Institutional Racism Research Articles

“The Nurse Told Her to Get Checked More Regularly Because She is Having Sex with Black Men”: An Exploration of the Sexual Health Experiences of Black Heterosexual Men in London

ABSTRACT Drivers of poor sexual health outcomes among Black heterosexual man are poorly understood. Previous research has identified a need to understand Black men’s behavioral experiences and motivators in the UK. This study aimed to address this gap through a phenomenological exploration of the sexual health experiences and motivators of Black heterosexual men with experience of higher-risk sexual behaviors living in London. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants (18–58 years) recruited through barbershops. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Five themes were generated. For relevance, three themes are discussed in this paper: 1) The Black Man’s Battle; 2) Sexual Socialization; and 3) Sexual Behaviors, Relationships, and Health. Race and gender combined to shape experience of sexual socialization. Exposure to explicit media content from a young age promoted multiple sexual partners. Racist sexual stereotypes exposed participants to fetishization and created pressure to meet sexual expectations. Condom use motivators were complex and multifaceted. Experience of institutional racism created a lack of trust in services. However, actual experiences with sexual health services were positive and counteracted the mistrust created by racism. Sexual health services should better tailor their work to Black heterosexual men and diversify their offer. Services should collaborate with Black community organizations to deliver services outside clinical settings.

Interrogating and Uprooting Systemic Racism in the Emergency Department

Interrogating and Uprooting Systemic Racism in the Emergency Department

A Multigenerational Model of Environmental Risk for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Children and Families.

In recent years, public discourse has increasingly brought institutional and structural racism to the foreground of discussion on the well-being of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. Environmental toxicity in combination with the social triggers of institutional and structural racism are among the factors that shape the short- and long-term health of BIPOC Americans across multiple lifespans. We outline a Generation Model for examining the mechanisms through which institutional and structural racism promotes the intergenerational transmission of environmental health risk and family and interpersonal relationships across the life course and across multiple generations. We present the model's theoretical underpinnings and rationale, discuss model limitations and needed sources of data, and implications for research, policy, and intervention. Parents and children are not only biologically linked in terms of transmission of environmental toxicities, but they are also linked socially and intergenerationally. The Generation Model foregrounds family and interpersonal relationships occurring within developmental contexts that are influenced by environmental toxicity as well as institutional and structural racism. In sum, the Generation Model highlights the need for an equity-first interdisciplinary approach to environmental health and redirects the burden of risk reduction away from the individual and onto the institutions and structures that perpetuate the racial disparities in exposure. Doing so requires institutional investment in expanded, multigenerational, and multimethod datasets. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13110.

The development and current directions of a diversity specialty clinic: Implications for multicultural training in psychology.

Addressing systemic injustices and racism in training and clinical service provision are key next steps in clinical science. While the APA Multicultural Guidelines and accreditation standards have long emphasized this need, most graduate programs offer a single course on diversity, equity, and inclusion topics, which is inadequate to train and sustain culturally humble providers and redress systemic injustices and racism within psychology. Few "real-world" examples exist to guide the development of training models. We provide background on the development and components of a specialty clinic, the University of New Mexico's Cultural Counseling Center, whose mission is providing culturally informed clinical services to diverse clientele, and to infuse multicultural training throughout the graduate program. Informed by the racial-spatial framework for psychology and critical race theory, we describe our approach intended to: 1) offer applications for the operationalization and delivery of multicultural and antiracist training; 2) enhance supervisory models; and 3) increase awareness of structural competence. Our clinic, developed collaboratively among students and faculty, serves as a safe forum for dialogue around structural injustices and seeks to improve treatment for diverse clients and those underserved in mental health care. We discuss issues of student and faculty engagement and offer the perspectives of faculty and students of color, case examples illustrating our services, and current efforts to expand and formalize community collaborations. We offer a model that integrates coursework, informal activities, and multicultural supervision for comprehensive student training and that promotes a departmental culture of dialogue and support around equity, diversity, and justice.

Belonging: A Phenomenological Study Exploring the Lived Experienced of Black Occupational Therapy Students and Practitioners

Abstract Date Presented 03/21/24 Black students and practitioners face systemic inequities that are insufficiently addressed. This session will explore their lived experiences with systemic racism and the impact of their occupational therapy education on their sense of belonging. Primary Author and Speaker: Nardia Aldridge Additional Authors and Speakers: Chloe Hill, Sierra Green, Lili Maglaris

Incorporating Anti-racist Principles Throughout the Research Lifecycle: A Position Statement from the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM).

Biomedical research has advanced medicine but also contributed to widening racial and ethnic health inequities. Despite a growing acknowledgment of the need to incorporate anti-racist objectives into research, there remains a need for practical guidance for recognizing and addressing the influence of ingrained practices perpetuating racial harms, particularly for general internists. Through a review of the literature, and informed by the Research Lifecycle Framework, this position statement from the Society of General Internal Medicine presents a conceptual framework suggesting multi-level systemic changes and strategies for researchers to incorporate an anti-racist perspective throughout the research lifecycle. It begins with a clear assertion that race and ethnicity are socio-political constructs that have important consequences on health and health disparities through various forms of racism. Recommendations include leveraging a comprehensive approach to integrate anti-racist principles and acknowledging that racism, not race, drives health inequities. Individual researchers must acknowledge systemic racism's impact on health, engage in self-education to mitigate biases, hire diverse teams, and include historically excluded communities in research. Institutions must provide clear guidelines on the use of race and ethnicity in research, reject stigmatizing language, and invest in systemic commitments to diversity, equity, and anti-racism. National organizations must call for race-conscious research standards and training, and create measures to ensure accountability, establishing standards for race-conscious research for research funding. This position statement emphasizes our collective responsibility to combat systemic racism in research, and urges a transformative shift toward anti-racist practices throughout the research cycle.

Sport pedagogy and feminism: what is known and what is missing? Findings from a scoping review

ABSTRACT Background Worldwide, to play sports is proclaimed a right. Yet its sexist practices insist on cultivating a hegemonic gender culture to keep ‘others’ away and deprive them from its potential educational benefits. Sport feminisms have been vocal on the gender oppressions operated in the field and have claimed pedagogy has a role to play in social transformation through a liberating education. Purpose We aimed at analyzing the academic production about sport pedagogy and feminism published in articles globally, to answer when, where how and by whom the studies were developed; what is known and what is missing. Method We conducted a scoping review searching for sport pedagogy and feminism and their related terms combined. Selection was delimited by studies informed by feminist approaches discussing sport pedagogy from recreational to elite level. Findings Our review covered 46 studies from the last three decades when Global North English-speaking countries have dominated the scene, both as investigation settings and authorship. Studies presented two main trends. The most substantial were investigations reporting gender inequalities, especially with women coaches; followed by others exploring pedagogical alternatives for more equitable sport experiences. Together, studies have demonstrated that the ‘patriarchal gender game’ is still on and the ‘deviants’ from the cis-hetero-white-able-bodied-male ideal continue to suffer systematic prejudice and discrimination in sport, inclusive through sexist coaching. But they also showed ‘the tactics of the equity gender game’ is counterattacking with pedagogical strategies to welcome girls, women and gender-diverse people in sport. Discussion Undoubtedly, the dialogues between sport pedagogy and feminisms have contributed greatly to challenge sexism through education, but the game is not over. The invisibility of black women, women with disabilities and queer people in studies evidenced the need for more intersectional approaches. Coach development initiatives should be critically examined and rethought. The predominance of studies and researchers from Global North English-speaking countries denoted that voices and knowledges from Global South are missing. More than empathizing with gender inequalities, we long to see feminist sport pedagogy engaging in the reinvention of the ways we learn, practice, teach and coach sport. More democratic, diverse and audacious research designs grounded in the commitment to guarantee sport as an educational experience for everyone seem promising ways to be explored.

The Politics of Menstruation

Menstrual blood is still regarded as embarrassing and taboo in many places all over the world. This article focuses on the study of the Red Tent as an example of feminist-spiritual menstrual activism established in 2007 in the US because it represents an important form of breaking the menstrual taboo. Although contemporary spiritualities present themselves as nonhierarchical and gender equal, spirituality and well-being in the women's circles is predominantly practiced by cisgender, heterosexual, and white middle-class women, excluding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and others (LGBTQ+). Constructs around the sacredness of female experiences (menstruation, menopause) are problematic for transgender women who do not share these experiences, and a lack of diversity may perpetuate systematic inequities and discrimination. This article discusses whether the Red Tent in Slovenia is open to include transgender and nonbinary people. By creating alternative domains of representation in which nonnormative bodies can exist, we disrupt the sex/gender system and dismantle normative femininity and masculinity. The article argues that in this way the Red Tent has the potential to subvert the dominant ideology of gender binary construction by providing alternative models for the embodiment of gender to challenge traditional conservative gender essentialisms in society. The methodology employed consists of ethnographic fieldwork, which was performed in the Red Tent gatherings and semistructured in-depth interviews with participants who host or participate in them. Because a part of the scope of the research “lives” in the cyber world, the ethnographic research methodology was integrated with the phenomena and data obtained from the internet in the form of netnography.

Resisting racial police warfare through radical history

This piece foregrounds the critical role of historical knowledge in animating and determining contemporary strategies to resist institutional racism and militarised policing. Modern (neo)liberal myths about the post-racial and non-martial character of policing in Britain rely heavily on historical erasure. This is evidenced by recent policy‐based drives to enforce ‘impartiality’ and ‘inclusion’ when teaching history in schools. A resulting politics of forgetting renders invisible the routinised and normalised status of racially determined forms of militarised policing, thus enabling contemporary expression of racial police warfare to be downplayed as exceptional, marginal and aberrational. Southall Resists 40 (SR40), a community-led project in Southall, West London, challenged such forgetting by publicly narrating Southall’s history of racism and resistance in a way that showed how it speaks to the now. The historical work of SR40 unsettles hegemonic myths about the police as an ‘impartial service’.

Precarious work on the rise

Precarious employment (PE) is non-standard employment with uncertain and unstable contract duration, low wages, and limited labour protections and rights. Research has associated PE with workers’ poor mental health and well-being; however, this association has been studied primarily using quantitative methods. This qualitative study seeks to examine the mechanisms between PE and mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it aims to address: (Benach J, Muntaner C. Precarious employment and health: developing a research agenda. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(4):276.) How do PE and working conditions impact the mental well-being of workers and members of their close families or households?; and (Kreshpaj B, Orellana C, Burström B, Davis L, Hemmingsson T, Johansson G, et al. What is precarious employment? A systematic review of definitions and operationalizations from quantitative and qualitative studies. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2020;46(3):235–47.) How has the COVID-19 pandemic shaped these relationships? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 40 individuals aged 25–55 engaged in PE during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic or whose employment was terminated due to the pandemic. Results showed that PE amplified mental health symptoms and illnesses for workers and their families. These experiences were described as chronic, where impacts were exerted on precariously employed workers through systemic discrimination and racism, colonialism, workplace hierarchies, and gendered ideologies. PE negatively impacted mental health through emotional stress about employment and income instability, insecurity, and loss; added pressure for households where both partners are engaged in PE; impacted ability to maintain or improve overall health and well-being; and barriers to social connectedness. Overall, this study characterizes multiple dimensions of PE and the consequences they have on the mental health of workers and their families.

Black-White Differences in The Effects of Parental Education on College Students' Beliefs about Racial Discrimination.

Racial discrimination remains a significant issue in the United States, particularly affecting Black individuals. Understanding how beliefs about the persistence of racial discrimination are shaped by race and parental education among college students is crucial for developing strategies to address these inequities. This study aims to examine the multiplicative effects of race and parental education on beliefs about the persistence of racial discrimination among Black and White college students. We hypothesize that Black students, particularly those with highly educated parents, will exhibit stronger beliefs in the persistence of racial discrimination as a significant issue compared to their White peers. Data were drawn from the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) study, which includes a national sample of Black and White young adults on college campuses across the United States. We conducted statistical analyses to explore the influence of race and parental education on students' beliefs about racial discrimination. Black students demonstrated stronger beliefs in the persistence of racial discrimination compared to White students. Additionally, students with higher parental education levels were more likely to recognize racial discrimination as a significant issue than those with lower parental education. The impact of parental education on these beliefs was more pronounced for Black students compared to White students. Black college students, especially those from higher SES backgrounds, exhibit a heightened awareness of racial discrimination due to their lived experiences and educational exposure. High SES Black individuals often face increased visibility and prejudice in predominantly White environments, further reinforcing their beliefs about the persistence of discrimination. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to support Black students in higher education and promote awareness of racial discrimination. Policy solutions should include comprehensive anti-discrimination policies, increased diversity and inclusion efforts, and educational curricula that address systemic racism and social justice. The cross-sectional nature of the data limits causality inference, and self-reported measures may be subject to bias. Despite these limitations, the study's large and diverse sample enhances the generalizability of the findings. Race and parental education have multiplicative effects on college students' beliefs about the persistence of racial discrimination. Black students, particularly those from high SES backgrounds, are more likely to perceive racial discrimination as a continuing problem. Addressing these disparities through targeted policies and interventions is essential for creating equitable and inclusive educational environments.

Antisemitism as Anti-Jewish Racism: Reflections on an Anti-Racist Analytic

Abstract Advancing a consistent anti-racist analytic to challenge antisemitism demands standing with all those who suffer from systemic racism, and specifically with Palestinians. However, antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism are rarely understood and opposed in a unified movement of solidarity. Here, we address what antisemitism is not, especially the false claim that equates antisemitism with criticism of the state of Israel – a claim that is reaching fever pitch at the current moment. Turning to context, we consider periodisations about how antisemitism has changed over time and place, suggesting we are in a new period of increasing supposed legitimacy for antisemitism in Western liberal-democratic capitalist states, associated with the rising influence of white nationalism. We then consider what antisemitism as anti-Jewish racism is, and how it is coded in certain ways, including: elite privilege; conspiracy claims; and symbolic marking for threats and violence. We conclude with notes on the potential for solidarity.

“If you do not have Black futures in mind…then what’s guiding the steps”: anti-racist recommendations for traumatic brain injury rehabilitations’ investments in hopeful Black futures

Purpose The need for specialized rehabilitation considerations to address racial health disparities and optimize functional outcomes such as participation in daily life for Black people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been acknowledged. This study uses anti-racism as an entry point for addressing institutional racism by examining what the experiences of Black survivors of TBI, rehabilitation providers, and family caregivers tell us about imagined possibilities for rehabilitation to promote Black futures. Material and methods A constructivist-informed narrative inquiry using critical race theory and in-depth narrative interviewing was applied across ten women and four men. Reflexive thematic analysis within and across groups of participants led to conceptualizing two main themes and five sub-themes. Results Conceptualized themes captured requirements for TBI rehabilitations’ investments in Black futures: (1) the need for critical information and specialized educational supports and particular requirements for supporting participation in meaningful life situations, and (2) responsibilities of delivering rehabilitation care for Black service users. Conclusion TBI rehabilitation must be tailored to the realities of living while being Black, integrate personal values, beliefs, interests, and equitable supports to maximize optimal functioning and participation if the goal of rehabilitation is community integration for all persons living with the impacts of TBI.

The determined indeterminacy of white supremacy

AbstractContemporary white supremacy often takes hold through strategies of racial disavowal. One strategy that political parties and regular citizens in Bulgaria use is what I call determined indeterminacy. Determined indeterminacy is a collective, institutionalized method of denying the ubiquitous systemic racism that undergirds social life. It allows people to naturalize white supremacy and render it adaptably persistent. This is the case especially in contexts of aspirational whiteness, such as Bulgaria, where whiteness is fraught and many people claim that their country has never been racial. Tracing Bulgaria's history of racial disavowal helps us understand how the local particularities of white supremacy naturalize, transform, and set in place long‐standing racial hierarchies.

Operationalizing Racism as a Public Health Crisis: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric!

It is well documented that systemic racism and social injustice result in health inequities for communities of color, including premature death. To date, more than 260 municipalities across the United States have declared racism as a public health crisis. In January 2021, the Nation’s Health, a monthly American Public Health Association newsletter, acknowledged Genesee County, Michigan, as one of the communities leading the work in operationalizing these declarations. This research highlights community engagement and participatory processes, models, and tools used to operationalize racism as a public health crisis in Genesee County. A participatory approach grounded in community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods was used to operationalize Genesee County’s resolution declaring racism a public health crisis. To ensure our efforts centered community voices, experiences, and priorities, our methodology consisted of: 1) hosting community dialogues focused on systemic racism; 2) the novel application of a committee composition matrix to develop a geographically and socially diverse Community Action Council to serve as the decision-making body for our strategic plan to identify and address systemic racism within Genesee County; 3) the development of a draft county-wide strategic plan; and 4) focus groups to review and provide feedback on the drafted strategic plan. CBPR provides guidance for effective community engagement and ensures that community voices are centered when identifying effective responses to systemic racism. CBPR principles also foster co-ownership of solutions, increasing trust, transparency, and accountability between researchers, community members, and other stakeholders.

The Deferred African American Dream Depicted in Harlem by Langston Hughes and Lorraine Hansberry's a Raisin in the Sun

This research analyzes how the American Dream is represented and why the depiction of the dream is written as a dream "deferred" in Langston Hughes's poem Harlem and Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun. Systemic racism and economic limitations have historically prevented many African Americans from achieving the American Dream, their dream in this case being equal opportunity and financial stability. This research uses qualitative methods, based on the Sociology of Literature theory of Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, to analyze how Hughes and Hansberry depict the American dream and the effects of African Americans' challenges in pursuing their aspirations in the 1950s. The result of this study shows that The American Dream for the Younger family includes a decent home, a fulfilling job, and educational opportunities. Mama's desire for a better home reflects the aspirations of African Americans. Despite obstacles, Mama remains resilient, supporting Walter's business ambitions and Beneatha's dream of becoming a doctor. Economic limitations and racial discrimination pose challenges, impacting the family's well-being. Yet, their unity and determination symbolize resilience. Hughes' "Harlem" highlights the consequences of deferred dreams, mirroring the family's struggles. These narratives underscore the importance of perseverance and unity in pursuing the American Dream amidst adversity.

Towards the Politics of Difference: Mobility and Ethnic Identity in Richard Ford’s Bascombe Novels

Mobility holds profound ethnic, class, and cultural significance in the fiction of the contemporary American writer Richard Ford. Through an analysis of his representative works, including Independence Day, The Lay of the Land and Let Me Be Frank with You, it becomes evident that Ford portrays the “negative mobility” of African Americans under spatial isolation, the transnational mobility of a Chinese immigrant, and the upward social mobility of both groups. In doing so, Ford illuminates disparities in mobility rights, routes, and friction among different ethnic groups, while also revealing shifts in their social status, values, and sense of identity. Furthermore, Ford reflects upon the social reality wherein ethnic minority groups encounter othering and marginalization upon integration into mainstream American society. This exposure lays bare the widespread systemic racial discrimination and deficiencies within the American political and economic system. Additionally, Ford’s depiction of upward social mobility among ethnic minorities underscores the effectiveness of the politics of difference as a means to resist authority and construct ethnic identity. Focusing on the mobility of ethnic minorities deepens our understanding of the survival dilemma and identity crisis faced by them.

Untangling the Web: A Phenomenological Analysis of Social Workers’ Critical Reflections on Racism in Social Work and Antiracism Efforts in Contemporary Practice

Racism has been deemed a public health crisis in the United States, which has often led to racial trauma, warranting a need for adequate support within social work settings. Using critical reflection and a phenomenological approach, seven frontline social workers shared their lived experiences with antiracism in their practice and how racism impacts social work. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate the ways institutional and systemic racism continue to operate in social work organizations and identify barriers in social work organizations that impede antiracism efforts. The participants’ introspective reflections explore their coming into the awareness stage in their antiracism journey. Social workers expose the discriminatory behaviors toward Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) service users in their organizations. Social workers expressed that racism impedes BIPOC from getting equitable mental health care.

Advancing Racial Equity with the Aquarium Conservation Partnership

ABSTRACT Historic and present-day systemic racism frequently excludes Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) from engaging in aquarium efforts toward conservation, research, advocacy, and education. But to realize the conservation missions of aquariums—creating a more equitable and sustainable world in which people and nature thrive—we need a diversity of perspectives and voices driving adaptive, lasting solutions. In this article, the co-authors describe how a diverse coalition of U.S. aquariums is working to integrate racial justice with their conservation initiatives and to transform their sector. They outline the formation of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP) Equity Work Group, progress toward an ACP Equity Commitment, and the restructuring of ACP governance. They describe how these efforts, like equity work across the broader cultural attractions sector, have been imperfect and uncertain; but they yield lessons that may provide reassurance, encouragement, and guidance to similar coalitions committed to racial equity.

“In the end, we had to leave”: Truth-telling to unsettle whiteness in nursing academia

Nursing is renowned for its high ethical standards and is considered one of the most trusted professions globally, yet it has deep historical ties to Eurocentric and white supremacist ideologies. These entrenched ideologies in nursing raise significant concerns regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion within the profession as they shape nursing education, research, and practice. Western nursing institutions are deeply engrained in a system designed to center and uphold whiteness, which frequently serves to safeguard dominant groups in power while detrimentally affecting faculty from underrepresented backgrounds. Consequently, faculty members from underrepresented groups depart academia due to systemic racism and inadequate institutional accountability and support. To decenter whiteness in nursing, we have shared our experiences to underscore how systems of oppression marginalize underrepresented faculty in nursing academia.