As a black clinical psychologist in the Milwaukee area, I often reflect on my own life growing up in the 1950s in the segregated state of Alabama. Because of the injustices I've experienced, my psyche has been negatively affected.

Millions of other black people who have gone through similar experiences of racial hatred and racial bigotry have never fully recovered. Discrimination and racial injustice not only cause the victim to feel like an outcast; the victim also can feel disdain for someone who looks just like him or her.

Discrimination or second-class citizenship can leave an indelible scar. Many black people may feel invisible, unworthy and unwanted by society at large. When people are told that they are not accepted, they find ways to unleash their anger, rage and frustration.

Often, these negative feelings are directed toward someone who looks like them, and this accounts for black-on-black violence, abuse, homicides and alcoholism.

Growing up in Alabama, I recall roughly 50% of the black men in the community being alcoholics. I am also convinced that their alcoholism was a direct result of being castrated emotionally and psychologically by a racist society.

In my hometown of Fairhope, we black students had to pass by Fairhope High School, which was an all-white high school blacks were not allowed to attend. Instead, we were bused to the next town over (Daphne) to an all-black school that was separate and unequal. Sadly, the white students never got to know the black students, and vice versa.

Because of this disconnect, lifetime relationships were lost and blacks continued to be relegated to second-class citizenship. If one were to ask "What does it feel like to live in a city but not be a part of it?" the answer would be that one feels estranged, disconnected, angry, confused, rejected, unworthy and inferior.

When people are relegated to second-class citizenship, it affects their whole being. Many people become crippled emotionally, psychologically, socially and sometimes spiritually.

It has been said about elephants in captivity that, if their chains are released, they will remain in place because they feel that the chains are still on. When civil rights laws were enacted, many black people still felt the chains of oppression, even though there was now, in most instances, freedom to move about freely.

In spite of civil rights legislation, many black Americans still faced massive hurdles when trying to purchase a home, buy a car, get a job, enroll in certain schools and universities, purchase life insurance, rent a car and do many other things. This was especially true in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, even after civil rights laws were enacted.

There is also much evidence to support the notion that racism and discrimination play a role in the shortened life expectancy of black Americans. This is evidenced by the high rates of heart disease, cancer, strokes, kidney disease, stress and other maladies, such as giving birth to preterm or low birth weight babies. Milwaukee is often at the bottom of lists in categories when it comes to things that negatively affect black people.

It is extremely important to educate all citizens about the historical inequities and atrocities inflicted on African-Americans. Everyone, including those in the medical profession, has a responsibility to afford dignity and respect to every individual, regardless of race, ethnicity, social status, sexual preference, economic status or religious affiliation.

Working in the medical field in hospitals in the Milwaukee area in the 1970s and 1980s, I witnessed firsthand the discrimination that was directed toward black patients. The most shocking thing was that many times discrimination came from medical doctors.

St. Francis of Assisi, a true saint, succinctly said on his deathbed: "I have done what is mine to do, may God teach you what is yours to do." The rest of the world looks to the United States for leadership, and we all should focus on doing what is right and just.

Dr. Earl Bracy is a practicing clinical psychologist in Milwaukee and author of "Too Young to Die: Inner-City Adolescent Homicides and The Making of a Psychologist" (available in paperback at Amazon, Barnes Noble and Rose Dog Publishing). He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and masters and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. Bracy trained and served as a U.S. Army combat medic and surgical technician stationed in Germany during the Vietnam war and worked as a cardiovascular perfusionist for 17 years.