A growing body of research suggests that racial discrimination may contribute to emotional and physical problems for minority populations. Being discriminated against has been associated with increased risk of stress, depression, common cold, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and breast cancer. Social epidemiologist Nancy Krieger calls this phenomenon “embodied inequality” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10379455).
A disconcerting statistic supporting this link between race and health outcomes is found in infant mortality rates. The U.S. Office of Minority Health, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, cites a 2013 report of the infant mortality rate for non-Hispanic whites at 5.1 per 1,000 live births, compared to 11.1 for non-Hispanic blacks (http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=23). Researchers point to socio-economic factors affecting this disparity, but the black infant mortality rate is still higher than those of other races when controlling for socio-economic factors. Research suggests another possible cause—that black women are subject to greater social and emotional stress due to real or perceived racism.
Racism or discrimination leading to stress can influence a range of health outcomes and can create a cycle in which socio-economically disadvantaged people are more likely to experience stress and have fewer resources to combat the problem. Studies suggest even the fear of experiencing racism can lead to stress that then has physical consequences (http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300620).
Additionally, systemic racism (expressed by social or governmental institutions, rather than individuals or groups) may account for some disparity in health outcomes. Studies have found that unconscious biases among physicians can lead to inequitable treatment of black patients.
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