Untangling racism: Stress reactions in response to variations of racism against Black Canadians

Abstract

The ability to effectively contend with racism is likely undermined by factors that promote uncertainty regarding racist motives. A national policy of multiculturalism exists in Canada, which is intended to encourage cultural diversity, but can also serve to mask systemic racism. This may contribute to uncertainty when racism is encountered, with implications for the appraisals, coping, and stress-related outcomes of ethnoracial minorities. Two studies were conducted to assess Black Canadians’ experiences of racism, and their reactions to variations in the nature of the experience. A survey study found that Black Canadians’ (n = 158) self-reported past encounters with explicit racism were associated with anger-out coping, which in turn was related to lower depressive affect. In contrast, ambiguous racism was related to keeping anger in and higher depressive affect; this relation was exacerbated when participants believed Blacks were held in high regard by others, likely adding uncertainty to interpreting behaviours as racist. An experimental study manipulated the nature of racist cues conveyed in a videotaped description of the experiences of a Black male interviewee. When the Black interviewee described racist experiences that were ambiguous (vs. explicit) both White (n = 112) and Black (n = 99) observers were less likely to appraise events as racist, even when physical violence was involved. However, the moment-to-moment distress elicited while listening the interviewee’s description of their racist experiences was uniquely associated with higher cortisol levels among Blacks (but not Whites), especially when physical violence was present. Taken together, the findings contribute to our understanding of the processes by which ambiguous racism might operate to undermine the well-being of targeted groups. Moreover, it is suggested that policies conveying that ethnoracial groups are highly valued (e.g., multiculturalism) might actually exacerbate negative effects of racist experiences, particularly in the absence of an open discourse acknowledging the presence of systemic racism.