Missing Mayberry: How whiteness shapes perceptions of health among white Americans in a rural Southern community.

Abstract

Elucidating how the racialized social system of whiteness affects the health of white Americans is critically important given current trends. Mirroring the nation, whites in rural North Carolina are currently experiencing increases in early mortality at greater levels than any other racial group in the state. Health focused oral history interviews conducted with whites (n=13) in an economically distressed, rural community provide insight into potential determinants of this trend. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Analysis was guided by the whiteness and health framework, which considers how structural racism is both health promoting and health harmful for whites. Analysis highlighted three key themes: color-blind ideology, belief in the American Creed, and resistance to change. Whiteness influenced these rural whites' beliefs such that they were blind to the experiences of people of color in their community. Their explicit and figurative nostalgia for The Andy Griffith Show's idyllic town of Mayberry (a fictional Southern community devoid of Black American characters and racial tension during the 1960s) exposed color-blind expectations of what it means to have a healthy community. Additionally, interviewees attributed health status to individual effort and health behaviors, rather than considering how macro-level social determinants impact health. Individual level blame and resistance to change influenced interviewees' political views and suspicion of some social programs that could benefit the health of their community. These meritocratic beliefs about hard-work and self-sufficiency have implications for individual and community level health outcomes.