Kwate’s study aims to address two unanswered questions confronting biomedical and behavioral researchers: What effect does racism have on the body, and what can society do about it?
“Most people don’t think of racism as a social construct that affects health,” says the trained clinical psychologist, who came to Rutgers last year from Columbia University. “They think of behaviors like diet, doctor visits, and the like, not so much about how the broader processes of inequality affect a person’s ability to engage in healthy behaviors.”
Health News – Rutgers Researcher Exploring Effects of Racism on Immune System
I don’t want to quote the entire article but it is well worth the read. An excerpt:
The summer of 2010 found Kwate and her team biking through central Harlem in Manhattan and Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, shooting videos with cameras mounted on the handlebars to document signs of institutional racism. They are now coding the videos to identify such features as the retail environment and the proliferation of vacant lots.
The two predominantly African-American neighborhoods were chosen because they are similar in demographics and land-use characteristics. The researchers are interviewing a random sampling of 450 residents about their experiences with racism.
The study will measure the respondants’ immune system and metabolic function over two time points through physical tests.
For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.