It’s well-documented that racial minorities experience psychosis at consistently higher rates compared to the general population. This mental health condition involves hallucinations, delusions, confused thinking, and disorganized behavior; it is one of the most severe mental health disorders because it affects a person’s ability to perceive and interpret reality. [Read more…]
The Mental Health Cost of Racism
October 25, 2025 By
Can We Train Students’ Brains to Be Less Biased?
October 7, 2025 By
Everyone employs bias—otherwise known as cognitive shortcuts—in their lives every day. Imagine you’re scrolling through your social media feed and immediately dismiss a news article because it comes from a source you don’t typically trust. Or maybe you’re convinced your favorite restaurant is the best in town, remembering all the great meals you’ve eaten there while forgetting that mediocre dinner last month. [Read more…]
Black Students Still Receive More Punishment in Schools
September 16, 2025 By
In 2018, a ground-breaking analysis of federal education data clearly established that Black students are disproportionately disciplined in public schools.
Since then, researchers have documented the negative effects of this disparity—encouraging defiance; harming academic achievement, school climate, and mental health; and accelerating exposure to the juvenile justice system. In response, some schools have implemented new policies and practices designed to reduce racial disparities in punishment. [Read more…]
Build Intimacy: 36 Questions for Romance
February 22, 2023 By
Valentine’s Day began as the Christian feast of St. Valentine in the eighth century and has been celebrated continuously in some way ever since. In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines were sold in the 1840s by Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, whose father ran a bookstore. [Read more…]
How Racism Affects the Relationships of African-American Couples
January 27, 2023 By
Research clearly establishes that racism takes a toll on the mental and physical health of African-Americans. This occurs because racist interactions elicit an automatic physical stress reaction that includes increased heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure, along with a release of stress hormones. This stress response, often referred to as the flight-or-flight response, leads to inflammatory reactions in the body. [Read more…]
The Real Evidence on Race and Policing
April 22, 2021 By Leave a Comment
You can’t watch or read the news without encountering a story about police violence toward people of color, complete with graphic video footage. Often these violent encounters spark large protests and sometimes riots in the cities where the violence occurs. This week, especially, the topic of race and law enforcement is at the forefront of our national consciousness because jurors voted to convict Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of killing George Floyd. [Read more…]
How Systemic Racism Is Embedded in Property Taxes
July 14, 2020 By Leave a Comment
For some Americans, understanding systematic racism is a top priority. Sociology scholars explain that racism does not simply entail harboring ill feelings toward people of different races, but also the structural ways the American cultural and political system have disadvantaged Black people for centuries. [Read more…]
How Racism Affects Youth Health and Well-being
August 27, 2019 By Leave a Comment
We’ve written previously about how racism affects the health and well-being of millions of Americans. The evidence demonstrates that people who experience racial discrimination are more likely to have a range of health problems, including poorer mental health and a lower quality of life.
The Growing Problem of Weight Discrimination
July 16, 2019 By Leave a Comment
More than 93 million Americans are obese. That’s nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population. Researchers and healthcare providers have invested time and money in studies to explain why so many Americans are so overweight and what our society can do about it [Read more…]
