In the United States, a Black infant is twice as likely to die before her first birthday as a White infant born on the same day.

Disparities in health and life expectancy are the cumulative effects of centuries of racism. Poorer health status among Black Americans is not new, and it is not a problem that arrived with the COVID virus. Just as it exposed other inequities, the pandemic highlighted the many ways in which illness, disability and death fall with a heavier impact on Black communities.

social determinants of health

the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains how A growing body of research shows centuries of racism in this country has had a profound and negative impact on communities of color. The impact is pervasive and deeply embedded in our society—affecting where one lives, learns, works, worships and plays and creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits—such as housing, education, wealth, and employment. These conditions—often referred to as social determinants of health—are key drivers of health inequities within communities of color, placing those within these populations at greater risk for poor health outcomes.

weathering

Although poverty and adverse social determinants of health such as unsafe housing and poor nutrition, account for some of the health disparities affecting Black communities, racism itself is now thought to be a factor. For thirty years, research has documented the effects of what experts refer to as “weathering.” Just as constant exposure to a hostile climate “weathers” a house, “weathering” is used to describe the cumulative toll that constant exposure to racism can have on the health of even Black people who enjoy financial security and social privilege. It is not surprising that the experience of racism is associated with higher incidence of chronic conditions, like hypertension, that are made worse by stress.

“WE’Re sick and tired of being sick and tired.”