African Americans in particular face continued subjugation and economic difficulties due to racial group membership (Hughes and Hertel, 1990). Some suggest that the changes brought about over the past 30 years by civil rights have done little to alter the day-to-day living related to human growth and development of African Americans (Gurin, Hatchett and Jackson, 1989; Jaynes and Williams, 1989), especially the African American elderly.