We note with real concern the often too slow action by the police, the prosecutors and the judiciary in investigating and punishing acts of racial discrimination, which often leads to total or partial impunity for the perpetrators. We are also alerted to the frequent lack of accessible remedies for the victims to obtain redress and restore respect for their rights. Although the right to education is universally recognized, indigenous children, particularly girls, do not have adequate access to such education.
Minority communities are targets of abuse in many parts of the world and are increasingly exposed to misguided counterterrorism measures. The multiple dimensions of discrimination, encompassing such grounds as gender, race and religion, also impose a heavy toll on migrants' rights. The interplay of these different grounds of discrimination generates mutually reinforcing patterns of exclusion, disadvantage and abuse affecting the full spectrum of public life, from conditions in the workplace to access to social services, justice, education, housing, health care and participation in decision-making processes.
Underpinning all of these issues are ingrained suspicions against difference. Discrimination, exclusion and inequality reflect socially constructed identities and interests, which, depending on the circumstances, operate along the lines of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. These continue to trigger all forms of prejudice. Racism and xenophobic views are dangerously acquiring renewed legitimacy and vigour when they are invoked to bolster reactionary political platforms that aim at inflaming public sentiments against migrants, asylum-seekers and persons belonging to minority groups.
The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance identified that a major cause of the resurgence of racist and xenophobic violence is intellectual and political resistance to multiculturalism and the conflict it has with old national identities.
This rejection of diversity is a principal factor in the rise of racism and xenophobia and is manifested increasingly by intolerance, even repression, of cultural symbols and expressions that reveal the identity of various ethnic, cultural and religious communities.
Of particular concern are the resurgence of anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic rhetoric. To eradicate these odious practices, it is imperative to correct the imbalances that affect marginalized and vulnerable groups through comprehensive interventions, which confront the multiple aspects that characterize exclusion, as well as by the means of reforms in the administration of justice to close the equality gaps.
Social exclusion, in its broad terms, can be defined as the inability of an individual to participate in the basic political, social and economic functioning of the society in which he or she lives. Across racial and ethnic groups, about half of men say their gender has helped them at least a little. White and black women are more likely to say their gender has been an impediment than an advantage, while Hispanic women are more divided. Blacks are more likely than whites, Hispanics and Asians to say they have faced most of these situations.
Within racial and ethnic groups, experiences differ significantly by gender. Among blacks and Hispanics, larger shares of men than women say they have been unfairly stopped by police, been subject to slurs or jokes, or that people have acted as if they were suspicious of them because of their race or ethnicity. Hispanic men are also more likely than Hispanic women to say they have been treated unfairly in employment situations.
Blacks with at least some college experience are more likely than those with less education to say they have faced certain situations because of their race. Many of these experiences are also more common among Hispanics who were born in the U. Defining Race How do we define "race"? How have we in the past, and how might we in the future? Take a look at some of the diverse definitions of race from these sources.
Ask a Librarian. Report a broken link or other problem. Tags: african american studies , course guide , gen ed , history , sociology. Numerous indices could be used to characterize health status in the later years. These indices include mortality e. Many of the major racial Asian, black, Native American, Pacific Islander, and white and ethnic Hispanic groups in the United States, heretofore referred to as ethnic groups, differ with respect to these health indices.
For example, research indicates that relative to their peers in other ethnic groups, more seasoned blacks 65 to 84 years of age have shorter life expectancies, poorer subjective health, higher rates of hypertension, and higher death rates from all causes, heart diseases, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases, and diabetes National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS], ; Pamuk, Makuc, Heck, Reuben, and Lochner, ; Pappas, Queen, Hadden, and Fisher, With one rather consistent exception of non-Hispanic white males having higher mortality rates than black males in the oldest age group 85 years and older , the observation of poorer health profiles for black males and females tended to persist, even after stratifying by socioeconomic status.
Among the other ethnic groups, non-Hispanic whites generally had the second poorest profiles, with Hispanics having the most favorable profiles and Asians or Pacific Islanders and Native Americans having intermediary profiles. If these ethnic group disparities in health are not secondary to genetic or biological differences between the ethnic groups American Anthropological Association, ; Barnett et al.
Recent research suggests that behavioral risk profiles NCHS, as well as direct and indirect effects of environmental and sociopolitical conditions are among the factors that contribute to these health disparities Smith, Shipley, and Rose, ; Tennstedt and Chang, Racism is one environmental and sociopolitical condition that might help to explain the persisting disparities Barnett et al. The primary purpose of this chapter is to examine probable associations between racism and interethnic group health differences in the later years.
Toward this end, the first section explores the ways in which racism has been conceptualized. In the context of a proposed conceptual model, the second section reviews research investigating the relationship of racism to different indices of health, and the final section highlights several directions for future research. Defined in this way, racism can exist at both the individual and institutional levels and include subjective and more objective experiences of racism.
Consistent with Clark et al. That is, perceived racism may also include perceptions of subtler forms of racism e. Although perceived racism will be the focus of this chapter, institutional racism discussed in detail elsewhere in this volume , which may not be perceived, is also included, given its complex and often overlooked relationship to perceived racism and health status. Although several terms have been used in the scientific literature to describe perceived racism, it is important to note that using the definition of racism forwarded by Clark et al.
Any member of a given ethnic group has the capacity to be racist against members of other ethnic groups interethnic group.
Because perceived racism is conceptualized herein as an umbrella term that includes prejudice and discrimination, it differs from other conceptualizations that describe racism as an ideologically based set of beliefs that direct relationships between oppressed and nonoppressed groups Jones, Additionally, because relationships between ethnic groups are emphasized, racism perpetuated by members within an ethnic minority group is nonexistent.
Although a large body of research has examined the prevalence of interethnic group racism both institutional and individual , relatively few have explored the existence of intraethnic group racism—a likely byproduct of how racism has been conceptualized to date in the scientific literature Clark, in press.
Among the limited number of studies exploring the existence of intraethnic group racism, research suggests that U. Published research investigating the independent effects of intraethnic group racism, as well as the interactive or additive effects of intraethnic group racism and interethnic group racism, on health has yet to be published.
Jones , p. These social conditions in turn are posited to contribute to 1 socioeconomic disparities, 2 greater exposure to hazards e. An emerging body of research indicates that racism whether or not it is perceived is a potential source of acute and chronic stress for many ethnic group members Clark, in press; Harrell, ; Kessler, Mickelson, and Williams, ; Krieger, ; Noh, Beiser, Kaspar, Hou, and Rummens, ; Utsey and Ponterotto, ; Williams and Neighbors, , including Caucasians Williams, b.
As an additional source of stress, individual and institutional racism may contribute to interethnic group and intraethnic group disparities in health via distal and proximal pathways Figure Distal pathways include internal and external factors that are hypothesized to mediate the relationship between environmental events and perceptions of these events as involving racism and involving harm, a threat, or a challenge.
Importantly, the subjective component of perceived racism precludes an a priori determination of stressfulness i. Proximal pathways, on the other hand, are postulated to influence psychological e. Building on existing conceptualizations proposed by Lazarus and Folkman , McEwen , and Clark et al. Once the stimulus is perceived as involving racism and involving harm, a threat, or a challenge, psychological and physiological stress responses will result, followed by coping responses.
Over time, the repeated activation and adaptation of these psychological and physiological systems are posited to lead to an allostatic burden, which, in turn, increases the risk of negative health outcomes McEwen and Seeman, To the extent that 1 perceived racism evokes psychological and physiological responses with which people cope, and 2 the differential allostatic burden associated with perceived racism is observed along ethnic-gender lines, this model may provide a more context-specific framework for understanding the relationship between perceived racism and health disparities in the later years.
Research conducted in various countries indicates that ethnically based injustices and inequities are evident across different ethnic groups Collier and Burke, ; Gilvarry et al. In the United States, blacks are disproportionately exposed to environmental stimuli that might be perceived as involving racism Collier and Burke, ; James, ; Jones, ; Krieger, ; Krieger, Sidney, and Coakley, ; Outlaw, ; Sears, ; Sigelman and Welch, ; Utsey, Although members of other ethnic groups report experiences of racism in the United States Aroian et al.
Constitution has been more pervasive James, ; Jones, and has contributed to acute and chronic perceptions that may be especially toxic for blacks Cooper, In a multistage probability sample of 1, black and white adults 18 years and over in three counties in southeastern Michigan, Williams et al.
Additionally, blacks were four times more likely to report ever being treated unfairly because of their ethnicity compared to whites. These attributions were positively related to chronic health conditions, and lifetime experiences of racism were positively associated with bed days and chronic health conditions in black but not white adults.
Were these findings to be replicated among persons in the later years, and were the cumulative psychological and physiological effects of perceived racism associated with coping resources and allostatic burden, a more informed understanding of probable contributors to the health divide in the later years might be evinced. Although space limitations preclude a detailed discussion of the direct and indirect effects of SES and health status, several reports have discussed these relationships and are suggested for further reading Anderson and Armstead, ; Kaufman, Long, Liao, Cooper, and McGee, ; Krieger, ; Krieger et al.
Per the proposed model, SES differences could influence health disparities directly or indirectly. As an example of the former, secondary to sociopolitical conditions such as institutional racism, black elders. Accordingly, they would be more likely to experience financial barriers to health care beyond that provided by Medicare, e. If the SES associated with institutional racism is related to elevated morbidity and mortality in some black elders, what accounts for their ability not to succumb to these ailments in young and middle adulthood?
Cross-sectional data suggest that many chronic health conditions observed in young and middle adulthood persist into late adulthood, thereby contributing to higher rates of major activity limitations and higher percentages of respondent-assessed fair and poor health observed among blacks 65 years of age and older compared to their white counterparts NCHS, Regarding mortality, the cumulative effects of perceived racism probably do not lead to physiological exhaustion until the associated allostatic burden has taken its toll in late adulthood.
SES might also affect ethnic group health disparities indirectly via its relationship to the quantity and type of racist stimuli to which individuals are exposed, constitutional factors, and coping resources.
For example, the equivocal findings with regard to the relationship between SES and the prevalence of racism Gary, ; Landrine and Klonoff, ; Sigelman and Welch, probably are secondary to the dimension of racism assessed, with higher and lower SES blacks having greater exposures to subtle and overt forms of racism, respectively Clark et al.
To the extent that the magnitude of psychological and physiological stress responses are similar for overt and more subtle forms of perceived racism, contributing to comparable allostatic burdens, the deleterious effects of perceived racism would be observed across SES groups among those disproportionately exposed to environmental stimuli perceived as involving racism and involving harm, a threat, or a challenge.
This interpretation is consistent with the observation that many ethnic disparities in health persist after adjusting for SES. Age is another sociodemographic factor that is rather consistently related to health status, with more seasoned persons being at greater risk for negative health outcomes NCHS, In addition to its relationship to health status, age is also related to the frequency with which blacks and whites Bledsoe, Combs, Sigelman, and Welch, , as well as Southeast Asian refugees Noh et al.
For example, Forman, Williams, and Jackson found that perceptions of lifetime discrimina-. Despite decreases in reports of discrimination across the two ethnic groups, black-white differences in these reports remained consistent across the four age groups.
However, the direction of these relationships has varied. The observed black-white differences with respect to perceived discrimination should be interpreted cautiously in the Forman et al. Therefore, it is possible that whites were reporting on experiences of discrimination that they perceived as being secondary to their gender, sexual orientation, SES, or weight. Although the discrimination scores for blacks probably were also inflated with respect to perceived ethnic discrimination—as opposed to discrimination from all causes—research indicates that blacks overwhelmingly attribute such unfair treatment to racism, whereas whites do not Williams et al.
To address the curvilinear relationship they observed between age and subjective experiences of racism, Schuman and Hatchett reasoned that higher reports of racism during middle adulthood, relative to early and late adulthood, might reflect their greater exposure to workplace discrimination. Studies that have found an inverse association between age and perceptions of racism should not necessarily be interpreted as meaning that black elders habituate psychologically or physiologically to perceptions of racism.
In addition to habituation, several explanations are plausible. First, in the later years, blacks may come to accept racism as a way of life and not attribute the unfair treatment to racism Adams and Dressler, Second, because of their disproportionate exposure to racist stimuli, more seasoned blacks may have come to use racism-specific coping strategies e.
As a result, they may not perceive the stimulus as being stressful or involving as much stress e. Third, given that blacks who are 65 and older were teenagers and young adults before and just after the Civil Rights Movement, it is also probable that by comparison, black elders do not consider many of the subtler forms of racism prevalent in the United States today as involving the same type of racism to which many of them may have been exposed. Thus, they may not perceive these more subtle forms of racism as really involving racism.
Finally, if blacks in the later years use denial i. Although speculative, this increased allostatic burden may contribute to more negative health profiles among blacks in the later years.
With the exception of health outcomes that occur in an inordinately higher frequency in one gender group e. Exceptions to this general trend include higher cerebrovascular mortality rates for black and white females relative to males who are 85 years and over, and higher hypertension prevalence rates for females relative to males who are 55 years and over. Similar to the observed relationships between age and perceived racism, the findings with respect to gender and perceived racism have been mixed, with some research showing that black males and females perceive equal amounts of racism Landrine and Klonoff, and other investigations indicating that black men perceive more racism than black women Sigelman and Welch, ; Utsey et al.
In one study of black and white adults, Forman et al. They found that black males and white males perceived more discrimination than black females and white females, respectively, although the gender effect was stronger in blacks. Their findings indicated that the stress associated with perceptions of institutional and collective racism was significantly higher for black males relative to black females. These findings, coupled with the previously mentioned observations that blacks perceive more racism than whites, suggest that black males may be the most vulnerable to the allostatic burden associated with perceived racism—a pattern that mirrors the health risk profiles of black males highest risk.
The constitutional factors are qualities with which people are born, and include genes, skin tone, and family history of disease e. These factors are not only related to perceived racism, but may interact with other components of the model to influence health status Clark, a; Dressler, Baleiro, and Dos Santos, ; Klag, Whelton, Coresh, Grim, and Kuller, ; Knapp et al. For example, although nil findings have been reported Krieger et al.
Whereas the posited mechanisms underlying the relationship of skin tone to socioeconomic and health factors in blacks e. In another study of white Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, Gleiberman, Harburg, Frone, Russell, and Cooper found that darker skin tone was associated with higher systolic blood pressure. Several responses from different systems are posited to follow perceptions of racism e.
The psychological responses include anger, helplessness, hopelessness, anxiety, resentment, and fear Armstead, Lawler, Gorden, Cross, and Gibbons, ; Bullock and Houston, ; Clark, ; Fernando, , and the physiological responses involve the cardiovascular, immune, and neuroendocrine systems Clark et al.
Whereas cardiac contraction, vasodilation, venoconstriction, vasoconstriction, and decreased excretion of sodium are among the cardiovascular responses, immune response to chronic stress most notably involve cellular and humoral reactions and include lower natural-killer cell activity and suppression of B- and T-lymphocytes, which increase susceptibility to disease Cohen and Herbert, Lastly, activation of the pituitary-adrenocortical and hypothalamic-sympathetic-adrenal medullary systems is the primary response of the neuroendocrine system Burchfield, ; Herd, Although published research in this area is lacking in general and is nonexistent among the elderly, a limited number of studies using young-and middle-adulthood samples have examined the relationship of perceived racism to resting blood pressure and cardiovascular responses.
These studies have shown that perceptions of racism are positively related to stress-induced changes in diastolic blood pressure in blacks Fang and Myers, ; Guyll, Matthews, and Bromberger, In one study of black females that measured blood pressure responses during a standardized laboratory-speaking task, Clark found that perceptions of racism during past year were related to more exaggerated diastolic blood pressure.
Even though participants who scored in the upper and lower quartile on perceived racism had similar baseline diastolic blood pressure levels, participants in the upper quartile had higher diastolic blood pressure levels during the prespeech and speech periods, and poorer posttask recovery Figure Coping responses and behaviors coping responses involve efforts used by or resources available to persons to manage intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli that are perceived as stressful.
Although numerous conceptualizations of coping exist e. Responses that are more active involve efforts to change the nature of the person-environment interaction e.
It remains to be determined if individuals use similar coping responses to. FIGURE Absolute diastolic blood pressure levels for participants scoring in the upper and lower quartiles on perceived racism measure.
To the extent that individual differences in psychological and physiological responses to perceived racism are mitigated in part by coping responses Clark, b; Clark and Adams, in press , these responses are expected to influence allostatic loads in late adulthood.
Ethnic minority group members who advance to late adulthood in light of life histories riddled with chronic exposures to racism probably have done so because of the mitigating effects associated with their coping responses and attribution styles.
For example, in one probability sample of black adults, LaVeist, Sellars, and Neighbors found that individuals who are exposed to racism and who attribute these negative experiences to institutional and societal practices—as opposed to personal deficiencies—were more likely to survive the year follow-up period. Relatively few studies have examined the relationships among perceived racism, coping, and health status. Among the studies that have been conducted, the directions of the relationships have been outcome dependent.
For example, in a sample of black college females, Clark and Anderson found that although some passive and active coping responses were positively related to blood pressure and heart rate responses, both strategies were also inversely related to cardiovascular responses. In a probability sample of black and white adults, Williams et al. In another study exploring the effects of coping with unfair treatment and resting blood pressure, Krieger and Sidney found that more passive strategies were related to higher resting blood pressure levels in working-class blacks.
In yet another study, Noh et al. Consistent with Sterling and Eyer and McEwen , allostasis involves achieving or maintaining physiological systems through change.
Although not originally discussed in this way, allostasis could be thought of as the physiological equivalent of coping. For example, if Mr. Although possibly adaptive in the short term e. Even when racism is not perceived, institutional forms of racism may also influence health directly by restricted access to health care or high-quality health care King, ; Kuno and Rothbard, ; Sheifer, Escarce, and Schulman, ; Whaley, ; Williams, For example, amid some nil findings Farley et al.
MacLean, Siew, Fowler, and Graham also found that relative to their elderly French-Canadian, English-Canadian, and Portuguese counterparts, institutional racism contributed to limited or blocked social and health services for Chinese elders in Montreal.
Similarly, the contribution of institutional practices to health access problems has been observed among older Mexican Americans Parra and Espino, Research indicates that these ethnic group biases 1 begin in medical school Rathore et al.
The cumulative negative effects associated with the maintenance of psychological and physiological systems are referred to as allostatic load McEwen and Seeman, The systems that are involved in the stress response e. This load is postulated to increase risk of negative health outcomes. Importantly, these systems do not act in isolation. Rather, they are often related in complex ways Burchfield, ; Cacioppo, ; Herd, Psychological sequelae include cognitive declines and persisting mood state alterations Fernando, ; McEwen and Seeman, ; Seligman, To the extent that acute perceptions of racism are associated with increased neuroendocrine responses and excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter activity, resulting in reduced hippocampal volume, chronic perceptions of racism might be related to cognitive deficits in the later years among those who are disproportionately exposed McEwen, ; Seeman, Singer, Rowe, Horwitz, and McEwen, Although the literature is mixed with regard to mental health disparities, research does suggest that perceptions of racism are positively related to mood deficits Rumbaut, Ethnic differences in the prevalence of depression in later years could develop secondary to the untoward effects of perceived racism via chronic feelings of uncontrollability, helplessness, and threats to self-esteem Fernando, Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular outcomes include hypertension, stroke, and heart disease Burchfield, ; Cacioppo, ; Clark et al.
If perceptions of racism are related to acute elevations in vascular reactivity, which over time lead to hyperreactivity, structural changes in the vasculature, and baroreceptor alterations, it is plausible that over the lifespan, chronic perceptions of racism might contribute to the eventual development of hypertension in the later years Anderson, McNeilly, and Myers, This cascade of physiological events namely hyperactivity and exaggerated catecholamine secretions has also been associated with the progression of arterial plaque formation Manuck, Kaplan, Adams, and Clarkson, ; Manuck, Kaplan, Muldoon, Adams, and Clarkson, , which may place people who are disproportionately exposed to racism at increased risk of developing coronary heart disease.
Although no published studies could be found that have explicitly examined the relationship between perceived racism and immune outcomes, there is no reason to believe that as a stressor, chronic perceptions of racism are associated with different humoral and cellular reactions. The one caveat is that unlike other chronic stressors to which individuals may habituate, it is not known to what extent persons habituate to perceptions of racism.
This notwithstanding, the possible cumulative toxic effects from immuno-suppression e. Recent reviews suggest that research investigating the untoward effects of racism is on the rise Brondolo, Rieppi, Kelly, and Gerin, ; Harrell, Hall, and Taliaferro, ; Meyer, ; Williams, Neighbors, and Jackson, As the empirical literature exploring associations between racism and health continues to emerge, the development of an equally strong theoretical literature is also needed that explicates the multiple biological, psychological, and social pathways through which perceived racism and institutional racism are posited to influence health outcomes.
Concomitantly, special attention should be given to theoretically based assessments of racism that are reliable and valid Utsey, Suggestions for future research examining theoretical and assessment issues are delineated below.
Because perceptions of racism are among the psychosocial stressors that are posited to contribute to health disparities in the later years, assessments of perceived racism should be conducted in the context of a comprehensive evaluation of psychosocial stressors e. Although perceptions of interethnic group racism and intraethnic group racism are important considerations, the extent to which racism interacts with acculturation to influence the psychological and physiological risk profiles of black elders would probably lead to a more informed understanding of the complex interplay between racism and cultural factors.
For example, consistent with the research of Landrine and Klonoff , black elders may report fewer perceptions compared to their less seasoned counterparts because they are more acculturated. To assess racism in isolation of the other powerful psychosocial predictors of physiological activity would likely limit the potential to more fully explain ethnic group health disparities in the later years.
Also, conceptual differences notwithstanding e. Although research suggests that perceptions of events as stressful are more predictive of psychological and physiological functioning than objective demands, comparative research exploring the relationship between a. Further research is also needed to be able to more clearly interpret observed findings with respect to perceived racism.
For example, some persons who perceive stimuli as involving racism probably do so because it is less anxiety provoking than attributing the failure of being promoted at work to personal deficits.
Furthermore, some persons who do not report perceiving racism probably fail to do so because of denial or as an attempt to avoid the expected psychological distress that would be associated with negotiating an uncontrollable stressor. Accordingly, in addition to assessing perceptions of racism, the simultaneous measurement of other contributory factors such as attribution style, impression management, self-deception, and affective state would help to delineate the possible mitigating effects of these variables.
According to Krieger , of the 20 published studies that have assessed the effects of unfair treatment including racism , more than half used measures with questionable or unreported psychometric properties. Additionally, almost without exception, each author used different measures or response formats to assess racism. As a result of these methodological caveats, comparisons of findings across studies remain somewhat limited.
Measures used to assess racism should 1 be reliable and valid for the target groups and subgroups e. In addition to unpacking such broad ethnic grouping as Asians, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders, ethnic groups who are presumed to be more or less homogeneous e. For example, although viewing whites as a homogeneous group probably has been convenient, the health profiles of white ethnic groups e.
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