Racial Group Identity, Psychosocial Resources, and Depressive Symptoms: Exploring Ethnic Heterogeneity among Black Americans

This article revisits one of John Rawls's rare forays into activist politics, his proposal presented to the Harvard faculty, calling for a denunciation of the “2-S” system of student deferments from conscription. In little-studied archival papers, Rawls argued that the draft both exposed “background” structural racial injustice and constituted a burdening of black Americans that violated the norms of fair cooperation. Rather than obscuring racial injustice and focusing exclusively on economic inequality, as Charles Mills has claimed, Rawls rejected the ascendant conservative views that naturalized black poverty or else attributed it to cultural pathologies in black families. Thus Rawls found nothing illicit in taking the position of a disadvantaged racial group as a relevant comparison when applying his ideal theory to nonideal circumstances. However, I contend in this article that Rawls's account of political philosophy as an attempt to find a consensus may be similarly ideological, leading him to displace the reality of conflict through begging descriptions, expressivist formulations, and historical romanticism.

Download Full-text

Do Racial Differences in Coping Resources Explain the Black–White Paradox in Mental Health? A Test of Multiple Mechanisms

Journal of Health and Social Behavior ◽

10.1177/00221465211041031 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002214652110410

Author(s):

Patricia Louie ◽

Laura Upenieks ◽

Christy L. Erving ◽

Courtney S. Thomas Tobin

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Black Americans ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Coping Resources ◽

Religious Attendance ◽

Health Study ◽

White Americans

A central paradox in the mental health literature is the tendency for black Americans to report similar or better mental health than white Americans despite experiencing greater stress exposure. However, black Americans’ higher levels of certain coping resources may explain this finding. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (n = 1,186), we examine whether black Americans have higher levels of self-esteem, social support, religious attendance, and divine control than white Americans and whether these resources, in turn, explain the black–white paradox in mental health. In adjusted models, the black–white paradox holds for depressive symptoms and any DSM-IV disorder. Findings indicate that black Americans have higher levels of self-esteem, family social support, and religiosity than white Americans. Causal mediation techniques reveal that self-esteem has the largest effect in explaining black–white differences in depressive symptoms, whereas divine control has the largest effect in explaining differences in disorder.

Download Full-text

BIDIL: A RACE-TARGETED DRUG FOR BLACK AMERICAN’S ONLY

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research ◽

10.22159/ajpcr.2017.v10i11.20022 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 11

Author(s):

Naveen Chandra Talniya

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

Black Americans ◽

Vital Role ◽

Racial Group ◽

Racial Groups ◽

The Past ◽

Targeted Drug ◽

Racial Disparities In Health ◽

Targeted Medicine

It has been noted that pharma research toward race-targeted medicine and it criticism is going on simultaneously over the past few years. Some argued that drugs specifically target to cure particular racial groups could play a vital role against racial disparities in health. While others claimed that race-targeted medicine inappropriately treats race as a biological reason for racial disparities when broader social and environmental factors may offer better descriptions. Much of this debate includes the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of drug BiDil in 2005, which became the first drug to be marked for a specific racial group black Americans who suffers from heart failure (HF). This controversial drug was declared failed due to less attention of physician’s as well as its high cost in market. The highlighted part of this review is that besides much criticism still this drug prescribed by majority of physicians. Moreover, BiDil is not only one which is race specific but also there are more drugs which have been claimed to have different effects in different racial or ethnic groups.

Download Full-text

Social Media Posts About Racism Leads to Evaluative Backlash for Black Job Applicants

Social Media + Society ◽

10.1177/2056305120978369 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 205630512097836

Author(s):

Simon Howard ◽

Kalen Kennedy ◽

Francisco Tejeda

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Social Networking ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Selection Process ◽

Black Americans ◽

Employee Selection ◽

Racial Group ◽

Job Applicants ◽

Cover Letter ◽

Future Directions

Black Americans post about race and race-related issues on social media more than any other racial group. In this study, we investigated whether Black Americans who post about racism on social networking sites (i.e., Facebook) experience evaluative backlash during the employee selection process. Participants ( N = 154) were given a Black job candidate’s cover letter, resume, and a scanned printout of their social media. Depending on what condition they were randomly assigned to, the applicant’s social media contained posts about racism or posts that were race neutral. Results indicated that Black individuals whose posts were about racism were evaluated less favorably than Black individuals whose posts were race neutral. Specifically, they were perceived as being less likable. In addition, Black individuals whose social media posts were related to racism were less likely to be offered an interview for a job. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Download Full-text