The African American community is a unique group in American society. They are African without history and American without the rights. For decades, African American have constituted the marginalized population of America. The group lacks the equitable opportunity to participate in the socio-economic and political development of society. The 21 century, however, ushers no change for this group as the racial divide and segregation in America remain evident in the socio-economic and political organization of the state. African American not only live in acute poverty but also lack the primary access to social amenities such as health care, education, water and sanitation among others. Racial stereotypes prevent them from accessing equal opportunity to economic participation, fair trials in criminal justice systems and the ability to participate in politics and federal decision making. The black community in Kansas City, Missouri suffers from health disparities.

Statistics provided by the 2010 census reveal that in Missouri, African Americans constitute 12.3% of the entire population. The figures amount to roughly 740,000 individuals out of the six million residents of the state. Kansas City hosts about a third of this population figures that accounts for 254,509 African American residents. Although blacks constitute the minority population, they are the most affected by health issues and burden of communicable and chronic illnesses (Higginbotham & Franklin, 2010). The health disparities affecting African Americans attribute to poverty affecting the community. In America, poor people suffer from poor health. African Americans populations are poor, they reside in areas challenged with inadequate housing, and lack of water and sanitation, thus the huge number suffering from communicable diseases such as Cholera, and Typhoid.

Compared to other groups African American form the highest percentage of people represented under social help health groups and insurance programs such as Medicaid pay and Non Charge. A comparison of African American versus the white population reveals that over 60% to 40% the groups respectively depend on federal aid.  The median income of African American families is 8% lower than that of white families, as such they are a more dependent group  (Taylor, 2017). The figure reveal the acute poverty looming among African American societies living Kansas City, and the United States. The unemployment rates among African American is ten time more than the white population in Kansas City.

Apart from poverty there are behavioral risk factors that increase the prevalent attacks of African American with chronic illnesses and conditions. For instance, smoking and physical inactivity are leisure activities associated with African American communities increase the chance of attacks from heart conditions, diabetes, liver cirrhosis among others. African American also suffer from obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension due to the high poverty rates in their communities (Erving, 2018). As such, they depend on eating fatty unhealthy foods for survival unlike the whites who are growing keen on consuming organic foods. Additionally, unlike the their white counterparts African American have been noted not to take keen interest on their health, or say they do not have the finances and capability to access healthcare services. Chronic illness such as cancer when detected early enough can be treated and remedied. However, most African American residing in Kansas City, Missouri do not take the time to go for cancer screening.  African Americans group are particularly known for avoiding breast, cervical and prostate cancer examinations. Unfortunately, this prevents the early detection of the chronic diseases result in increased deaths among members of the community.

Owning to the historical injustice committed against them it is high time that the government addresses their agendas and develop appropriate step to remedying the challenges affecting the African American community. African American deserve the equal right to participate in the socio-economic and political development of the society as they are an integral part of America.

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