How does racism impact our bodies?
According to the CDCTrusted Source, racial and ethnic minority populations experience higher levels of poor health and disease across various conditions when compared with their White counterparts.
These stark disparities have driven interest and research into how racism may affect people’s physical and mental health.
A 2019 research reviewTrusted Source found positive associations between reports of racial discrimination and many physical and mental health conditions, as well as preclinical indicators for disease.
These include:
- cardiovascular disease
- coronary artery calcification
- mental health disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and psychosis)
- obesity
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- alcohol use and misuse
- engaging in high-risk behaviors
- poorer sleep
- inflammation
- cortisol dysregulation (a hormone that regulates stress levels in the body)
Health inequality and racism
The above research review examined evidence linking mental and physical health outcomes to three key mechanisms of racism. It found that people can experience health inequality through:
- Structural or institutional racism: The processes of racism embedded in policies, laws, and societal practices that give advantages to racial groups deemed superior, while racial groups deemed inferior are disadvantaged. For example, structural racism in the criminal justice system can lead to poorer health outcomes.
- Cultural racism: The spread of the ideology that certain groups are inferior through language, values, media, and symbols. For example, racist stereotypes can influence the housing decisions of White property owners and lead to racial segregation in neighborhoods. This can create communities of concentrated poverty with worse housing and environmental conditions.
- Individual-level discrimination: Where individuals or companies discriminate against racial groups, whether intentionally or without intent. This can result in worse access to employment, education, and medical care.
A 2015 systematic reviewTrusted Source collated the results of almost 300 studies to examine how racism affects the physical and mental health of Asian American, African American, and Latinx American people.
The sections below will detail the conclusions of this review, as well as those of other studies.
Physical health
The above review found that experiencing racism has associations with poor mental health and, to a lesser extent, poor physical health.
There is considerable research to suggest that the stress that comes with experiencing racism can have long-lasting physical effects.
Stress can elevate blood pressure and weaken the immune system, which, in turn, raises the risk of developing long-term health conditions.
Racism has linksTrusted Source with higher rates of stress, increasing a person of color’s risk of developing high blood pressure. The CDCTrusted Source report that Black people are more likely to have hypertension than any other racial or ethnic group.
Also, a 2019 study found that racist experiences appear to increase inflammation in African American people, raising their risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease and kidney disease.
Another study found that unfair treatment of people of color significantly affects sleep and physiological functioning in midlife.
Many studies have cited structural racism within medical care as a key factor in poor physical health. For example, a 2016 study of racial bias and pain management found a link between undertreating pain in Black patients and false biological beliefs, such as, “Black people’s skin is thicker than White people’s skin.”
A 2015 studyTrusted Source found that compared with other racial groups, Black children with severe pain from appendicitis are less likely to receive medication. This suggests that racial bias is causing medical professionals to use different pain thresholds for different racial groups, either inadvertently or purposefully, before administering care.
Mental health
The 2015 meta-analysisTrusted Source found that the association between racism and mental health is twice as strong as the link between racism and physical health. Of those the researchers sampled, BIPOC who reported experiences of racism also experienced the following mental health issues:
Hate crimes against Asian American people and Pacific Islanders surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a 2021 study found that COVID-19-related racial/ethnic discrimination had links with a greater risk of depression, anxiety, self-harm, binge drinking, and suicidal ideation among Asian American and Pacific Islander students.
A 2018 paper suggested that fear of racism itself is harmful and that it can undermine good mental health characteristics, such as resilience, hope, and motivation. The paper also underlined how verbal and physical assault can cause PTSD.
