Racism literally ages Black Americans faster, according to our 25-year study
Racism literally ages Black Americans faster, according to our 25-year study
I’m part of a research team that has been following more than 800 Black American families for almost 25 years. We found that people who had reported experiencing high levels of racial discrimination when they were young teenagers had significantly higher levels of depression in their 20s than those who hadn’t. This elevated depression, in turn, showed up in their blood samples, which revealed accelerated ageing on a cellular level.
Our research is not the first to show Black Americans live sicker lives and die younger than other racial or ethnic groups. The experience of constant and accumulating stress due to racism throughout an individual’s lifetime can wear and tear down the body – literally “getting under the skin” to affect health.
These findings highlight how stress from racism, particularly experienced early in life, can affect the mental and physical health disparities seen among Black Americans.
Read more at: The Guardian
I’m part of a research team that has been following more than 800 Black American families for almost 25 years. We found that people who had reported experiencing high levels of racial discrimination when they were young teenagers had significantly higher levels of depression in their 20s than those who hadn’t. This elevated depression, in turn, showed up in their blood samples, which revealed accelerated ageing on a cellular level. Our research is not the first to show Black Americans live sicker lives and die younger than other racial or ethnic groups. The experience of constant and accumulating stress due to racism throughout an individual’s lifetime can wear and tear down the body – literally “getting under the skin” to affect health. These findings highlight how stress from racism, particularly experienced early in life, can affect the mental and physical health disparities seen among Black Americans.
Public health officials: structural racism leads to poor health, premature deaths
Public health officials: structural racism leads to poor health, premature deaths
Twenty percent more Black Mississippians than White die from heart disease according to the state health department. The American Heart Association of Mississippi, joined the national office in issuing a statement about the negative effects of structural racism on health and premature deaths. Jennifer Hopping is the executive director.
“We know that in certain parts of our state access to healthcare, access to healthy food, access to resources is limited. So our goal is really to help overcome some of those barriers,” said Hopping.
According to the organization racism is embedded in the nation’s social, economic and political systems through policies. Whether intentional or not, Hopping says structural racism fosters discrimination throughout society including in healthcare, housing, education and criminal justice.
“We know we have to start looking at some of those burdens to ever achieve our goal of health for all,” said Hopping.
Read more at: MPB
Twenty percent more Black Mississippians than White die from heart disease according to the state health department. The American Heart Association of Mississippi, joined the national office in issuing a statement about the negative effects of structural racism on health and premature deaths. Jennifer Hopping is the executive director. “We know that in certain parts of our state access to healthcare, access to healthy food, access to resources is limited. So our goal is really to help overcome some of those barriers,” said Hopping. According to the organization racism is embedded in the nation’s social, economic and political systems through policies. Whether intentional or not, Hopping says structural racism fosters discrimination throughout society including in healthcare, housing, education and criminal justice. “We know we have to start looking at some of those burdens to ever achieve our goal of health for all,” said Hopping.
Why This Scene In ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ Could Be Racist
Why This Scene In ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ Could Be Racist
The classic 1973 Peanuts special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving that airs annually during the holidays has stirred up a bit of controversy in recent years, thanks to one particular scene that could be construed as racist.
Created by Charles Schulz, the conflicting scene shows the only Black character, Franklin, is sitting by himself on one side of the Thanksgiving table. While Charlie Brown, Sally, Peppermint Patty, and Snoopy, all sit together on the opposite side of the table. Some have critiqued this scene, considering it problematic, even arguing that it could be racist since Franklin is separated from the rest of the characters, who are white.
Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences and professor of sociology and African American studies at UCLA spoke with Yahoo Life, and said that “having [Franklin] on this long side by himself, you could interpret it that no one wanted to sit next to him.”
Read more at: Bet
The classic 1973 Peanuts special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving that airs annually during the holidays has stirred up a bit of controversy in recent years, thanks to one particular scene that could be construed as racist. Created by Charles Schulz, the conflicting scene shows the only Black character, Franklin, is sitting by himself on one side of the Thanksgiving table. While Charlie Brown, Sally, Peppermint Patty, and Snoopy, all sit together on the opposite side of the table. Some have critiqued this scene, considering it problematic, even arguing that it could be racist since Franklin is separated from the rest of the characters, who are white. Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences and professor of sociology and African American studies at UCLA spoke with Yahoo Life, and said that “having [Franklin] on this long side by himself, you could interpret it that no one wanted to sit next to him.”
New study shows real-time stress reaction to racism
New study shows real-time stress reaction to racism
A new study by researchers from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and University of Texas at Austin provides more evidence that the stress of racism contributes to health problems among people of color.
Published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study employed wearable sensors and daily surveys to measure college students’ stress response to instances of race-based micro-aggression; when they ruminated upon racism; or when they were vicariously exposed to racism.
The researchers found elevated stress responses in the sympathetic nervous system among African-American and Latinx students when they personally experienced racism. Latinx youth also had elevated stress responses when they thought deeply about racial injustice. African immigrant students had elevated stress responses when they witnessed racism. Latinx students also experienced negative emotions when they witnessed racism, but their physical reaction came in the form of a suppressed sympathetic nervous response.
Read more at: Phys
A new study by researchers from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and University of Texas at Austin provides more evidence that the stress of racism contributes to health problems among people of color. Published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study employed wearable sensors and daily surveys to measure college students’ stress response to instances of race-based micro-aggression; when they ruminated upon racism; or when they were vicariously exposed to racism. The researchers found elevated stress responses in the sympathetic nervous system among African-American and Latinx students when they personally experienced racism. Latinx youth also had elevated stress responses when they thought deeply about racial injustice. African immigrant students had elevated stress responses when they witnessed racism. Latinx students also experienced negative emotions when they witnessed racism, but their physical reaction came in the form of a suppressed sympathetic nervous response.
‘You can’t see the forest through the trees’: Anti-racism panel discusses childhood experiences with race and racism
‘You can’t see the forest through the trees’: Anti-racism panel discusses childhood experiences with race and racism
Panelists reflected on their experiences with race in childhood and how it shaped them and their current perspectives on race in the final “So You Want to Be Anti-racist?” session of the semester.
Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion and Director of Counseling Services Courtney Boddie said his early childhood experiences were based heavily around assimilating to a white culture. His family moved around the area often, but when he was in third grade, they settled in Troy, Illinois, which is where Boddie said he considers his roots having grown from.
“Many people who pass [Troy] on the highway think about it as a truck stop that then leads into a quiet rural space. So, if you were wondering if I may have been the only person of color in my classes, and in my residential space, and all those sorts of things, never having a teacher of color until college, you would be right,” Boddie said. “One of the things that was so difficult about that experience was that I go to school, and I’m asked to speak, sit, think, interact, et cetera in a specific way. But I go home, and the types of things we talk about at home, and the way we talk about them, the references, the movies and things, they were never there as part of the experience.”
Read More at: The Alestle
Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion and Director of Counseling Services Courtney Boddie said his early childhood experiences were based heavily around assimilating to a white culture. His family moved around the area often, but when he was in third grade, they settled in Troy, Illinois, which is where Boddie said he considers his roots having grown from.
Study: Almost all Black British children have experienced racism at school
Study: Almost all Black British children have experienced racism at school
The vast majority of young Black British people have experienced racism at school, with one in two feeling that racial stereotypes hinder their academic achievement, research shows.
YMCA’s Young and Black report found that 95% of young Black people in the UK have heard or witnessed racist language at school, with 51% of males saying they heard it “all the time”.
Meanwhile, nearly half (49%) feel that racism is the largest hurdle to academic attainment and 50% say that teacher perceptions are the biggest barrier to educational success.
The findings of the research, based on interviews with 557 people of Black or mixed ethnicity aged between 16 and 30 years, shows that such experiences continue beyond education. Some 86% said they had experienced racist language in the workplace and over half (54%) feel that bias or prejudice – such as their name on a CV – is the main barrier to getting into employment.
Read more at: World Economic Forum
The vast majority of young Black British people have experienced racism at school, with one in two feeling that racial stereotypes hinder their academic achievement, research shows. YMCA’s Young and Black report found that 95% of young Black people in the UK have heard or witnessed racist language at school, with 51% of males saying they heard it “all the time”. Meanwhile, nearly half (49%) feel that racism is the largest hurdle to academic attainment and 50% say that teacher perceptions are the biggest barrier to educational success. The findings of the research, based on interviews with 557 people of Black or mixed ethnicity aged between 16 and 30 years, shows that such experiences continue beyond education. Some 86% said they had experienced racist language in the workplace and over half (54%) feel that bias or prejudice – such as their name on a CV – is the main barrier to getting into employment.
Anti-Racist Health Care: Correcting Structural Racism in Medicine
Anti-Racist Health Care: Correcting Structural Racism in Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the pervasive racial disparities in America’s health care system — from coverage to treatment to outcomes — that exist for Black and Latino communities.
A 2017 study by the Center for American Progress concluded these disparities resulted from decades of inequality in not just our health care systems, but our economic and social systems. Dr. Brittani James, co-founder of The Institute for Antiracism in Medicine and assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, says that while many people think of racism as simply a set of ideas and acts, it’s much more entrenched in society than the interpersonal.
“Racism and white supremacy mean that the people writing policy and making the rules in our society are largely straight, white men,” James said. “They create policy in their image. The lack of diverse leadership in our country means there is no one to account for their blind spots — and they have many — with devastating results.”
Read more at: WTTW
A 2017 study by the Center for American Progress concluded these disparities resulted from decades of inequality in not just our health care systems, but our economic and social systems. Dr. Brittani James, co-founder of The Institute for Antiracism in Medicine and assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, says that while many people think of racism as simply a set of ideas and acts, it’s much more entrenched in society than the interpersonal. “Racism and white supremacy mean that the people writing policy and making the rules in our society are largely straight, white men,” James said. “They create policy in their image. The lack of diverse leadership in our country means there is no one to account for their blind spots — and they have many — with devastating results.”
Your Health- How racism affects the body
Your Health- How racism affects the body
In a new research report published last year, more than eight in ten black Americans said they thought blacks are treated less fairly than whites by the criminal justice system in dealing with police and in hiring, pay and promotions.
But does dealing with discrimination also affect a person’s health?
Protests, rallies and movements when it comes to racism. It’s clear what many Americans want.
Racism causes many types of psychological harm. Now scientists are finding out that it might also affect a person’s health.
In a review of 121 studies, researchers found adolescents between ages 12 and 18 who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to have depression and anxiety.
In a new research report published last year, more than eight in ten black Americans said they thought blacks are treated less fairly than whites by the criminal justice system in dealing with police and in hiring, pay and promotions. But does dealing with discrimination also affect a person’s health? Protests, rallies and movements when it comes to racism. It’s clear what many Americans want. Racism causes many types of psychological harm. Now scientists are finding out that it might also affect a person’s health. In a review of 121 studies, researchers found adolescents between ages 12 and 18 who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to have depression and anxiety. But does dealing with discrimination also affect a person’s health? Protests, rallies and movements when it comes to racism. It’s clear what many Americans want. Racism causes many types of psychological harm. Now scientists are finding out that it might also affect a person’s health. In a review of 121 studies, researchers found adolescents between ages 12 and 18 who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to have depression and anxiety.
Studies find racism causes psychological harm
Studies find racism causes psychological harm
Racism is a problem that’s at the forefront of Americans’ minds lately. In a new research report published last year, more than eight in 10 Black Americans said they thought blacks are treated less fairly than whites by the criminal justice system, in dealing with police, and in hiring, pay, and promotions. But does dealing with discrimination also affect a person’s health?
Scores of studies found that racism causes many types of psychological harm. Now, scientists are finding out that it may also affect a person’s health.
In a review of 121 studies, researchers found adolescents between ages 12 and 18 who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to have depression and anxiety. Other research has suggested victims of racism reported a lower quality of life, higher levels of stress, and poorer overall health.
Read more at: News4Jax
Racism is a problem that’s at the forefront of Americans’ minds lately. In a new research report published last year, more than eight in 10 Black Americans said they thought blacks are treated less fairly than whites by the criminal justice system, in dealing with police, and in hiring, pay, and promotions. But does dealing with discrimination also affect a person’s health? Scores of studies found that racism causes many types of psychological harm. Now, scientists are finding out that it may also affect a person’s health. In a review of 121 studies, researchers found adolescents between ages 12 and 18 who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to have depression and anxiety. Other research has suggested victims of racism reported a lower quality of life, higher levels of stress, and poorer overall health. In a review of 121 studies, researchers found adolescents between ages 12 and 18 who experienced discrimination were significantly more likely to have depression and anxiety. Other research has suggested victims of racism reported a lower quality of life, higher levels of stress, and poorer overall health.
How Families Are Fighting Racism And Disability Discrimination
How Families Are Fighting Racism And Disability Discrimination
Ever since her son, Landon, was born three years ago, Nakenya Allen has been fighting.
Fighting to get a diagnosis for the cause of Landon’s digestive problems, which landed him in the emergency room multiple times before he turned 18 months old. Fighting to get doctors to take her concerns about her son’s constant distress seriously. And, after he was diagnosed with a rare birth defect in his spinal cord, fighting with medical and disability service providers to get financial support for his care.
“I didn’t feel like I was being heard,” said Allen, 42, who is Black and lives in Martinez, in the Bay Area. “At the time, did I consider it a racist issue? I don’t think so because I was so serious about trying to help my son.
Read more at: Disability Scoop
Ever since her son, Landon, was born three years ago, Nakenya Allen has been fighting. Fighting to get a diagnosis for the cause of Landon’s digestive problems, which landed him in the emergency room multiple times before he turned 18 months old. Fighting to get doctors to take her concerns about her son’s constant distress seriously. And, after he was diagnosed with a rare birth defect in his spinal cord, fighting with medical and disability service providers to get financial support for his care. “I didn’t feel like I was being heard,” said Allen, 42, who is Black and lives in Martinez, in the Bay Area. “At the time, did I consider it a racist issue? I don’t think so because I was so serious about trying to help my son. “I didn’t feel like I was being heard,” said Allen, 42, who is Black and lives in Martinez, in the Bay Area. “At the time, did I consider it a racist issue? I don’t think so because I was so serious about trying to help my son.
