White Americans Research Articles

Criminalizing Psychopathology in Black Americans: Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Psychopathology and Arrests

Black Americans are arrested at disproportionate levels compared with White Americans. We sought to understand whether the association between psychopathology and arrest record is equally strong for Black Americans and White Americans, hypothesizing that the association would be stronger for Black Americans. In a sample of adults (age: M = 34.81 years), we found that at the same level of psychopathology severity, emotion dysregulation, and impulsivity, Black Americans ( n = 585) exhibited higher rates of being arrested in adulthood than White Americans ( n = 977). These findings held even when controlling for environmental (e.g., socioeconomic status) and individual (e.g., substance-use history) factors associated with arrests. This suggests that the risk conferred by more severe psychopathology on arrests is stronger for Black Americans than White Americans. Our results highlight how structural racism affects both psychopathology and the carceral system to contribute to the overrepresentation of Black Americans within the criminal justice system.

Exploring Racial Disparities in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: A Case Study of Durham, North Carolina.

The paradox of excess mortality among White Americans during the 1918 influenza pandemic has long puzzled historians and scientists. Recent scholarship has suggested that this disparity was not true for the country as a whole, but rather regional variation was observed. The factors influencing these disparities remain speculative. A case study was conducted of Durham, North Carolina, a city known nationally for the achievements of its Black middle class, to further explore these themes relying on numerous sources including newspapers and death certificates. Though Durham's overall mortality was lower than many places in North Carolina, the White mortality rate greatly exceeded that of the Black population. Previously described theories, including Alfred Crosby's exposure hypothesis and segregation, were explored. The most notable difference between Durham's pandemic narrative and other comparable towns was the robust healthcare response, which was made possible by the excellence of the Black nursing force from Lincoln Hospital. Nursing care was the best treatment available for the 1918 influenza, but most of the nation experienced severe nursing shortages due to the war effort. This study thus provides an example of how the Black health community has proven an active agent in countering the structural forces driving racial disparities.

Consumption of foods and beverages rich in added sugar associated with incident metabolic syndrome: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

Numerous studies report positive associations between total carbohydrate (CHO) intake and incident metabolic syndrome (MetS), but few differentiate quality or type of CHO relative to MetS. We examined source of CHO intake, including added sugar (AS), AS-rich CHO foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) associated with incident MetS in adults enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Among 3154 Black American and White American women and men aged 18-30 years at baseline, dietary intake was assessed by diet history three times over 20 years. Sources of AS-rich CHO foods and beverages include sugar-rich refined grain products, candy, sugar products, and SSBs. Incident MetS was created according to standard criteria. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards regression analysis evaluated the associations of incident MetS across quintiles of cumulative intakes of AS-rich CHO foods and beverages, AS, and SSBs adjusted for potential confounding factors over 30 years of follow-up. The associations of AS-rich CHO foods and beverages, AS, and SSB intakes with incident MetS were consistent. Compared with the lowest intake, the greatest intakes of AS-rich CHOs, AS, and SSBs were associated with 59% (Ptrend < 0.001), 44% (Ptrend = 0.01), and 34% (Ptrend = 0.03) higher risk of developing MetS, respectively. As expected, diet quality was lower across increasing quintiles of AS-rich CHO foods and beverages, AS, and SSBs (all Ptrend < 0.001). Our study findings are consistent with an elevated risk of developing MetS with greater consumption of AS, AS-rich CHO foods, and SSBs, which support consuming fewer AS-rich CHO foods and SSBs.

The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought by Melvin L. Rogers, and: King: A Life by Jonathan Eig (review)

ABSTRACT: In recent years, the United States has seen the entrenchment of an insurgent and overtly racist hard right, a retreat from fleeting but once seemingly sincere commitments to addressing the injustices of police brutality and mass incarceration, and a growing backlash against voting rights, affirmative action, and other gains of the civil rights movement. How should we relate to history in a time like ours? Journalists Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Afropessimists Frank Wilderson and Jared Sexton, have exhorted us to face the facts that the United States was founded by slaveholders who defined democracy in opposition to Black people, and that hoping to change that reality is at best naïve and at worst a distraction from the more urgent project of learning to live and thrive in a white supremacist nation. Meanwhile, many conservatives and progressives remind us that, from the founding, Black and white Americans have challenged the racial limits of democracy. For liberals, this means we should retain hope, as Martin Luther King Jr. declared, "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." For the right, that day has already come.

Reluctance to Speak Your Mind: Changes in Perceptions of Freedom to Speak Over Three and a Half Decades Among Black and White Americans

Reluctance to Speak Your Mind: Changes in Perceptions of Freedom to Speak Over Three and a Half Decades Among Black and White Americans

Differences in urine creatinine and osmolality between black and white Americans after accounting for age, moisture intake, urine volume, and socioeconomic status.

Urine osmolality is used throughout research to determine hydration levels. Prior studies have found black individuals to have elevated urine creatinine and osmolality, but it remains unclear which factors explain these findings. This cross-sectional, observational study sought to understand the relationship of self-reported race to urine creatinine and urine osmolality after accounting for age, socioeconomic status, and fluid intake. Data from 1,386 participants of the 2009-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were utilized. Age, poverty-to-income ratio (PIR), urine flow rate (UFR), fluid intake, estimated lean body mass (LBM), urine creatinine, and urine osmolality were measured. In a sex-specific manner, black and white participants were matched on age, dietary moisture, UFR, and PIR. Urine creatinine was greater in black men (171 mg/dL) than white men (150 mg/dL) and greater in black women (147 mg/dL) than white women (108 mg/dL) (p < .001). Similarly, urine osmolality was greater in black women than white women (723 vs. 656 mOsm/kg, p = .001), but no difference was observed between white and black men (737 vs. 731 mOsm/kg, p = .417). Estimated LBM was greater in black men (61.8 kg) and women (45.5 kg) than in white men (58.9 kg) and women (42.2 kg) (p≤.001). The strongest correlate of urine osmolality in all race-sex groups was urine creatinine (Spearman ρ = .68-.75). These results affirm that individuals identifying as black produce higher urine creatinine concentrations and, in women, higher urine osmolality after matching for age, fluid intake, and socioeconomic status. The findings suggest caution when comparing urine hydration markers between racial groups.

The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought by Melvin L. Rogers, and: King: A Life by Jonathan Eig (review)

ABSTRACT: In recent years, the United States has seen the entrenchment of an insurgent and overtly racist hard right, a retreat from fleeting but once seemingly sincere commitments to addressing the injus tices of police brutality and mass incarceration, and a growing backlash against voting rights, affirmative action, and other gains of the civil rights movement. How should we relate to history in a time like ours? Journalists Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Afropessimists Frank Wilderson and Jared Sexton, have exhorted us to face the facts that the United States was founded by slaveholders who defined democracy in opposition to Black people, and that hoping to change that reality is at best naïve and at worst a distraction from the more urgent project of learning to live and thrive in a white supremacist nation. Meanwhile, many conservatives and progressives remind us that, from the founding, Black and white Americans have challenged the racial limits of democracy. For liberals, this means we should retain hope, as Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” For the right, that day has already come.

What Explains Wealth and Portfolio Differences between Black and White Americans?

What Explains Wealth and Portfolio Differences between Black and White Americans?

Phenotypic profiling based on body fluid traces discovered at the scene of crime: Raman spectroscopy of urine stains for race differentiation.

Modern criminal investigations heavily rely on trace bodily fluid evidence as a rich source of DNA. DNA profiling of such evidence can result in the identification of an individual if a matching DNA profile is available. Alternatively, phenotypic profiling based on the analysis of body fluid traces can significantly narrow down the pool of suspects in a criminal investigation. Urine stain is a frequently encountered specimen at the scene of crime. Raman spectroscopy offers great potential as a universal confirmatory method for the identification of all main body fluids, including urine. In this proof-of-concept study, Raman spectroscopy combined with advanced statistics was used for race differentiation based on the analysis of urine stains. Specifically, a Random Forest (RF) model was built, which allowed for differentiating Caucasian (CA) and African American (AA) descent donors with 90% accuracy based on Raman spectra of dried urine samples. Raman spectra were collected from samples of 28 donors varying in age and sex. This novel technology offers great potential as a universal forensic tool for phenotypic profiling of a potential suspect immediately at the scene of a crime, providing invaluable information for a criminal investigation.

Media Frames in an Era of the Local

ABSTRACT: This article offers an analysis of contemporary American politics exploring white working-class Americans’ support for Donald Trump. The article draws on a definition of media organizations as people’s organizations or civil society groups and organizations from democratic populism’s political variant. The definition highlights the significant role that media organizations play in shaping political and social outcomes through choices media organizations make about how to present or frame information. The article contrasts political democratic populism as a general approach to the study of politics and the media with the approach from cultural studies drawing broadly on Marx. Michael Denning’s masterful account of the history of cultural studies provides the basis for discussion of the treatment of the media in cultural studies.

Perspectives of Minority Ethnic Caregivers of People with Dementia Interviewed as Part of the IDEAL Programme

Postwar migrants from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) to the UK are now experiencing the onset of age‐related diseases such as dementia. Our evidence base, both quantitative and qualitative, documenting the experiences of family caregivers of people with dementia is largely drawn from studies undertaken with white European, North American, and Australasian populations. Consequently, there is a need for research in the field of dementia caregiving to reflect the increasing diversity in ethnic identities of the older adult population of the UK. Using semistructured interviews, we investigated the experiences of 18 caregivers of people with dementia in Black Caribbean, Black African, and South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi) communities in England. Participants were recruited from the Join Dementia Research platform and were predominantly female intergenerational carers. We identified the following three themes: motivation to care (spending time with the care recipient and reciprocity), positive and negative consequences of caregiving (rewards and consequences), and the cultural context of caregiving (cultural norms and values supporting caregiving and negative attitudes towards dementia). Our findings develop existing literature by identifying (a) the importance of spending time with the person they care for, (b) the absence of faith as a caregiving driver, and (c) the challenge of watching the declining health of a parent. We highlight how the different motivations to care are intertwined and dynamic. This is illustrated by the linking of obligation and reciprocity in our dataset and positive and negative experiences of caregiving.

Emotion expressivity, suicidal ideation, and explanatory factors: Differences by Asian American subgroups compared with White emerging adults.

The relationship between emotion expressivity and psychological symptoms varies by race/ethnicity, and reduced expression of emotions has been implicated in risk for suicidal ideation. The present study examined differences in the relation between emotion expressivity and suicidal ideation through well-documented correlates of suicide risk (i.e., hopelessness, depressive symptoms) among Asian American subgroups compared with White emerging adults. A sample of 829 emerging adults, Ages 18 to 28 years, identifying as Asian American (27% East Asian, 18% South Asian, 11% Southeast Asian) or White (44%) completed measures of emotion expressivity, hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Lower emotion expressivity was statistically associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation, via hopelessness and depressive symptoms, among White, East Asian, and South Asian American emerging adults, but not among Southeast Asian Americans, though this difference in mediation was not statistically significant. A focus on Asian Americans as a homogenous group occludes important ethnic differences in the relation between emotion expressivity and vulnerability to suicidal ideation. Ethnic differences in the function of emotion expressivity should be considered in suicide prevention and interventions among Asian American emerging adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Making American Poetry White: Edmund Clarence Stedman's Poets of America

Making American Poetry White: Edmund Clarence Stedman's Poets of America

Linking Geographically Mediated Racial Threat and Racial Resentment

In recent years, the utility of the racial resentment scale for measuring specifically racialized attitudes of white Americans has come into question. This visualization shows that despite these critiques, racial resentment is highest in precisely the parts of the country where geographically mediated threat is most salient: the whitest parts of the least white states. This link between threat and resentment provides a helpful way to think about these two distinct but related theoretical concepts together.

Students for Fair Admissions Through the Lens of Interest-Convergence Theory: Reality, Perception, and Fear

In two cases, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President &amp; Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (SFFA), the Supreme Court held that Harvard and UNC violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in their use of race in their admissions process. This Article examines the SFFA decision through the lens of interest-convergence theory. This Article is novel in three respects. It is the first article to explain the SFFA decision in-depth. The opaqueness of the decision has led to significant confusion between commentators, scholars, and universities about the impact of the decision. I conclude that the SFFA decision overturned prior precedent and ended affirmative action in higher education, no matter how carefully crafted the race-conscious admission plan. I also conclude that universities will not be able to ignore the decision, or use race-neutral alternatives, to maintain a critical mass of minority students. Second, this Article is the first to explain the SFFA outcome using interest-convergence theory. I break down the separate interests of Black,[1] Hispanic,[2] White,[3] and Asian-Americans.[4] I find that Black and Hispanic interests remain served by race-conscious admission policies, but that shifting racial demographics and political power dynamics changed the decades-long White interest in supporting affirmative action. I further find that Asian-Americans have an interest in maintaining affirmative action, but that the SFFA outcome aligned with White interests because it permitted universities to continue “negative action” against Asian-Americans in favor of White students. Third, this Article is the first to explain how the perceptions of White Americans about policies that benefit minorities overrides the significant benefits they receive from diverse educational environments. I conclude that the longstanding and concrete benefits that White students receive from a critical mass of minority students on campus has become less important than the perceived threat of such admission policies to the current societal hierarchy. I conclude that interest-convergence theory explains why the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent and university admission practices: it served the perceived interests of White Americans.

Literary Responses to the Civil Rights Movement: A Comparative Study

This research paper explores the literary responses to the Civil Rights Movement, focusing on both African American and white American literature. It begins by providing a historical context, highlighting key events and figures, and the socio-political climate of the era that influenced literary production. Prominent African American works, such as Richard Wright's "Native Son" and James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time," are analysed for their thematic focus on identity, racism, and empowerment. These works are contrasted with white American literature, including Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Alex Haley's "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," which often address themes of guilt, complicity, and allyship. A comparative analysis reveals distinct thematic and narrative approaches between the two literary traditions. African American literature tends to foreground direct experiences of racial oppression and the quest for justice, while white American literature frequently explores the moral responsibilities and roles of white individuals in combating racism. The paper also examines the enduring relevance of these literary works, their influence on subsequent generations of writers and activists, and their reflections on the progress and ongoing challenges in the fight for racial equality. It underscores the importance of literature as a tool for social change and a means of documenting and understanding the complexities of the Civil Rights Movement.

BLACK AMERICANS’ VIOLENT STRUGGLE AGAINST RACISM IN THE UNITED STATES: A SCRUTINY OF STEPHEN COONTS’S UNDER SIEGE

The examination of Stephen Coonts’s Under Siege has enabled us to discover that Aldana and his black fellows are the first characters who organize a violent struggle against racism in the United States in order to achieve their civil rights denied to them for years by their white counterparts because of their black skin color. They, for example, start bombing on Whites’ stores and killing even white American authorities who refuse to see them as full American citizens. Unfortunately, this violence which gives to the author’s text the form of a historical book does not provide them with their needs. For, many of them are caught, punished, and killed under the white American authorities’ order. Such is the case of Aldana who is persecuted several times and tortured mercilessly by Whites for his committed crimes as a way for the latter to give a lesson to all Blacks in case of disobedience. This black character’s violence which also results in the spread of drug in all the spheres of the United States urges white American authorities to fight against drug business in this powerful nation.

Unequal Effect of Educational Attainment on Reducing Poverty and Welfare; Diminished Returns of American Indian/Alaska Native Populations.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities face pronounced economic and health disparities compared to White Americans, a situation rooted in long-standing historical injustices and segregation. The theory of Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDR) provides insight beyond the traditional focus on socioeconomic status (SES) disparities, such as educational attainment. It suggests that the beneficial outcomes of educational achievements on health and economic status are less substantial for marginalized and racially non-White groups compared to White Americans. This study investigates the applicability of the MDR theory to AIAN populations by examining whether the positive effects of education on poverty reduction and the decreased risk of disability benefit dependency are weaker for AIAN adults relative to their White counterparts. Utilizing data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), this cross-sectional study analyzed a cohort of 20,743 adults, comprising 20,474 White and 269 AIAN individuals. We assessed the relationships between educational attainment, poverty level, and the likelihood of receiving disability benefits. A structural equation model was employed, with receipt of disability benefits as a latent factor influenced by racial background (AIAN) as a potential moderator, education as the main predictor, and poverty level and self-rated health as mediators. Gender, age, employment status, marital status, and Hispanic ethnicity served as additional covariates. Findings indicate that higher educational levels are generally associated with a lower likelihood of receiving disability benefits, mediated by improved health and economic status. Nonetheless, the interaction between race (AIAN) and education significantly influenced economic outcomes, subsequently affecting the risk of receiving disability benefits. This suggests that Whites benefit more economically from education than AIAN individuals do. The study underscores the MDR theory's relevance to the disparities in educational outcomes related to poverty risk and receiving disability benefits among AIAN populations. The challenges AIAN individuals face in leveraging their educational achievements for economic gain relative to Whites may be attributed to pervasive racism and discrimination within various sectors, including employment and education. Addressing these disparities necessitates policy interventions that ensure educational returns are equitable across racial groups, with a focus on equal access to resources and opportunities.

A case for the inclusion of oculocutaneous albinism as a skin-related Neglected Tropical Disease

Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is genetically transmitted. In this paper we advocate for this disease to be included in the NTD list of the WHO. OCA type 2 is the most common form of albinism in sub-Saharan Africa, with a prevalence of 1 in 7900 among the Bamileke of Cameroon, 1 in 3900 in South Africa and 1 in 1100 among the Ibos of Nigeria, as compared to a prevalence of 1 in 10,000 among African Americans and 1 in 36,000 among White Americans and Europeans. The medical problems related to ophthalmological aspects (poor visual acuity, ametropia, nystagmus, photophobia) and dermatological aspects of albinism (sensitivity to UV rays from the sun and development of skin cancers) are well known. However, their management is often challenging for persons with albinism in sub-Saharan Africa because of their financial burden and the difficulty of accessing medical specialists. In many African countries, persons with albinism are also very often the subject of social, cultural, medical, moral and economic discrimination, which can limit their access to education, employment and community life. They are considered 'white Africans', intermediary and incomplete, with innate powers for good and evil. This particularity has made persons with albinism the targets of mutilations and/or ritual attacks for the purposes of using their body parts in the preparation of charms to bring good luck, health or prosperity. On 13 June 2013, as a result of lobbying by the Canadian NGO Under the Same Sun and African albinism associations, United Nations bodies including UNESCO and the WHO (World Health Organization) responded and a Resolution addressing the discrimination and attacks was voted in. The date has since become International Albinism Awareness Day and is celebrated on a different theme each year with great energy and impact, especially by French, English and Portuguese speaking albinism associations across sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015 the Human Rights Council created the position of Independent Expert on Albinism to better collect and analyse data on the rights of persons with albinism around the world, and especially in countries where ritual attacks occur. The data collected by albinism associations and the authorities thus go directly to the UN Human Rights Directorate. Despite this international attention to the attacks on persons with albinism, one of the biggest threats is skin cancer, which very often leads to early death. In 2022, the WHO launched a strategic framework for the control and management of neglected skin-related neglected tropical diseases - an additional reason to include oculocutaneous albinism as an NTD. Although the focus is currently limited to dermatoses of an infectious nature, we argue here for the integration of oculocutaneous albinism among NTDs because the deadliness of these carcinomas in sub-Saharan Africa is well-known and has been examined in a number of medical publications. Here, we propose that oculocutaneous albinism in sub-Saharan Africa be classified as an NTD to help people with albinism have access to health, economic, social and cultural rights.

Ethnicity and Response to Internal Environmental Migrants in the United States

We examine how responses to individuals displaced by environmental shocks vary based on the ethnicity of the migrants, the locals, and their ethnic groups’ political status. We embed an experiment into a stratified sample of 2,188 white, Black, and Latinx Americans surveyed through Qualtrics Panels. The experiment shows respondents a photo of a flooded road, randomly assigning whether there are white, Black, Latinx, or no persons wading through the water. Results show no outward change in approval for migrants settling in respondents’ neighborhoods based on their ethnicity. However, emotional responses to migrants, perceptions of migrants’ economic backgrounds, and levels of tolerance and ethnocentrism among locals vary based on migrants’ ethnicity. While there may not be outward xenophobia and conflict in the face of internal climate-related migration, the underlying attitudes of members of receiving communities suggest internal migrants from politically excluded groups lack local acceptance and may face more subtle prejudice.