“Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans” from TCF — Is this Source Credible? (Post 2)
By: Jolie Aban
Tags: Credibility, Racism, Inequality, African American, Healthcare

Photo Credit: RCM Technologies

Background on Credibility

How do readers make sure that an article or website is reliable? How is trust given to authors? Evaluating credibility allows us to find out if a source and the information provided from that source is authentic and valid. Some indicators of credibility within a source are the author’s credentials, peer revision from other scholarly sources or experts, and that the information is backed up with cited evidence, is up to date, and unbiased.

Photo Credit: The Century Foundation

Article Summary

The article “Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans” by Jamila Taylor, published on December 19, 2019, from The Century Foundation, addresses health and other socioeconomic inequities in the black community. The author’s main point in this article is to analyze the condition of health insurance and how racism has to do with the livelihood of African Americans. Taylor first discusses the obstacles many African Americans face in acquiring help from the Affordable Care Act. She includes statistics from “The Real Cost of Health Care: Interactive Calculator Estimates Both Direct and Hidden Household Spending” by Ashley Joyce from Kaiser Family Foundation. She then addresses systemic problems from the lack of Medicaid, shortage of health resources, and disproportionate health outcomes including maternal and infant mortality rate, cancer, and other chronic illnesses in the south states. Lastly, she informs her readers about socioeconomic factors rooted by racism that affect the health and well-being of African Americans. These factors are poverty, household income, food insecurity, and lack of affordable and safe housing. Taylor presents several graphs and cites her sources from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Minority Health.

Should This Work Be Trusted?

After thoroughly reading through the article, I can infer that it is credible based on the fact that the author’s credentials are included in the article, there are multiple sources to back up their main idea, and that the website exhibits professionalism. The author provides her credentials at the end of the article, displaying her experience working around health care equality. This ensures her audience that she is qualified to publish accurate information about this topic. The author’s key points are objective, she refrains from showing her opinion on the topic and solely presents the information for educational purposes. Her supporting evidence is backed up by other scholarly sources. She uses her sources in relation and support of her main points and provides the external links on a work cited section in the article. The article is comprehensive and shows no grammatical errors or misspelling, indicating that it was peer-reviewed. The presentation of the website altogether shows its professionalism and validity.

A Deeper Look into the Author

Further researching an author outside of the source can give more insight on judging the credibility of the article or website. I found that Jamila Taylor works for The Century Foundation as a director of health care reform and senior fellow. Other sources stated that she majored in political science and received her B.A. from Hampton University. She continued her education at Virginia Commonwealth University to earn her master’s in public administration and Howard University for her postdoctoral degree in public administration. Taylor has published other work about health rights and public policy — Yale Journal of International Affairs and The Nation are just a few examples of where her publications can be viewed. Taylor has also collaborated with NPR, Fox news, and other media outlets. Prior to working for The Century Foundation (TCF), she was the director of women’s health and rights program and senior fellow for the Center for American Progress (CAP), a senior advisor for Ipas, and several other organizations.

Conclusion

Overall, Jamila Taylor’s article “Racism Inequality and Health Care for African Americans” is a credible source because the inclusion of the author’s credentials, the variety of scholarly sources, and the overall organization is free of mistakes. This article shows that the author is qualified to write about the topic, cites primary sources, presents thorough and factual evidence, and is up to date. The website also indicates its credibility as it attains its professionalism. Consequently, this article and website is considered a scholarly source.

Works Cited

Joyce, — Ashley, et al. “The Real Cost of Health Care: Interactive Calculator Estimates Both Direct and Hidden Household Spending.” KFF, 7 June 2019, www.kff.org/health-costs/press-release/interactive-calculator-estimates-both-direct-and-hidden-household-spending/.

“Office of Minority Health.” Home Page — Office of Minority Health (OMH), www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=1.

The Century Foundation, et al. “Jamila Taylor Joins The Century Foundation as Director of Health Care Reform and Senior Fellow.” The Century Foundation, 22 July 2019, tcf.org/content/about-tcf/jamila-taylor-joins-century-foundation-director-health-care-reform-senior-fellow/.

Taylor, — Jamila, et al. “Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans.” The Century Foundation, 7 May 2020, tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/?session=1.

“U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States.” Census Bureau QuickFacts, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219.