black…MYstory

Is racism a public health problem? Granted, for many years, some have tried to get racism (as in being racist) categorized as a mental condition but, this time, the question is whether or not being the recipient of racist treatment puts one a risk for health ailments.

There is much controversy and dispute but, some researchers are looking into whether or not the stresses of dealing with such treatment are manifesting themselves in the form of physical ailments.

Consider the following:

The burgeoning research comes at a time when lawmakers and government officials are increasingly focused on the problem of racial disparities in health. African-Americans today, despite a half century of economic and social progress since the civil rights movement, face a higher risk than any other racial group of dying from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and hypertension. In the United States, affluent blacks suffer, on average, more health problems than the poorest whites. Spurred by statistics like these, dozens of states and cities have been passing legislation intended to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health.

…

Critics of the new research tying racism directly to disease have charged that it is flawed because one cannot objectively measure “racial discrimination.” But the science has grown more sophisticated, allowing investigators to measure people’s experiences with prejudice more precisely. And its proponents argue that the sheer breadth of the work suggests the conclusions are important. Most of the investigations have been done in the United States, but a growing body of literature originates elsewhere — from Finland and Ireland to South Africa and New Zealand. These studies have found connections between racism and physical health in populations ranging from Brazil’s African-descended citizens to black women in the Netherlands who had immigrated from the former Dutch colony of Suriname.

“Across multiple societies, you’re finding similar kinds of relationships,” said David Williams, a sociologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. “There is a phenomenon here that is quite robust.”

For decades, experts have agreed that racial disparities in health spring from pervasive social and institutional forces. The scientific literature has linked higher rates of death and disease in American blacks to such “social determinants” as residential segregation, environmental waste, joblessness, unsafe housing, targeted marketing of alcohol and cigarettes, and other inequities.

So, are race and health tied more closely than we think? Research just might prove it so.

Popularity: 22% [?]