A gender binary that imagineswomen and men as distinct and with unequalaccess to power requires heterosexuality, and theheterosexual family in particular.

The Trump administration inturn reflected these concerns, seeking to ban trans-gender individuals from serving in the military,failing to acknowledge Pride month, nominatingfederal judges with anti-LGBT records, and sup-porting religious freedom claims that allow forChristians to discriminate based on perceived sex-ual orientation.

Ishow how defending the heteropatriarchal familyprovides valorized gendered identities for their par-ticipants along with a moral justification for preju-dice, particularly through a discourse of defendingwomen and children from feminism and queerness.

After a critical examination of  recent statistics and expert opinions like those of the Georgetown University Law Center, Dr. John Zibbel, Dr. Matthew Gladden, Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Dr. Francis S. Collins, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it becomes apparent that to a large extent multiple options exists which could aid in the amelioration of an outbreak of this magnitude, including: an increase in alternative options for treating chronic pain, more effective treatments for those already addicted and regulations on opioid prescriptions.

[people with marijuana use disorder]often report irritability, mood and sleep difficulties, decreased appetite, cravings, restlessness, and/or various forms of physical discomfort that peak within the first week after quitting and last up to 2 weeks,”(drugabuse.gov). This behavior is typically only exhibited in extreme cases however.

Leafly, the largest cannabis website in the world,

The FDA has approved non opioid medications for treatment of various chronic-pain syndromes, including gabapentin (Neurontin), pregabalin (Lyrica), milnacipran (Savella), duloxetine (Cymbalta), and others, and a number of promising development programs are in the pipeline,”(The New England Journal of Medicine).

ameliorated

reader

Naloxone

Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist—meaning that it binds to opioid receptors and can reverse and block the effects of other opioids. It can very quickly restore normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped as a result of overdosing with heroin or prescription opioid pain medications.(drugabuse.org)

Countermeasures which can reverse the course of an overdose also present another legitimate way in by which the state of the crisis can be improved.

Based on this information, enhanced doctor and patient education is one legitimate way in which the opioid crisis can be improved. Such an education could prevent patients from having unrealistic post operative expectations which feed into the crisis, while for doctors, this education would encourage the usage of available non-narcotic treatments. An increase in restrictions regarding prescribing opioids is another legitimate way in which this the state of this crisis can be removed. These restrictions could possibly help to standardize the prescription process and reserve opiates for the appropriate extreme pain management situations. Restrictions and increased patient doctor education do not represent the only legitimate options to ameliorate this crisis.

restrictions regarding prescribing opioids

Such an education could prevent patients from having unrealistic post operative expectations which feed into the crisis, while for doctors, this education would encourage the usage of available non-narcotic treatments.

The trend to overprescribe opioids is based on an experiential “that’s how I like to do it” model passed along from generation to generation of trainees. This dogma was solidified by a 1980 New England Journal of Medicine letter, long since discredited, which stated that only 1% of people become addicted to narcotic pain medication. Aggressive advertising of opioids, including direct-to-consumer marketing, quickly ensued.10 Another iatrogenic factor driving opioid overprescribing is the notion that pain is the fifth vital sign of medicine. This concept became dominant in the mid-1990s, and its measurement became an indicator of patient satisfaction and hospital performance in the mid-2000s … In the past, we surgeons were taught that opioids were not addictive. But today, medical science has taught us that the opposite is true. In fact, one in 16 surgery patients becomes a chronic opioid user. After chronic pain specialists, surgeons have the highest rate of opioid prescribing in the US, and recent data show that 70-80% of prescribed opioids go unused by patients after common surgical procedures. This can lead to stockpiling and use for non-prescribed indications by the patient or others,”(The British Medical Journal).  

was often misguided and incorrect.

One of these ways, shifting the attitude regarding the nature of prescriptions and expectations of postoperative pain levels, can play a major role in limiting this crisi

,

policy-makers and members of the community

best practice range,

As evinced by the research from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, such a wide range in the prescriptionary practices of different doctors nationwide only spells disaster for patients on both sides of the spectrum and also highlights a lack of accountability in these prescriptionary practices.

evinced

Using 2016 US Medicare data, our Johns Hopkins team analysed the average number of opioids a doctor prescribes after a routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy, excluding patients with pre-existing opioid use or pain syndromes. Doctors’ prescribing patterns ranged from 0 to over 50 (fig 1), with only about a fifth averaging what Johns Hopkins pain specialists call the best practice range (≤10 tablets).We have replicated the analysis for many common procedures in medicine, including operations that can be managed with non-opioid alternatives alone. Consistent with current literature, the physician distribution graphs keep showing wide variation in opioid prescribing. Physicians who are outside of the data boundaries of reasonable variation for standardised procedures as set by our hospitals pain specialists are easily identifiable. (Makary, Overton and Wang)

Over prescription here refers to the practice of misprescribing addictive opiates to patients in place of non-addictive treatments as well as with prescribing much larger dosage sizes than necessary for the typical patient

One of the key factors helping to generate this opioid crisis is over prescription.

n spite of staggering numbers like these, effective efforts to counteract this growing issue have been few and far between, however, multiple paths towards progress exist.

, (CDC.gov),

it becomes apparent that legitimate options to ameliorate an outbreak of this magnitude do exist, including: an increase in alternative options for treating chronic pain, more effective treatments for those already addicted and regulations on opioid prescriptions.

eorgetown University Law Center, Dr. John Zibbel, Dr. Matthew Gladden, Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Dr. Francis S. Collins, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

like those of the

to what extent do legitimate options to ameliorate this issue exist?

Despite many similarly staggering statistics, this epidemic continues to spread rapidly while receiving limited attention

similarly staggering

opiate

postmodern United States society

they

Since the discovery of morphine in the early nineteenth century, opioids have represented a growing cause for concern in United States society.

United States

nineteenth

“Drug overdoses claimed the lives of nearly 64,000 Americans in 2016. Nearly two-thirds of these deaths (66%) involved a prescription or illicit opioid,”(CDC.org)

So, Kaepernick’s protest is a peaceful approach to changing the structure in our society and government.

We believe in the right to Life; the right to Liberty; and the right to pursue our own happiness. We also believe that if the government fails to protect the rights of its people that the people have the right to change the government.

appropriate and justified

I feel the United States is not living up to its ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all.

oming from a military household, I have my own resources to consult when deciding if kneeling for the flag was disrespectful. My uncle told me when standing up for injustice and exercising the rights given by the constitution, is the most patriotic thing you can do as an American.  

This statement tells everyone what the protest is and tells them what it is not representing.

So, some say not standing for it shows signs of a nonchalant attitude towards those who fought for this country.

who say kneeling shows disrespect towards the flag and the military.

Santa Clara police started discussion about boycotting the service of security for Colin Kaepernick.

Many Americans thought that the popularity of this incident would not only create division between the people, but it would also show other countries that same divisio

He had a platform to speak for those who didn’t have a voice. He brought people together from other races, religion, and sports

makes people pay attention and preserves the topic, which doesn’t let it slip through the cracks of our pop culture.

Having this strong influence was the host of a conflict

I

figurehead

Boyer wrote an open letter to Kaepernick after learning of his protest, and the two agreed that kneeling would be a way to present Kaepernick’s message without disrespecting the armed forces or the flag. 

Kaepernick initially sat during the anthem when he first started the protest, but switched to kneeling after speaking with former Army Green Beret and NFL long snapper Nate Boyer.

speaking

our

 picked up

After several more killings and extensive protests, the country had no other choice but to stop turning the other way.

Protests for these actions were short lived after the situations occurred

This added onto the fire that began with the previous killing of another black teenager, Trayvon Martin, who was shot two years prior by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

it awakened a movement

2014)

To analyze what the protest were really for, we must look at what ignited the flame.

to take pride

“anti-patriotism”

He started taking a knee when the scheduled national anthem played before the start of a game

here are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”  This quote was taken from NFL Quarterback and activist, Colin Kaepernick the day he started his protest of the national anthem.

hese actions can be placed on you solely because they don’t live the same life as you.

Imagine having to live in a world where you feel a pair of eyes on you no matter where you go. Imagine having your head on a swivel every step you take because in a matter of seconds someone can make a decision that can end your life.

The Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce reports that enrollment in the 468 best-funded and most selective four-year institutions is 77 percent white. Enrollment at the 3,250 lowest-funded community colleges and four-year universities is 43% black and Hispanic (Marcus, 2018).

“Desegregate Harvard Now!” The school had accepted black students, yet the majority of programs housed only white members

therefore, are white.

The entire system of college and university admissions perpetuates racism and classism, and the race-neutral admissions that is supported by both the George W. Bush administration and the Trump administration does not address the repercussions of segregation during the 1900’s in the United States.

Minority students have limited access to college preparatory materials in comparison to their white peers, meaning the systems they are under designate them to fail or succeed at a lesser level. They are institutionally suppressed from their own potential and intellect.

The majority of ED students stem from upper classes, since they are able to pay a school’s tuition fully.

Larger and larger proportions of nonwhite students go to the least selective institutions with the fewest resources.

These methods of comparison, however, are designed to perpetuate racism and place minority students in a disadvantaged position.

White communities have access to preparatory materials while black communities have more limited opportunity.

This gap is contributed to segregation in the mid 1900’s, when black families were gentrified and forced to leave their communities for lower socioeconomic, more affordable housing.

also cannot afford the same high-level programs or tutors

These schools have fewer resources, lacking college entrance exam tutors and preparation programs. Historically white high schools, with established funding and assets, reportedly produce higher ACT scores. The national 2012 ACT score average is 21.1 out of 36, but underrepresented groups including black students, latinx students, and native americans averaged scores of 17, 18.9, and 18.4 respectively

Many historically black high schools are located in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods as a repercussion of segregation in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s

In 1954, the overturning of Plessy v. Ferguson occurred with the ruling of Brown v Board of Education, which declared that separate facilities are inherently unequal and called for the desegregation of public schools.

Predominantly black schools were given less funding to support their students, while primarily white schools had better facilities and resource

egregation and gentrification

resources and the repercussions

On July 3rd, 2018, the Trump administration announced their plan to revoke Obama-era policies which encouraged the consideration of race in college admissions. Race-blind admissions, however, do not address the engrained disadvantage that minority students face when trying to attend highly selective universities (Green, 2018).

heavily incorporating socioeconomic discrimination as well.

to discriminate minority students.

The college admissions process can be very exciting for high school students.

This is a battle that seems to be far more complex and difficult than initially considered.

While direct political action like participation in voting may decline with a disenfranchised group, indirect political engagement (indirect meaning it happens outside of the mechanisms of the state) may increase. This includes protests as a form of political engagement. Contact with violence from the state may encourage these forms of political expression, that are seen as ‘anti-establishment’

even the idea of political activism can be problematized.

is meant to and proven to discourage social movements and political activism,

specific state actor

also considered how protests, as a form of political expression – with the idea of encouraging concrete change that betters the conditions of those oppressed – changes when faced with the power of the state (which is initially sparking the protest)

What does this mean for how effective Black Lives Matter movements are?

Williamson’s study shows that police violence against black people encourages more protests. Her analysis of the data set shows that Black Lives Matter protests were more common in cities that experienced at least one death from police violence in the years considered (“protests occurred in 9% of cities without a death, but in 24% of cities with at least one death”). This pattern was even more pronounced when looking at specifically Black victims of police violence – and even more, pronounced when looking at specifically unarmed Black victims. The data shows that 44% of cities with at least one Black death, and 60% of cities with at least one unarmed Black death experienced Black Lives Matter protests (Williamson et al., 2018).

institutional systems of power interact with social movements of people trying to make an impact and liberate themselves.

How the state responds to Black Lives Matter protests, and protests that reckon with state violence

reinforce racial hierarchies”

Bibliography

an

organize

, as the carceral state and the police force exists with the purpose of maintaining and reinforcing the oppression of black people.

grieving are more likely to have higher rates of protest about a certain event, especially police brutality where the public can point to a specific actor – or many: police force, the state – to blame for events that have caused concern.

First, this feels to not be that controversial. It makes sense that a community where members are grieving are more likely to have higher rates of protest about a certain event, especially police brutality where the public can point to a specific actor – or many: police force, the state – to blame for events that have caused concern. However, looking at black lives matter protests, and police brutality against black people (especially unarmed black people) proves to be more complex, as the carceral state and the police force exists with the purpose of maintaining and reinforcing the oppression of black people.

this

consider this problematic.

How does the oppression of Black people through police violence and the carceral state impact protests like BLM and how successful they are as a method of political engagement?

how this sense of despair is perpetuated, institutionally.

me

is both so emotionless, (being a way to disappear a cardboard box) but also, so terribly emotional.

I

between occurrences of police violence (the death of Trayvon Marin and others mentioned) and mobilization and protests (Black Lives Matter protests).

In this, Smith points to sociological literature that considers the way that state violence, in the form of police brutality and the carceral state work to oppress Black people, in which they are more likely to be shot and killed by police, and more likely to be imprisoned (Lopez, 2016).

state violence

cyclical and trivial nature

each side as a sign when protesting the death of people killed by police like Trayvon Martin

Clint Smith’s Counting Descent is a collection of poems that provide an account of his Black Experience.

empty cardboard box

In this tone, it took me a few times reading through the poem to understand that the purpose of the box was being used as signs for protesting police brutality. I

Nutritional meals, methadone maintenance therapy, trained medical staff, and emergency procedures must be developed and available to every pregnant incarcerated woman.

since issues have been to arise,

emotionally abused through this system of sexist oppression.

aged policies to transport prisoners to necessary hospital visits,

mother-child bond.

During labor, many mothers are still handcuffed to the bed, which also restricts them from reaching their newborn infant and properly holding them following labor, limiting the development of the mother-child bond. T

these laws are often not followed

There are policies in place that any person leaving a prison should be shackled, which involves handcuffs, leg irons, and a waist chain complete with a “black box,” which draws the handcuffs close to the stomach, making it impossible for the inmate to prevent a fall.

systemic sexism.

verworked in the prison system.

necessary nutrition or care for a successful pregnancy while they are in prison

protects the fetus f

Methadone maintenance therapy

not only hurt the mother, but put the infant at risk for future issues

2 hours after a meal.

OB” snack,

When incarcerated people are transported out of the prison (hospital, court, etc.), they are provided a bagged lunch which often includes a bologna sandwich.

isk of falling is very stressful

pregnant women must be served the same food as other prisoners.

rison meals, however, often lack the elements of a healthy diet, putting pregnant mothers at risk of being malnourished.

frequently deprived

Prenatal screening tests, special diets, drug rehabilitation when necessary, a prohibition of shackling during labor and delivery, continual access to newborns for mothers after delivery, and breastfeeding support are included in standards outlined by the American Public Health Association (APHA), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) (Kelsey, Medel, Mullins, Dallaire, & Forestell, 2017).

lack of pregnancy testing and reporting across facilities (

From 1980 to 2010, the number of incarcerated women in the United States increased by 646% (Kelsey, Medel, Mullins, Dallaire, & Forestell, 2017). According to the World Prison Brief, 212,000 female prisoners are currently incarcerated in the United States, 6 to 10% of which are pregnant at intake.

There needs to be more attention in curing the issue beginning with the children.

A school is supposed to be seen as a safe space, but many girls are afraid to step foot on the property because of these disgusting deeds.          

It is unfair that these children are at a disadvantage because of institutionalized racism instilled in this country.

 The policing of Black girls has been an ongoing issue that occurs inside and outside of the classroom setting. Black girls are stigmatized as disrespectful, having “too much attitude”, and the “angry black woman”.[

students of color.

rugs. The girls that spiral down this road go into prostitution and get “pimped out”.

terrible

The school to prison pipeline has different paths for boys and girls

Due to the discriminatory practices already in place, this allows teachers to administer harsher punishments to Black students.

teachers are not the only people in the school system that participate in unfair, prejudice behavior.

school to prison pipeline.

polar opposite

structural system

nd children are not exempt from these assumptions.

and overall dangerous people,

The society in the United States

these issues significantly impact Black children with the school to prison pipeline and hyper-criminalization of Black girls.

The stereotypes, toxic living environments, and pattern of criminalization has an enormous influence on young Black children.

The stereotypes

and

other demographics

encouraged

racial profiling

confinement

has

is the key element