White Rural Communities Research Articles

Rising Racial Disparities in Opioid Mortality and Undertreatment of Opioid Use Disorder and Mental Health Comorbidities in Virginia

There were more than 100,000 fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2021 alone. In recent years, there has been a shift in opioid mortality from predominantly White rural communities to Black urban communities. This study aimed to identify the Virginia communities disproportionately affected by the overdose crisis and to better understand the systemic factors contributing to disparities in opioid mortality. Using the state all-payer claims database, state mortality records, and census data, we created a multivariate model to examine the community-level factors contributing to racial disparities in opioid mortality. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the associations between socioecologic factors and fatal opioid overdoses, opioid use disorder diagnoses, opioid-related emergency department visits, and mental health diagnoses. Between 2015 and 2020, racial disparities in mortality widened. In 2020, Black males were 1.5 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than White males (47.3 vs 31.6 per 100,000; p<0.001). The rate of mental health disorders strongly correlated with mortality (β=0.53, p<0.001). Black individuals are not more likely to be diagnosed with opioid use disorder (β=0.01, p=0.002) or with mental health disorders (β= -0.12, p<0.001), despite higher fatal opioid overdoses. There are widening racial disparities in opioid mortality. Untreated mental health disorders are a major risk factor for opioid mortality. Findings show pathways to address inequities, including early linkage to care for mental health and opioid use disorders. This analysis shows the use of comprehensive socioecologic data to identify the precursors to fatal overdoses, which could allow earlier intervention and reallocation of resources in high-risk communities.

8 Hidden In(site): Meritocratic Stewardship and the Materiality of Volunteering

ABSTRACTThe Dr. James Still Historic Office and Homestead—home to a nineteenth century, self‐educated, African American doctor, born to formerly captive parents, who would go on to become the third largest landowner in a predominantly White rural community in Southern New Jersey—has been the focus of the Dr. James Still Community Archaeology Project (DJSCAP) since 2013. This paper, however, shifts the target of archaeological exploration and asks what we can glean from the actors in and around the site. Using data collected by DJSCAP, this chapter critically examines how a community comes to understand and commemorate their efforts to protect and preserve Dr. Still's meritocratic narrative via a material engagement with the site. Reflecting on the simultaneous navigation of the past, present, and future via objects, the chapter explores how “things” such as donations and donor plaques do the social work of volunteering, informing perceptions of effort, talent, memory, and entitlement around the site. Using materiality theory and an archaeological lens attuned to nowness, this chapter identifies key instances in which the articulation of bodies, ideas, objects, and labor generate fascinating insights into the theorization of meritocracy as a moral economy that underpins volunteering. This contemporary archaeological approach uncovers the materiality of austerity, informing how communities navigate systemic failures in heritage site management through individual and collective efforts that I call meritocratic stewardship.

Inhospitable landscapes: contemporary French horror cinema, immigration and identity

ABSTRACT The rebirth of French horror cinema at the start of the twenty-first century coincided with a critical moment in the country’s debates on immigration. The Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) called for cultural assimilation and integration from its immigrant population, but there was also a growing trend in the party towards a more hard-line approach. This article uses Jacques Derrida’s writing on hospitality to propose that the politics of the UMP and questions of identity, immigration and assimilation are key to the renewal of French horror cinema in the first decade of the twenty-first century. It argues that the films Sheitan (Kim Chapiron, 2006), Frontière(s) (Xavier Gens, 2007) and La Meute (Franck Richard, 2010) represent the white French anxiety over the nation’s political move towards the right (as opposed to a fear of the immigrant Other directly), reading these horror films as exhibiting the tension between tolerance and hospitality key to Derrida’s writing. Therefore, this article proposes that the negative depiction of white rural communities, the inclusion of characters of immigrant descent and the emphasis on ‘hosting’ locations such as the hotel and the roadside café reveal a country working through its position as a host nation within Fortress Europe.

Parental Cultural Socialization Practices among Underrepresented Ethnoracial Groups in a Predominantly White Rural College Community

Prior research indicates that parents adapt their cultural socialization approaches to their community contexts, however few studies have directly examined the influence of the community context in increasingly diverse rural communities in the United States. This study examined parental cultural socialization practices among individuals from underrepresented ethnoracial groups and the perceived influence of their predominantly White rural community. Parents employed at a university in the Northeast of the U.S. participated in this study which involved in-depth semi-structured interviews and used Grounded Theory as the analytic approach. Findings include three interrelated themes: (1) the community context increased ethnic and racial identity salience, (2) parents exerted deliberate efforts to culturally socialize their children and to teach their children to develop an appreciation for diversity, multiculturalism and inclusivity, and (3) parental cultural socialization behaviors were influenced by the 2016 presidential campaign and election. The findings show that the hegemonic, White-normative and exclusionary environment created in part by the demographics of this community influenced how they socialized their children about their cultural group memberships. The findings also suggest that community-university partnerships, support to families from underrepresented ethnoracial groups and community diversity education are promising strategies to strengthen community relations.

Interlude: Little brother

In "interlude: little brother," a work of autobiographical criticism, Yurok-Diné scholar Natalie Knight recalls her experiences growing up in a white rural community in western Washington state with her two black siblings, all three children adopted by white parents. Knight felt an obligation to protect her little brother from the anti-Black racism he encountered on a daily basis at his school and in their town by exposing him to books, films, and music by Black creators whose perspectives reflected his experiences. Yet Knight, a young Indigenous woman, did not receive the same kind of guidance or protection. Through reading works by Black and Red Power Indigenous authors Knight found a way to put into words and contextualize her experiences. At the same time, the antagonisms between activist works and European traditions of philosophy, political science, and history, combined with the invisibility of Indigenous intellectual traditions in these discourses, created a profound sense of dissonance in Knight. Finding ways to navigate these traditions of thought within a framework of social justice energizes Knight's search for a language and critical framework that addresses her experiences and provides context for the histories she carries.

Written Out of History: Black Square Dance Traditions

Old time square dancing (in a big circle) was an early-twentieth-century home- and community-based recreation among all ethnicities in the Central Appalachian region. It disappeared in most places by the 1940s, re-emerging in white rural communities in the 1960s. By contrast, one Virginia African American community continued square dancing until the early 1970s, much longer than others. Their last dances were held just as square dancing again became popular in white communities. The movement of the dance itself, its context and meaning to the dancers, and elements of regional and national society and culture may have contributed both to its longevity and to its demise. The presentation is based on interviews and movement analysis as well as on bibliographic research. It is based upon research for the author's book Appalachian Dance: Creativity and Continuity in Six Communities (University of Illinois Press, 2014).

The Ransom and Sarah Williams Farmstead: Post-Emancipation Transitions of an African American Family in Central Texas Vol. 2

In conjunction with the proposed construction of the southwest segment of State Highway 45 in southern Travis County, the Texas Department of Transportation sponsored archeological testing and data recovery efforts at the Ransom Williams farmstead. Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted an interdisciplinary community-based historic archeological study of the farmstead from 2005 through 2011. Extensive archival research reveals that the 45-acre farm was owned and occupied by Ransom Williams and his wife Sarah, both former slaves, from about 1871 to ca. 1905. The Williams family lived in the predominantly white rural community of Bear Creek, but they had connections to the nearby freedmen communities of Antioch Colony in northern Hays County and Manchaca in southern Travis County. The stories of the Ransom Williams family and their connections to these communities are enhanced by extensive oral history research, with over 46 hours of taped and transcribed interviews with 27 descendant community members. Data recovery investigations focused on a landscape archeological study to define the layout and design of the entire farmstead, including a stock pond and a network of dry-laid rock walls that facilitated water drainage, demarcated property boundaries, and formed livestock pens. Intensive hand excavations were used to examine features associated with the Williams house, outbuildings and activity areas, and a large trash midden. This work recovered more than 26,000 artifacts. They constitute an impressive material culture assemblage that is associated, with few exceptions, with the Williams family tenure on the land. The combined archival data, oral history interviews, and archeological evidence tell the fascinating story of how one African American farm family lived and thrived in central Texas during Reconstruction and into the Jim Crow era.

Beyond Mass Incarceration?

Beyond Mass Incarceration?

Informed consent for biobanking research: cancer patient recruitment from rural communities in Maine.

Biobanking research seeks to improve the diversity, availability, and quality of human specimens critical for translational research, including biospecimen collections from disadvantaged minorities. American rural whites are seldom represented in such initiatives as geographic isolation makes obtaining informed consent challenging. We report a case series of 83 newly diagnosed cancer patients, attending a rural community medical center, who consented to participate in cancer research. To enable pooling with population studies, we created a BioGeoBank using 2007 NCI and ISBER Best Practices, after a protocol approval by Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) IRB and OHP HRPO. Informed consent forms were at Flesch-Kincaid 8th Grade reading level, supplemented by NCI educational brochures. Of 108 patients identified, 85 were eligible. Of these, 83 patients (49 lung cancer, 21 breast cancer, and 13 other cancers) consented to donate data, blood, and tissue specimens for future research, and maintained eligibility. Two years later, we executed a legacy protocol to transfer specimens to NCI's biorepository. Of the 69 surviving patients, 9 patients could not be contacted. All those contacted (60) agreed to provide additional data on environmental risks, and consented to specimen transfer. Self-organizing map analyses showed no evidence that age, education, income, familial susceptibility, or lifestyle factors were associated with consent to donate data or biospecimens. Cancer cases reported 1-3 co-morbid chronic diseases (mostly cardiovascular), near lifetime smoking and/or alcohol consumption; familial cancer risks, and many had a prior cancer history. Anecdotally, willingness to consent was based on altruistic hopes that research would generate knowledge to reduce cancer incidence. Our study shows that cancer patients from disadvantaged white rural communities with health disparities associated with geographic isolation are motivated to consent to participate and support biobank research.

Identity Development for Black Adolescents in Predominately White Rural Communities

Research on identity development of African American adolescents in predominantly White rural settings is virtually nonexistent. This article examines current literature on the developmental tasks of adolescents and issues of ethnic congruence for African American students in predominately White rural communities. In addition, it calls for critical conversations on this overlooked population. Recommendations for future research using Critical Race Theory is presented.

More Than Tea and Scones?

From 1956 to 1962 the Country Women’s Association (CWA) in New South Wales attempted to assist the assimilation of Aboriginal women into white rural communities by establishing Aboriginal CWA branches on mission stations and reserves. White CWA members were encouraged to ‘mix’ with their Aboriginal counterparts at joint meetings, sharing their skills in cookery, craft and domestic management. This article examines the experiences of CWA women at Griffith in South Western New South Wales. Given the conservative world view of CWA members and the firmly entrenched colour-bar in rural communities, the paper questions how and why such an initiative succeeded. This article has been peer-reviewed.

England's green and pleasant land? examining racist prejudice in a rural context

Popular constructions of rural England have perpetuated images of idyllic, problem-free environments that have largely masked the process of ‘othering’ that works to marginalize particular groups within rural society. Drawing on the findings of studies conducted in two rural English counties, Chakraborti and Garland assert that racist prejudice is very much part of the reality of rural living for minority ethnic groups whose presence in the countryside tends to be overlooked. They discuss the perceptions of established white rural communities and those of the victims of racial harassment to illustrate the disturbing nature, extent and impact of racism in rural areas, and suggest that the enduring ‘invisibility’ of the problem is compounded both by the under-reporting of such racist incidents and the reluctance of agencies to acknowledge the needs of minority ethnic groups in the countryside. Consequently, racist prejudice in the rural context will only be recognized as a significant issue through a greater appreciation of the diverse complexity of rural space, and the abandonment of singular, outdated notions of rurality.

Are our Norms “Normal”? A 4-Year Follow-Up Study of a Biracial Sample of Rural Elders With Low Education

Conventional norms that test presumably normal elderly individuals at one point in time may include preclinical cases of dementia and therefore may be less sensitive to the presence of dementia (Sliwinski, Lipton, Buschke, & Stewart, 1996). A sample of presumably normal African American and White rural community older adults (first reported in Marcopulos, McLain, & Giuliano, 1997) were retested after approximately 4 years to develop “robust” norms for the Mini Mental State Examination, Mattis Dementia Rating Scale Fuld Object Memory Evaluation, WAIS-R Vocabulary and Block Design, Wechsler Memory Scale – Revised Logical Memory and Visual Reproduction, Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices, and Clock Drawing Test. Ninety-four out of the original 133 participants were located and agreed to be retested. Twelve of the participants retested at Time 2 showed significant decline on testing relative to their own baseline and were dropped from the recalculated norms. Participants who declined on testing tended to be older, less educated, had lower WAIS-R scores on Vocabulary and Block Design combined, had poorer IADLs and were less socially active. There was no difference in physical health status or level of depression. Recalculated group means showed little change when the participants who declined had been removed, but this left very few participants at the extremes of age (>85 years) and education (<4 years). It appears that the incidence of cognitive decline in this sample is comparable to other community samples of cognitive decline and dementia. Results are discussed in light of the practical difficulties of identifying preclinical dementia for deriving robust norms, implications for the theory of cognitive reserve, risk of cognitive decline in persons with low education and/or low premorbid mental ability and the clinical utility of utilizing education-corrected norms.

An ‘Invisible’ Problem? Uncovering the Nature of Racist Victimisation in Rural Suffolk

The issue of racist victimisation in rural areas has been largely overlooked in academic and political circles, although there is growing evidence to suggest that the prevalence and impact of racism are significant problems for minority ethnic groups living in rural parts of England. This article aims to address the paucity of research conducted in the area by outlining the findings of a study conducted in rural parts of Suffolk (a county in the east of England), which was based upon a series of interviews with victims of racial harassment and local agency workers, a questionnaire survey of minority ethnic groups and focus groups with members of the county's established white rural communities. In highlighting the prejudiced attitudes and stereotypes that affect the day-to-day existence of rural Suffolk's minority ethnic population, the article draws attention to the alarming nature and extent of racial harassment in typically intransient communities, together with the perceived sense of isolation suffered by victims of such harassment. The article also discusses the reasons behind victims' reluctance to report racist incidents, and offers suggestions as to how local agencies can make much-needed improvements to their response to victims in rural areas.

Already Reading Texts and Contexts: Multicultural Literature in a Predominantly White Rural Community

(2001). Already Reading Texts and Contexts: Multicultural Literature in a Predominantly White Rural Community. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 40, Already Reading: Children, Texts, Contexts, pp. 175-183.