Race, Gender, Class, and Perceived Everyday Discrimination

Abstract

Everyday discrimination has been studied for the last three decades, but there is a lack of quantitative research on the effects of race, gender, and class, and especially their intersectional effects, on perceived everyday discrimination for the U.S. population as a whole, despite a few studies at the local or group levels. Using new data from the 2018 General Social Survey and multiple regression, this study investigates how race, gender, and class independently and intersectionally shape everyday discrimination experiences in the United States. The results indicate that, holding other variables constant, Blacks self-claimed a significantly higher level of everyday discrimination than Whites, but other races did not differ significantly from Whites in such an experience; class was inversely associated with the level of everyday discrimination, and gender did not have an independent effect. However, while Black men self-reported a higher level of everyday discrimination than White men, Black women self-reported a lower level of everyday discrimination than White women; higher-class Blacks tended to report a significantly higher level of everyday discrimination experiences than lower-class Blacks. The findings have significant implications for research and practice in the area of everyday discrimination.