A Critical Review on the Use of Race in Understanding Racial Disparities in Preeclampsia

Abstract Background Preeclampsia is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, affecting up to 8% of pregnancies globally. Although the precise etiology is still under study, the literature suggests that vascular changes reduce placental perfusion and affect the remodeling of spiral arteries to create the hallmark feature of preeclampsia: elevated blood pressure. Screening for preeclampsia is currently recommended for all pregnant women, particularly if risk factors exist. A noted risk factor codified in guidelines is “African-American race.” Content We summarize the racial disparities in preeclampsia incidence, morbidity, and mortality. We consider the limitations of using race to understand disparities by also examining multiethnic, immigration, and international studies. We then critically evaluate laboratory analytes associated with racial disparities of preeclampsia and explore other mechanisms of action, such as socioeconomic status, stress, and access to care. Summary Black and African-American women are consistently at higher risk of preeclampsia incidence, morbidity, and mortality than their white counterparts. Asian women are consistently at lower risk of preeclampsia, whereas the association for Hispanic women remains unclear. When these broad racial categories are subdivided by geographic or cultural origin, preeclampsia disparities within racial groups are identified. The limited literature suggests that sub-Saharan African immigrants tend to have a higher risk of preeclampsia than US-born white populations but a lower risk than US-born Black women. Existing studies seeking to identify racial differences in analytes have limited research designs and tend to operationalize race as a proxy for biologically inherent (i.e., genetic) differences between races despite a plethora of other possible explanatory mechanisms.

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Racial Disparities in Disability Among Older Adults

Journal of Aging and Health ◽

10.1177/0898264314534892 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (8) ◽

pp. 1261-1279 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Roland J. Thorpe ◽

Rachael McCleary ◽

Jenny R. Smolen ◽

Keith E. Whitfield ◽

Eleanor M. Simonsick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Health Disparities ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

African American Women ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Low Income ◽

White Women ◽

African American Men ◽

Urban Sample ◽

Functional Advantage

Objective: Persistent and consistently observed racial disparities in physical functioning likely stem from racial differences in social resources and environmental conditions. Method: We examined the association between race and reported difficulty performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in 347 African American (45.5%) and Whites aged 50 or above in the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities–Southwest Baltimore, Maryland Study (EHDIC-SWB). Results: Contrary to previous studies, African Americans had lower rates of disability (women: 25.6% vs. 44.6%, p = .006; men: 15.7% vs. 32.9%; p = .017) than Whites. After adjusting for sociodemographics, health behaviors, and comorbidities, African American women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.14, 0.70]) and African American men (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.90]) retained their functional advantage compared with White women and men, respectively. Conclusion: These findings within an integrated, low-income urban sample support efforts to ameliorate health disparities by focusing on the social context in which people live.

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Sassy Sasha?: The intersectionality of (im)politeness and sociolinguistics

Journal of Politeness Research ◽

10.1515/pr-2019-0005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Denise Troutman

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Black Women ◽

African American Women ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Speech Community ◽

Social Construct ◽

Women's Voices ◽

Black Females ◽

Online Assessments ◽

General Linguistic

Abstract This article focuses on intersections of race, gender, class, and (im)politeness within the African American speech community (AASC). Although general linguistic theorizing aims at universalizing (im)politeness, ultimately identifying common components within human (im)politeness systems worldwide, African American perspectives have not been interjected within that broader theorizing. Thus, I examine (im)politeness from the perspective of African Americans with a focus on females’ linguistic and nonlinguistic behaviors. A plethora of work examines, challenges, and refutes stereotypical gender. I explore facets of the stereotypical, particularly as applied to Black females with the aim of broadening understandings of (im)politeness based on cultural variation. Specifically, I examine sassy as a social construct when applied to Black women in U.S. contexts, especially two Black women’s online assessments of sassy performativity by Sasha Obama, as a vehicle for allowing Black women’s voices and experiences to enter into theory-making. The analysis is interpretative and idiographic. The two African American women bloggers’ words and meanings suggest that (im)politeness within the AASC resides in sociolinguistics, not pragmatics. As a result of the analysis, I suggest that (im)politeness theorizing could pay attention to the social embodiedness of human polite and impolite behaviors. This, in part, constitutes the sociolinguistics of (im)politeness.

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Determinants of Racial Disparities in Female Incarceration Rates, 2000–2018

The Review of Black Political Economy ◽

10.1177/00346446211051078 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003464462110510

Author(s):

Samuel L. Myers ◽

William J. Sabol ◽

Man Xu

Keyword(s):

Black Women ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

African American Women ◽

White Women ◽

National Research Council ◽

The United States ◽

White Female ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Incarceration Rate ◽

Women In Prison

In The Growth of Incarceration in the United States, the National Research Council documents the large and persistent racial disparities in imprisonment that accompanied the more than quadrupling of the U.S. incarceration rate since the 1980s. Largely unnoticed by policy makers and opinion leaders in recent years is an unprecedented decrease in the number of African American women incarcerated at the same time that the number of white women in prison has grown to new heights. The result of these recent changes is a near convergence in black-white female incarceration rates from 2000 to 2016. In some states, the changes occurred abruptly and almost instantaneously. In other states, the convergence has been gradual. We find that changes in the population composition—the fraction of the population that is black—was the major contributor to the decline in the disparity among women. We also find that race-specific differences in drug overdose deaths stemming from the recent increases in opioid use lowered the disparity by increasing the white female imprisonment rate and lowering it for black women.

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Race-Specific Association of Caesarean-Section Delivery with Body Size at Age 2 Years

Ethnicity & Disease ◽

10.18865/ed.26.1.61 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 61 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrea E Cassidy-Bushrow ◽

Ganesa Wegienka ◽

Suzanne Havstad ◽

Albert M. Levin ◽

Susan V. Lynch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Caesarean Section ◽

African American Women ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Racial Differences ◽

White Women ◽

Specific Effect ◽

Delivery Mode ◽

Font Size ◽

African American Mothers

Objectives: African American children are at higher risk of obesity than White children and African American women are more likely to undergo caesarean-section (CS) delivery than White women. CS is associated with childhood obesity, however, little is known whether this relationship varies by race.We examined if the association of CS with obesity at age 2 years varied by race. Design: Longitudinal birth cohort.Setting: Birth cohort conducted in a health care system in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan with follow-up at age 2 years.Participants: 639 birth cohort participants; 367 children (57.4%) were born to African American mothers and 230 (36.0%) children were born via CS.Main Outcome Measure: Obesity defined as body mass index ≥95th percentile at age 2 years.Results: Slightly more children of African American (n=37; 10.1%) than non-African American mothers (n=18; 6.6%) were obese (P=.12). There was evidence of effect modification between race and delivery mode with obesity at age 2 years (interaction P=.020). In children of African-American mothers, CS compared to vaginal birth was associated with a significantly higher odds of obesity (aOR=2.35 (95% CI: 1.16, 4.77), P=.017). In contrast, delivery mode was not associated with obesity at age 2 years in children of non-African-American mothers (aOR=.47 (95% CI: .13, 1.71), P=.25). Conclusions: There is evidence for a race-specific effect of CS on obesity at age 2 years; potential underlying mechanisms may be racial differences in the developing gut microbiome or in epigenetic programming. Future research is needed to determine if this racial difference persists into later childhood. Ethn Dis. 2016;26(1):61-68; doi:10.18865/ed.26.1.61

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Inflammatory Cytokine Levels and Breast Cancer Risk Factors: Racial Differences of Healthy Caucasian and African American Women

Oncology Nursing Forum ◽

10.1188/13.onf.40-05ap ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 40 (5) ◽

pp. 490-500 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Na-Jin Park ◽

Duck-Hee Kang

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Risk Factors ◽

African American ◽

Breast Cancer Risk ◽

African American Women ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Inflammatory Cytokine ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Cytokine Levels ◽

Breast Cancer Risk Factors

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African American Women and Domestic Violence: Addressing their Voice of Silence

10.35455/brk12345678 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Bernice Kennedy ◽

Chalice Rhodes (Former Jenkins)

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Domestic Violence ◽

African American ◽

Black Women ◽

African American Women ◽

White Women ◽

The United States ◽

Slave Owner ◽

American Women ◽

Strong Black Women

Abstract Historically, during slavery, the international slave trade promoted normalization of violence against African American women. During slavery, African American women endured inhuman conditions because of the majority race views of them as being over-sexualized, physically strong, and immoral. This perception of the African American women as being highly sexual and more sexual than white women results in slave owner justifying their sexual violation and degrading of the African American women. The stereotypical representations of African American women as strong, controlling, dangerous, fearless, and invulnerable may interfere with the African American women receiving the needed services for domestic violence in the community. The Strong Black Women Archetype has been dated back to slavery describing their coping mechanism in dealing with oppression by developing a strong, less traditionally female role. The authors developed a model: The Multidimensional Perspectives of Factors Contributing to Domestic Violence of African American Women in the United States. This model depicts historically, the factors contributing to domestic violence of African American women in the United States. Also, this model addressed the African American women subscribing to the Strong Black Women Archetype to cope with domestic violence. Despite the increase in domestic violence in African American women, they focused more on the issue of racism instead of sexism in America. African American women have experienced the two obstacles of racism and sexism in America. However, African American women and men believe racism is more critical than sexism. Therefore, domestic violence in the African American population may remain silent because of cultural loyalty. However, the voice of silence of African American females is gradually changing with the upcoming generations.

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Racial Disparities Affecting the Reproductive Health of African-American Women

Medical Clinics of North America ◽

10.1016/j.mcna.2005.04.001 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 89 (5) ◽

pp. 935-943 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Groesbeck P. Parham ◽

Michael L. Hicks

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Reproductive Health ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

African American Women ◽

American Women

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Latina and African American Women: Continuing Disparities in Health

International Journal of Health Services ◽

10.2190/mncj-nb8e-m0wa-1fgm ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 555-584 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Marsha Lillie-Blanton ◽

Rose Marie Martinez ◽

Andrea Kidd Taylor ◽

Betty Garman Robinson

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Social Class ◽

Health Services ◽

African American Women ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Family Income ◽

Work Conditions ◽

Social Conditions ◽

Minority Population ◽

American Women

Women of all races have faced incredible challenges as they sought to realize the promises of America. For women of color, these challenges were compounded by the second-class citizenship of U.S. racial and ethnic minority population groups. In an effort to assess the quality of life experienced by Latina and African American women, this article provides descriptive information on racial/ethnic differences in women's social conditions, health status, exposure to occupational and environmental risks, and use of health services. When possible, indices are stratified by family income to limit the effects of social class on the comparison of racial differences. The authors provide evidence that Latina and African American women are more likely than nonminority women to encounter social environments (e.g., poverty, densely populated neighborhoods, hazardous work conditions) that place them at risk for ill-health and injury. Although persistent racial disparities in health are often attributed to the lifestyle behaviors of racial minority populations, they are undoubtedly a consequence of poorer social conditions as well as barriers in access to quality health services. To achieve further gains, public policies must reduce social inequalities (i.e., by gender, race, and social class) and assure greater equity in access to resources that facilitate healthier environments and lifestyles. Public health initiatives should be community-based, reflecting a shared partnership that actively engages minority women in decision-making about their lives.

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THE SEQUEL: THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT, THE NINETEENTH AMENDMENT, AND SOUTHERN BLACK WOMEN'S STRUGGLE TO VOTE

The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era ◽

10.1017/s1537781418000051 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 433-449 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Liette Gidlow

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Black Women ◽

African American Women ◽

Black Men ◽

Voting Rights ◽

Woman Suffrage ◽

The South ◽

American Women ◽

Nineteenth Amendment ◽

Fifteenth Amendment

This essay reframes both the woman suffrage narrative and narratives of African American voting rights struggles by focusing on the experiences of southern African American women between the 1870s and the 1920s. It argues that the Fifteenth Amendment remained central to their suffrage strategy long after the failure of the “New Departure” to win court sanction caused white suffragists to abandon it. As white supremacists in the South worked at the turn of the century to disfranchise black men, leading African American suffragists such as Mary Church Terrell, Gertrude Bustill Mossell, and Adella Hunt Logan called for the enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments as well as the enfranchisement of black women. After the federal woman suffrage amendment was ratified in 1920, many southern African American women encountered the same barriers to voting—obstructionist tactics, threats, and violence—that black men had faced a generation earlier. In short, for aspiring African American voters in the South, the failure of the Nineteenth Amendment to secure voting rights for black women constituted a sad sequel to the failure of the Fifteenth Amendment to secure voting rights for black men.This interpretation offers three significant interventions. It pairs the Reconstruction-era Amendments with the Nineteenth Amendment, recognizing their shared focus on voting rights. It connects the voting rights struggles of southern African Americans across genders and generations. Finally, it finds that, for some women, the canonical “century of struggle” for voting rights continued long after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified.

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Abstract B089: [Advocate Abstract] Racial disparities in African American women

10.1158/1538-7755.disp18-b089 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sheila McGlown

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

African American Women ◽

American Women

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