Special Resource Material Developed by the Center
Title: About Physical and Mental Health Effects of Racism and Discrimination on African Americans (Research Notes)
Description: Definitions of racism abound as do views about the nature and scope of its negative impact on individuals, groups, and society (see reference section). As Harrell (2000) states:
[We] must embrace the challenge of understanding the nature of racism-
related stress and disentangling the complex relationships between racism and
well-being. ... the primary question is not whether racism affects people of
color, nor does it involve comparing the importance of racism to the
importance of other variables. Rather, the central question involves the
complexity of the ways in which racism influences the well-being of
oppressed racial/ethnic groups and their members.
With respect to well-being, physical and mental health are areas of particular concern. To highlightthe literature on these topics, this resource focuses mainly on African Americans’ experience and perceptions of racism and discrimination as related to symptoms of hypertension and post traumatic
stress.Access at: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/racism.pdf
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