The Lived Experience of Race and Its Health Consequences

A growing body of research illuminates the mechanisms through which racism and discrimination influence the health status of people of color. Much of the focus of this research, however, has been on individually mediated racism (i.e., acts of discrimination and racial bias committed by White individuals against people of color). Yet research literature provides numerous examples of how racism operates not just at individual levels, but also at internalized, institutional, and structural levels. A more comprehensive model of the lived experience of race is needed that considers the cumulative, interactive effects of different forms of racism on health over the lifespan. Such a model must facilitate an intersectional analysis to better understand the interaction of race with gender, socioeconomic status, geography, and other factors, and should consider the negative consequences of racism for Whites.