State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2013 - United States of America

US elections

During early November 2012, the first African American president in US history, Barack Obama, was re-elected to a second four-year term in office. The Democratic president convincingly triumphed in the number of states required for victory; however the popular vote was split roughly in half, with the win reflecting a slim 2 per cent margin.

The re-elected administration will also have to face a House of Representatives that remains under the control of the Republicans who oppose many of the policies endorsed by minority and indigenous Native American voters.

Analysts attributed the result partly to changing US demographics, with the Republican opponent Mitt Romney failing to convince a sufficient number of minorities, women and youth voters that he would do better than the Obama campaign promised in areas such as the economy, immigration reform and health care coverage. According to exit poll analysis by the Pew Research Center, non-white voters now make up 28 per cent of the nation's electorate, compared to 26 per cent in the 2008 election.

Latinos (or Hispanics) are the fastest-growing demographic in the country and the US Census Bureau estimates that Latinos will comprise one-third of the US population by 2050. Already in California and Texas nearly 40 per cent of the population is Latino. According to exit poll analysis, Latinos voted for President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney by 71 per cent to 27 per cent.

In addition, national media reported that Obama received almost 96 per cent of all African American votes. While over the past two decades some educated African Americans have achieved better income levels, a disproportionate number still remain on the lower rungs of the US socio-economic ladder.

African Americans

According to the Economic Policy Institute, African Americans are as residentially isolated from Euro-Americans as they were in 1950, and more isolated than in 1940. A significant number nationwide remain concentrated in marginalized, distressed low-income urban neighbourhoods with insufficient social investment, including inadequate housing, rent and mortgage challenges, and constrained educational opportunities.

Unemployment levels are high and sustained employment is infrequent and mostly low wage. The US Census Bureau's Surveys of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) indicate that hardship conditions such as food insecurity and unmet health needs were virtually the same for poor able-bodied African American families with children, regardless of whether most of their income derived from employment (48 per cent) or not (47 per cent).

These under-serviced urban communities also have a high ratio of under-educated school drop-outs, alienated youth and youth-related gun violence, resulting in a significant risk of firearm injuries and homicides. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide is the leading cause of death for the majority of young African Americans between the ages of 10 and 24 years old.

African American children in low-income urban families frequently suffer from health problems that lead to school absences and educational disruptions. The ongoing individual and environmental stress affect personal as well as collective well-being, promoting further social and cultural disintegration, self-destructive behaviour and a range of other mental health problems.

Immigrant minorities

As with other US minorities, factors such as unemployment, youth violence, inadequate education, and economic and health care challenges also negatively affect Latino communities.

Latinos are disproportionately affected by poverty, food insecurity and unemployment. Homicide is the second-leading cause of death among young Latinos between the ages of 10 and 24 years old, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Census Bureau's SIPP indicated that nearly 31 per cent of Latino citizen families with children experienced overcrowded housing, food insecurity or unmet medical needs. For non-citizen Latino families it was 47 per cent. According to the NGO Feeding America, more than 25 per cent of Latino households are considered 'food insecure' and are disproportionately represented among those receiving emergency food aid.

However for Latino voters, besides these factors, of major community concern was the need for immigration reform, especially in light of undocumented immigrant profiling policies and the banning of ethno-cultural studies in some states such as Arizona.

Undocumented immigrants

The US government estimates that there are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 56 per cent are from Mexico and 22 per cent from other Latin American countries, primarily Central America and the Caribbean. In a nation with sharply divided views on the subject, the Obama administration was unable to implement any immigration reforms during its first term.

During the 2012 election campaign, most Republican candidates continued to call for tough immigration measures. By year's end, the US Congress had been unable to agree on an amnesty programme for undocumented immigrants. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nearly 397,000 undocumented aliens were deported in 2011, returning to already economically challenged Latin American countries.

Despite the Congressional gridlock, polls by Pew Research also indicated that among all US voters, 65 per cent think immigrants should be offered a chance to apply for legal status.

Native Americans and indigenous Alaskans

In December 2012, hundreds of tribal leaders attended the fourth White House Tribal Nations Conference at the US Department of the Interior. During the encounter tribal leaders had the opportunity to discuss and highlight issues such as self-determination, culture, and the economic challenges faced by their communities.

In addition to specific historically related Native American concerns such as land loss, resource control and prior and informed consent, there are other emerging issues. These include pollution of the Arctic, which is home to Alaska's indigenous populations. This region continued to have the highest levels of 'persistent organic pollutants' (POPs) on earth.

POPs are artificially created organic compounds that resist natural breakdown and can persist for many years. These highly tenacious and toxic health-threatening substances are transported for thousands of kilometres by rivers, and by ocean and air currents from warmer parts of the globe to the colder polar regions. They accumulate in the fatty tissue of seals and whales that traditionally play a key role in the Arctic indigenous diet and can be passed directly to infants through maternal breast milk, causing disruption of the hormone and immune systems, and affecting postnatal growth.

Like other minorities in the US therefore – and perhaps to an even greater extent – Native Americans and indigenous Alaskans continue to face many challenges in the areas of housing, education, employment and especially health. Not least among these is the issue of mental health.

Native American youth suicide emergency

During 2012, Native American leaders and activists continued to be greatly alarmed at what they describe as a youth suicide epidemic sweeping US Native American communities. According to reports by the US Surgeon General, suicides among young Native Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 are 3.5 times higher than the national average and rising. Moreover, 40 per cent of Native American suicides occur within this age group.

Suicide figures vary by community with the most troubling numbers being in the Northern Plains, parts of the south-west and Alaska. According to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the suicide rate for young Native Alaskan males (Inuits) is about nine times that of all young males in the country. The White Mountain Apache Tribe has mandated the reporting of all suicides and attempted suicides on their Arizona reservation, and discovered that between 2001 and 2006, Apache youth ended their lives at 13 times the national rate.

Although Native American communities have experience of suicide, according to fronterasdesk. org, a media organization in the south-west, it is culturally regarded as taboo on some reservations, so there is no native language word for 'suicide'. Consequently, suicides often go unreported or get classified by police as accidents. Given the growing crisis some tribes have now declared states of emergency and set up crisis-intervention teams.

Historical trauma

Activists argue that one of the principal factors driving the high suicide rates in Native American communities is what they call a collective community-wide historical trauma that has a strong connection to cultural breakdown. Researchers in 2011 reported that – even more often than Native American adults – as many as 20 per cent of Native American adolescents thought daily about issues stemming from native land dispossession, marginalization, language loss, cultural disintegration, exclusion and more.

On some reservations, Native American unemployment is over 80 per cent. There are few full- or even part-time jobs available in a national economy constrained by the severe economic slowdown. Many Native Americans live below the federal poverty line.

Among the socio-economic factors driving the high suicide rates therefore are extreme poverty, hunger, alcoholism, domestic violence (physical and psychological) and substance abuse.

In addition, Native American women experience high rates of rape, as well as unintended and teenage pregnancies. Victims complain that attempts to obtain justice are sometimes met with prejudicial and even violent treatment by law enforcement and other public officials, or trivialization and a lack of understanding of their situations.

US indigenous communities face a range of other health challenges which also contribute to the overall problem. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services these include higher than average mortality rates from tuberculosis, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, and motor-vehicle accidents compared to other minority communities. Asthma rates in some areas are twice the national average.

The diabetes rate among Native Americans is at an all-time high and often remains untreated. At 16.5 per cent, it is higher in the indigenous population than in any other major US ethnic group.

All such issues end up weighing heavily on the minds of native youngsters, which, activists argue, produces feelings of hopelessness. Mental illness such as depression is therefore common.

Behind trans-generational alcoholism and depression, there are also long-lasting memories in some families of sexual abuse by religious clergy. Lawsuits have detailed a history of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by parish priests as well as by staff at traumatizing, culture-erasing, faith-based boarding schools that Native American children were forced to attend until the 1970s.

Seeking solutions in indigenous culture

There is a consensus among both Native American and non-Native health professionals that tradition and cultural healing are key elements in countering the deeply embedded suicide risk factors.

According to Indian Country Today Media Network (ICTM), studies by US and Canadian researchers conclude that traditional ties and cultural connectedness provide important psychological and practical physical benefits and antidotes. Family and clan relationships, reverence for elders and a deeply held spiritual life are among the key protective factors. Supporting these culturally based positives makes Native youth feel valued and able to seek help.

Financial support

A number of US federal agencies and foundations provide grants and services to programmes that try to address the suicide problem. However, many programmes struggle to continue in a time of shrinking budgets.

During 2012, the US Indian Health Service (IHS), which serves the 566 federally recognized tribes, included 10 more tribes or tribal organizations in a batch of youth suicide prevention grants. That brings to 43 the number of indigenous groups that have received this form of IHS funding. Most will receive nearly US$ 500,000 annually for three years.

However, leaders, such as former North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, who chaired the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for four years, argue that, given the extent of the emergency, the IHS is inadequately funded to provide the needed level of mental health services.

According to the Pan-American Regional Office of the World Health Organization, only indigenous peoples living on or near their US reservations are eligible to receive IHS clinic and hospital care. It is estimated that only one-third of Native Americans live permanently on or near reservations. Another third reside in urban areas. The remaining third moves back and forth between the two.

Given that only 2 per cent of IHS funding serves urban communities, this means that at least half of Native Americans are not reached by IHS programmes.

Proposed legislation to prevent Native American suicides

In April 2012, Democratic Representative Joe Baca of California introduced a Congressional bill entitled the Native American Suicide Prevention Act of 2012. It requires states or state-sponsored organizations to consult with federally recognized Native American tribes and their organizations as well as urban Native American organizations in the development and implementation of state-wide suicide early intervention and prevention strategies.

However, the bill died in Congress from lack of support.

An indigenous NGO, Native Cry Outreach Alliance, which provides services in the area of youth suicide prevention and depression, took up the challenge of trying to obtain new Congressional support for the bill. This included seeking a Representative to commit towards reintroducing the bill to the newly elected 113th Congress during the 2013 sessions. At the end of the year, indications were positive that this would occur.