Louie Co-Authors Article on Anti-Black Racism and the Health of White Americans
Posted: 1/25/2024 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Affiliate Dr. Patricia Louie (Sociology) released an article with her co-author Dr. Reed T. DeAngelis in Social Forces, titled “Fear of a Black Neighborhood: Anti-Black Racism and the Health of White Americans“, where authors explore whether anti-Black racism harms the health of White Americans. Using data from a community sample, this paper demonstrates that regardless of neighborhood crime rates or socioeconomic compositions, Whites report heightened perceptions of crime and danger in their neighborhoods as the proportion of Black residents increases, net of actual crime rates. Perceived neighborhood danger, in turn, predicts increased symptoms of distress. When stratified by socioeconomic status (SES), however, low-SES Whites also report perceptions of higher status when living near more Black neighbors, which entirely offsets their distress. This paper advances the current literature by showing how the positioning of Whites within racialized hierarchies can affect their health by exposing them to unique psychosocial stressors and resources stemming from neighborhood contexts. In addition, this paper pushes forward an important research agenda on the impact of whiteness on health and how anti-Black racism can ironically harm the health of White Americans.