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• 09 June 2020

Systemic racism: science must listen, learn and change

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Demonstrators gather in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on 2 June as protests against racism spread across the United States and around the world. Credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty

The killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police department, and President Donald Trump’s crushing of protests across the United States, has angered the world, and led to marches in cities globally. The repeated killings of Black people in the United States serve as reminders — reminders that should not be needed — of the injustice, violence and systemic inequality that Black Americans continue to experience in every sphere of life.

Black people are more likely than white people to die at the hands of the police; more likely to become unemployed; and, as COVID-19 has laid bare, more likely to be burdened with ill health. Black people are similarly marginalized in most nations where they are in the minority.

Nature condemns police prejudice and violence, we stand against all forms of racism and we join others around the world in saying, unequivocally, that Black Lives Matter.

Such statements are necessary, but they are not sufficient. They need to be followed by meaningful action.

Black people, including researchers, are taking to social media to spell out what that action should look like, calling attention to decades of literature on the steps necessary to make academia and science equitable. This outpouring is, in part, because Black researchers have long been denied a space and a platform in established institutions and publications such as this one.

We recognize that Nature is one of the white institutions that is responsible for bias in research and scholarship. The enterprise of science has been — and remains — complicit in systemic racism, and it must strive harder to correct those injustices and amplify marginalized voices.

At Nature , we will redouble our efforts to do so, and commit to establishing a process that will hold us to account on the many changes we need to make.

In addition, we commit to producing a special issue of the journal, under the guidance of a guest editor, exploring systemic racism in research, research policy and publishing — including investigating Nature ’s part in that.

Together with the rest of the research community, we must listen, reflect, learn and act — and we must never shirk our responsibility to end systemic racism.

Nature 582 , 147 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01678-x

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Racial Inequities Persist in Health Care Despite Expanded Insurance

A series of studies in an influential medical journal takes a close look at longstanding gaps in medical care.

By Roni Caryn Rabin

Two decades ago, only 9 percent of white Americans rated their health as fair or poor. But 14 percent of Hispanic Americans characterized their health in those terms, as did nearly 18 percent of Black Americans.

In recent years, access to care has improved in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, which reduced the number of uninsured Americans across all racial and ethnic groups. But the racial health gap has remained , according to a series of studies published on Tuesday in the journal JAMA.

A dismal picture of persistent health disparities in America was described in an issue devoted entirely to inequities in medicine. The wide-ranging issue included research on spending and patterns of care, comparative rates of gestational diabetes and the proportion of Black physicians at medical schools.

The journal’s editors committed to a sharper focus on racism in medicine after a controversy in June, in which a staff member seemed to suggest that racism was not a problem in health care. The ensuing criticism led to the resignation of the top editor and culminated with a pledge to increase staff diversity and publish a more inclusive array of papers.

“The topics of racial and ethnic disparities and inequities in medicine and health care are of critical importance,” Dr. Phil B. Fontanarosa, interim editor in chief of JAMA, said in a statement. He noted that more than 850 articles on racial and ethnic disparities and inequities have been published in JAMA and associated journals in the past five years.

The new issue offers studies on disparities in the utilization of health care services and in overall health spending. Together, the findings paint a portrait of a nation still plagued by medical haves and have-nots whose ability to benefit from scientific advances varies by race and ethnicity, despite the fact that the A.C.A. greatly expanded insurance.

The racial health gap did not significantly narrow from 1999 to 2018, according to one study whose author said it was tantamount to “a comprehensive national report card.”

“We’re failing,” added Dr. Harlan Krumholz, the study’s senior author.

“If our national goals are to improve the population’s health and promote more health equity, then we have to admit that whatever we’re doing now is not doing the trick,” he said. “This should wake us up, and spark us to think of new and better approaches.”

Other studies in the journal teased apart factors that may be contributing to the gap, including different patterns of care-seeking. White Americans, for example, are more likely than members of minority groups to visit primary care physicians and specialists in the community, rather than a hospital or emergency room.

The disparity was seen even when Americans from various racial and ethnic backgrounds shared the same insurance, like Medicare , the government health plan for seniors.

“Access to primary care physicians and specialists in the outpatient setting is really important, because they’re managing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart failure, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” said Kenton J. Johnston, an associate professor of health management at Saint Louis University and the lead author of the study.

“If you don’t get in to see the specialist or primary care doctor, you’re going to have complications and problems downstream.”

Dr. Johnston’s study found that minority patients on Medicare have more limited access than white individuals to outpatient health care services.

Despite innovations like Medicare Advantage, which increased access to health care overall, Medicare beneficiaries who are minorities — defined as Black, Hispanic, Native American or Asian-Pacific Islander — still have less access than white or multiracial individuals to a physician who is a regular source of care.

They are also less likely to have influenza and pneumonia vaccinations, and they have more limited access to specialists, the study found.

In Dr. Johnston’s hometown, St. Louis, as in other cities, fewer health care providers and specialists are found in low-income and minority neighborhoods, which is a function of structural racism and a legacy of residential segregation, Dr. Johnston said.

“It’s not a question of insurance — it has more to do with the supply side,” he added. “If you want to access a good specialist, your choice of cardiologists is going to be different if you live out in the counties that are more affluent versus if you live in the poor areas in northern St. Louis.”

Another study in the journal compared health care spending by race and ethnicity, finding that at $8,141 per year, spending for white individuals is higher than for Americans of other races and ethnicities, and the portion of it spent on outpatient care is higher than the average.

Health care spending for Black individuals is $7,361 per year, and a smaller proportion of the funds are spent on outpatient care. The amounts that go to pay for care of Black people in an emergency room and hospital are 12 percent and 19 percent higher, respectively, than the nationwide averages.

“This is about poverty, geography and where people live and where primary care clinics are located, and it is about health insurance,” said Joseph Dieleman, an associate professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle and an author of the study.

But the difference also reflects patient behavior. “It is also about people’s past experiences with the health care system and the quality of care they or their loved ones have received, which leads to hesitation or resistance to accessing health care early,” Dr. Dieleman said.

The findings may explain some of the disparities in health outcomes, though social and economic factors also play a role, among them poverty, so-called food deserts and neighborhoods that expose residents to pollution and offer few opportunities for physical exercise and recreation.

Another study compared rates of gestational diabetes, finding that it became more prevalent in pregnant women of all ages and across all races and ethnic groups from 2011 to 2019, with the highest rates reported in Asian Indian women.

Overall, Black women face a much higher risk of dying from pregnancy complications than white women, with maternal mortality rates of 41.7 per 100,000 live births for Black women, compared with 13.4 per 100,000 live births for white women.

The disparity persists even when adjusted for factors like age and income, according to an editorial elsewhere in the journal. Black infant mortality rates are also higher, with death rates of 10.62 per 1,000 live births for Black newborns, compared with 4.68 per 1,000 live births for white babies.

Black patients opt for more preventive care when their physician is Black, according to the editorial, and mortality rates for newborns drop sharply when they are cared for by Black physicians.

The proportion of faculty physicians at American medical schools who identified as Black or African American has only slightly increased over the past 30 years, from 2.6 percent of faculty in 1990 to 3.8 percent of faculty in 2020, still far less than their proportion of the general population, the editorial said.

The pandemic has highlighted longstanding inequities, taking a greater toll on Black and Hispanic communities. An editorial in the journal noted that the health care system has a long history of racism. Hospitals only desegregated when they were threatened with the loss of federal funds from the Medicaid and Medicare programs, which were enacted in 1966.

While the A.C.A. and the expansion of Medicaid in many states has improved access to medical care, the inequities persist. The editorial, written by Alexander N. Ortega and Dylan H. Roby of Drexel University in Philadelphia, called for more investment in research, training, clinical practice and community engagement.

“Ending structural racism and inequities in the U.S. health care system has proved to be a challenge,” the authors wrote.

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly described the journals that Dr. Phil B. Fontanarosa, interim editor in chief of JAMA, said had published more than 850 articles related to racial disparities. They were published in a variety of journals associated with JAMA, not just JAMA itself. 

How we handle corrections

Pregnancy, Childbirth and Postpartum Experiences

Aspirin’s Benefits: Not enough pregnant women at risk of developing pre-eclampsia, life-threatening high blood pressure, know that low-dose aspirin can help lower that risk. Leading experts are hoping  to change that.

‘A Chance to Live’: Cases of trisomy 18 may rise as many states restrict abortion. Some women have chosen to have these babies , love them tenderly and care for them devotedly.

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Premature Births: After years of steady decline, premature births rose sharply in the United States  between 2014 and 2022. Experts said the shift might be partly the result of a growing prevalence of health complications among mothers .

Depression and Suicide: Women who experience depression during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth have a greater risk of suicide and attempted suicide .

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Across religious groups, a majority of Black Americans say opposing racism is an essential part of their faith

The intersection of race and religion has played an important role in the civic lives of Black Americans for more than two centuries. From hosting antebellum abolitionist meetings to serving as centers for social movements in the mid-20th century, Black houses of worship have often been the foundation from which public battles for freedom and racial equality have been waged. At the same time, race plays a fundamental and complex role in the religious and personal lives of Black adults, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey .

This analysis of the role race and religion play for Black Americans draws on a survey conducted from Nov. 19, 2019, to June 3, 2020, among 8,660 Black adults. The study is Pew Research Center’s most comprehensive, in-depth attempt to explore religion among Black Americans. Survey respondents were recruited from four nationally representative sources: Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (conducted online), NORC’s AmeriSpeak panel (conducted online or by phone), Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel (conducted online) and a national cross-sectional survey by Pew Research Center (conducted online and by mail).

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology .

Opposing racism is an integral part of religious identity for many Black adults. Three-quarters of Black Americans say that opposing racism is essential to their faith or sense of morality, a view that extends across faith traditions. Those who say that being Black is a very important part of their personal identity (78%) are more likely than those for whom being Black is less important (70%) to view opposition to racism this way.

The majority of Black Protestants – regardless of the race of their congregations – along with Black Catholics and other Christians, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Orthodox Christians and other groups, say that opposing racism is essential to what being a Christian means to them. Likewise, the majority of Black non-Christians – including Muslims, adherents of traditional African or Afro-Caribbean religions and other groups – say that opposing racism is essential to what their faith means to them (82%). And 71% of Black religiously unaffiliated adults say that opposing racism is essential to their sense of morality.

While race factors significantly into what Black Americans’ faith means to them, it is also a key component of their personal identities. Two-thirds of Black adults say being Black is a very important part of how they think about themselves. Black Protestants (70%) are somewhat more likely than Catholics (60%) and the religiously unaffiliated (62%) to say that being Black is a very important part of their personal identity. Among Protestants, three-quarters of those who attend Black churches (76%) say that being Black is very important to how they think of themselves, as do 65% of those who go to multiracial churches and 56% of those who attend churches where most are White or another race.

While race is important to many Black Americans’ personal identities and faith, large numbers of Black Americans are open to increased diversity in historically Black congregations. About six-in-ten Black Americans say that historically Black congregations should try to “become more racially and ethnically diverse,” while a third say historically Black congregations should try to “preserve their traditional racial character.”

Black adults who say that being Black is a very important part of how they think of themselves (37%) are more likely than those for whom being Black is less important (26%) to say that Black congregations should preserve their traditional racial character. Black Protestants and Catholics have similar views on whether Black congregations should diversify. Black Protestants who attend churches where White people or some other racial or ethnic group make up the majority are only slightly more likely than those who attend Black churches to say that Black congregations should diversify (69% vs. 62%, respectively).

When asked what sorts of things they would prioritize if they were to find themselves looking for a new congregation, few Black adults would prioritize race. Only 14% of Black Americans say it would be “very important” to them to find a house of worship with Black senior religious leaders, and a similar share (13%) says it would be “very important” to find a congregation where most attendees are Black. While about one-in-five say each of these factors is “somewhat important,” most Black adults say these factors are either “not too important” or “not at all important.” In contrast, eight-in-ten Black Americans say it would be very important for houses of worship to have welcoming congregations.

A small share of Black adults who view being Black as a very important part of their identity say factors like having a Black congregation would be very important in their search for a new house of worship. Even so, they are more likely than those for whom being Black is less important to say that congregations that have Black leadership (18% vs. 6%, respectively) and Black members (16% vs. 5%) would be very important in a new church.

Black Protestants are somewhat more likely than Black Catholics to say that if they were looking for a new congregation, it would be very important to them that most attendees and religious leaders were Black. Still, relatively small shares of Protestants who attend different types of congregations would prioritize the race of attendees and religious leaders if they were searching for a new church.

Note: Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology .

• Beliefs & Practices
• Black Americans
• Historically Black Protestantism
• Race, Ethnicity & Religion
• Racial Bias & Discrimination
• Religion & Race
• Religion & Social Values

Kiana Cox is a senior researcher focusing on race and ethnicity at Pew Research Center .

How common is religious fasting in the United States?

8 facts about atheists, spirituality among americans, how people in south and southeast asia view religious diversity and pluralism, religion among asian americans, most popular.

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Racism and Health: A Reading List

Long-standing, systematic, and unjust health inequities have sparked decades of interdisciplinary science and scholarship to detect, understand, and eliminate them.  

For racial and ethnic health inequities, specifically, the study of racism as a root cause has received significant attention. This nonexhaustive collection of select research articles and books, both seminal and new, describes how racism affects health and well-being and offers a starting place for further exploration.  

A specious classification of human beings created by White Europeans that assigns human worth and social status using “White” as the model of humanity and the height of human achievement for the purpose of establishing and maintaining privilege and power. 

Having legitimate access to systems sanctioned by the authority of the state.

Race prejudice plus power.

Source:  Chisom R, Washington M. Undoing Racism: A Philosophy of International Social Change. People’s Institute Press. People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. New Orleans, LA: People's Institute Press; 1997.

Racism and Health: Historical Context

The roots of racism in health and health care reach back as far as racism itself, to the founding of our medical and political systems. The cumulative effects of this history impact individuals, communities, and institutions today.

Byrd WM, Clayton LA. Race, medicine, and health care in the United States: a historical survey . J Natl Med Assoc. 2001;93(suppl 3): 11S-34S. 

Savitt TL. Medicine and Slavery: The Diseases and Health Care of Blacks in Antebellum Virginia . Vol. 82. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press; 2002.  

DuBois W, Anderson E, Eaton I. The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study . Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press; 1996.

Washington HA. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. New York, NY: Harlem Moon; 2006.

Thomas SB, Casper E. The burdens of race and history on Black people's health 400 years after Jamestown . Am J Public Health . 2019;109(10): 1346-1347. deShazo RD. The Racial Divide in American Medicine: Black Physicians and the Struggle for Justice in Health Care. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi; 2018.

Pathways Linking Racism to Health Outcomes

Racism works on multiple levels and through multiple pathways to erode both mental and physical well-being over time. These pathways occur at both individual and systemic levels (e.g., health care systems, social structures, policy). Individuals also carry multiple intersecting identities that have implications for health.

Similarly, individual and social correlates of health are distinct yet connected. The many ways racism impacts the health of individuals and communities of color are interwoven. No aspect of racism travels on just one pathway, and many take several pathways or all. Importantly, this complexity requires that interventions to undo racism work on all levels, from interpersonal to sociopolitical.

Harrell CJP, Burford TI, Cage BN, et al. Multiple pathways linking racism to health outcomes . Du Bois Rev . 2011;8(1):143-157. Williams DR, Lawrence JA, Davis BA.  Racism and health: evidence and needed research . Annu Rev Public Health . 2019;40:105-125. Paradies Y, Ben J, Denson N, et al. Racism as a determinant of health: a systematic review and meta-analysis . PLoS ONE . 2015;10(9): e0138511.

Psychological Pathway

Williams DR, Williams-Morris R. Racism and mental health: the African-American experience . Ethnicity & Health . 2000;5(3-4):243-268.

Pieterse AL, Todd NR, Neville HA, Carter RT. Perceived racism and mental health among black American adults: A meta-analytic review . J Counseling Psychol . 2012;59(1):1-9.

Internalized Racism

James D. Health and health-related correlates of internalized racism among racial/ethnic minorities: a review of the literature . J Racial Ethnic Health Disparities . 2020;7(4):785-806.

Stereotype Threat

Burgess DJ, Warren J, Phelan S, Dovidio J, van Ryn M. Stereotype threat and health disparities: what medical educators and future physicians need to know . J Gen Intern Med . 2010;25(suppl 2):169-177.

Steele CM, Aronson J. Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans . J Pers Soc Psychol . 1995;69(5):797-811.

Spencer SJ, Logel C, Davies PG. Stereotype threat . Annu Rev Psychol . 2016;67(1):415-437.

Physiological Pathway

Harrell JP, Hall S, and Taliaferro J. Physiological responses to racism and discrimination: an assessment of the evidence . Am J Public Health . 2003;93(2):243-248.

Minority Stress

Calabrese SK, Meyer IH, Overstreet NM, Haile R, Hansen NB. Exploring discrimination and mental health disparities faced by Black sexual minority women using a minority stress framework . Psychol Women Q . 2014;39(3):287-304.

Goosby BJ, Heidbrink C. The transgenerational consequences of discrimination on African-American health outcomes . Sociol Compass . 2013;7(8):630-643.

Belcourt-Dittloff A, Stewart J. Historical racism: implications for Native Americans . Am Psychol . 2000;55(10):1166-1167.

Geronimus AT, Hicken M, Keene D, Bound J. “Weathering” and age patterns of allostatic load scores among Blacks and Whites in the United States . Am J Public Health . 2006;96(5):826-833.

Health Care Pathway

Powell W, Richmond J, Mohottige D, Yen I, Joslyn A, Corbie-Smith G. Medical mistrust, racism, and delays in preventive health screening among African-American men . Behav Med . 2019;45(2):102-117.

LaVeist TA, Nickerson KJ, Bowie JV. Attitudes about racism, medical mistrust, and satisfaction with care among African American and white cardiac patients . Med Care Res Rev . 2000;57(suppl 1): 146-161.

LaVeist TA, Isaac LA, Williams KP. Mistrust of health care organizations is associated with underutilization of health services . Health Serv Res . 2009;44(6):2093-2105.

Obermeyer Z, Powers B, Vogeli C, Mullainathan S. Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations . Science . 2019;366(6464):447-453.  

Benjamin R. Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press; 2019.

Medical Education

Louie P, Wilkes R. Representations of race and skin tone in medical textbook imagery . Soc Sci Med . 2018;202:38-42. Ackerman-Barger K, Boatright D, Gonzalez-Colaso R, Orozco R, Latimore D. Seeking inclusion excellence: understanding racial microaggressions as experienced by underrepresented medical and nursing students . Acad Med . 2020;95(5):758-763.

Racial Bias  

Parsons S. Addressing racial biases in medicine: a review of the literature, critique, and recommendations . Int J Health Serv . 2020;50(4):371-386.

Hoffman, KM, Trawalter S, Axt JR, Oliver MN. Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 2016;113(16):4296-4301.

Hall WJ, Chapman MV, Lee KM, et al. Implicit racial/ethnic bias among health care professionals and its influence on health care outcomes: a systematic review . Am J Public Health . 2015;105(12):e60-e76.

Health Care Quality

Smedley BD, Stith AY, Nelson AR (eds). Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care . Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2003.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports . Accessed June 2020.

Community Pathway 

Epigenetics.

Kuzawa CW, Sweet E. Epigenetics and the embodiment of race: developmental origins of US racial disparities in cardiovascular health . Am J Hum Biol . 2009;21(1):2-15.

Brockie TN, Heinzelmann M, Gill J. A framework to examine the role of epigenetics in health disparities among Native Americans . Nurs Res Pract . 2013;410395.

Social Determinants of Health  

Hahn RA, Truman BI, Williams DR. Civil rights as determinants of public health and racial and ethnic health equity: health care, education, employment, and housing in the United States . SSM - Popul Health . 2018;4:17-24.

Phelan JC, Link BG. Is racism a fundamental cause of inequalities in health? Annu Rev Sociol . 2015;41:311-330. 

Policy Pathway

Dawes DE. The Political Determinants of Health . Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2020.

Segregation

Williams DR, Collins C. Racial residential segregation: a fundamental cause of racial disparities in health . Public Health Rep . 2001;116(5): 404-416.

Gee GC. A multilevel analysis of the relationship between institutional and individual racial discrimination and health status . Am J Public Health . 2008;98(suppl 1):S48-S56.

Krieger N, Van Wye G, Huynh M, et al. Structural racism, historical redlining, and risk of preterm birth in New York City, 2013–2017 . Am J Public Health . 2020;110(7):1046-1053.

Police Violence

Hoekstra M, Sloan C. Does Race Matter for Police Use of Force? Evidence from 911 Calls . Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research; 2020.

Edwards F, Lee H, Esposito M. Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 2019;116(34):16793-16798.

The Role of Academic Medicine in Eliminating Racism

Academic medicine has an important role to play in mitigating racism and its effects on health. The AAMC has curated a collection of articles and resources to assist our member institutions, constituents, and the public in exploring strategies to combat racism and make health care more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

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Romance is never just romance for Marya T. Mtshali . The lecturer on studies of women, gender, and sexuality teaches the undergraduate course “Interracial Intimacy: Sex, Race, and Romance in the U.S.,” and her current research uses an intersectional lens to examine the ways interracial couples navigate social norms and issues. Mtshali spoke to the Gazette about the long history of American fears of racial mixing, the importance of decentering whiteness in discussions of race and relationships, and why we should value love as a scholarly subject.

Marya T. Mtshali

GAZETTE:   What are some of the themes you cover in the course?

MTSHALI:   The history around interracial relations in the United States is amazingly rich, and fears around race mixing and miscegenation have been used for preventing the end of American slavery to resisting the integration of schools and neighborhoods. We start the course with the Age of Discovery, and the ways in which Europeans came in contact with Indigenous peoples, and Indigenous women specifically — how the idea of accessing and conquering these women’s bodies paralleled the conquering of Turtle Island [North America]. Then we get into scientific racism and eugenics. We also talk about the different types of interracial intimate relations that occurred during times of slavery. “Relations” is an intentional term, because in the United States some of the interracial intimate sexual relations were consensual, some were coercive, and some were forced. Later in the 20th century, we cover the story of Loving v. Virginia in 1967, which struck down restrictions on interracial marriages, and the impact that this has had on the frequency, visibility, and perception of interracial relationships.

GAZETTE:   What are some of the contemporary cases you look at?

MTSHALI:   We look at different configurations of interracial relationships, and why some are viewed differently than others. For instance, we talk about why relationships involving Black men and white women attract more attention and often appear more taboo than relationships between Asian women and white men. We get into concepts such as “yellow fever.” I do a case study on media coverage of Meghan [Markle], Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. We also take some time to look at interracial relationships among people of color and interracial LGBTQ relations.

GAZETTE:   Are there some misconceptions or assumptions that students have going into the course? How do you address some of the taboos that surround these issues?

MTSHALI:   I get some students who are still surprised with how controversial these relationships still are. I also find it interesting that white students in my class often don’t know about the very different dynamics involved in interracial relationships for communities of color. There are a couple of things that I found to be helpful in teaching taboo subjects, and it comes down to the culture of the classroom, and how I scaffold the material for students. Especially with Harvard students, there is sometimes a bit of a fear of saying the wrong thing. In the classroom, and especially in the first few weeks, I use humor to create a comfortable, safe space. We also talk about what goes on at Harvard and ask: How are the things we see on campus representative of what we see throughout the United States and how are they different? Students really enjoy that activity. It’s also been particularly rewarding to see students who haven’t understood certain things they’ve heard, or certain things they’ve experienced, and then actually [gain] the vocabulary to understand, from a sociological perspective, what that experience was really about.

“I get some students who are still surprised with how controversial these relationships still are.” Marya T. Mtshali

GAZETTE:   Can you tell us about your own scholarly research on how interracial couples navigate race in their relationships with each other and with the world?

MTSHALI:   One of the implicit understandings that we tend to have in our society is that interracial couples transcend race or are above race. We, as a society, want to think that solving racism is really easy, because we don’t want to actually have to do the emotional, intellectual, and grueling work that will take to actually dismantle racism.

In my work, which is interview-based and focused on heterosexual couples in interracial relationships, I show that these couples still have to contend with racism or with race because they’re socialized in this country. They come into relationships with certain ideas around race, and how certain people of certain races interact with others. Some couples rarely talk about race, and some talk about it a lot. Sometimes talking about race a lot may mean conflict, and in other cases it may mean eventually being on the same page in a positive way.

We have had more of an awakening over the last few years about how much work we still have left to do in regard to dismantling racism in America, and I think there’s something that can be gained from looking at these couples who have to wrestle with this concept of interracial intimacy and building a life in a country that is still racially segregated in many ways.

GAZETTE:   Have there been any surprises in the course of your research?

MTSHALI:   I did a lot of my data collection around the time when more attention was being given in the news to police brutality toward Black people, and particularly Black men. This was a topic of conversation amongst quite a few these couples, and it enabled them to give me many different examples of some of the things that they were talking about and dealing with and how they were approaching it. What I found were conversations where, usually, a Black partner was trying to educate or share information about racism with their white partner. I could see the different strategies and tactics that they used to go about this, and how they were trying to communicate.

Another very interesting finding was the generational difference between older and younger couples. Older couples were not a huge portion of my sample, but many of them felt that because they were of different races, there was no way they could actually understand or have the same perspective about race in America. That is likely reflective of the time period in which they were brought up. Younger couples tended to have a different approach, that their races were not a barrier to understanding racism in America. Often that meant more conversations about it or attempts to try to come to some type of common understanding about race.

GAZETTE:   What are some lessons you’ve learned from doing this work?

MTSHALI:   The “love is love” phrase is overused, but love is very important, and it can be undervalued in our fast-paced, consumerist, capitalist society. I think it’s wonderful to see people — in a society that is still quite racially segregated — who are still able to meet, connect, fall in love, and build a life together.

Interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.

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Race does not biologically exist, yet how we identify with race is so powerful, it influences our experiences and shapes our lives. In a society that privileges white people and whiteness , racist ideas are considered normal throughout our media, culture, social systems, and institutions. Historically, racist views justified the unfair treatment and oppression of people of color (including enslavement, segregation, internment, etc.). We can be led to believe that racism is only about individual mindsets and actions, yet racist policies also contribute to our polarization. While individual choices are damaging, racist ideas in policy have a wide-spread impact by threatening the equity of our systems and the fairness of our institutions. To create an equal society, we must commit to making unbiased choices and being antiracist in all aspects of our lives.

Being antiracist is fighting against racism. Racism takes several forms and works most often in tandem with at least one other form to reinforce racist ideas, behavior, and policy. Types of racism are:

• Interpersonal racism​ occurs between individuals. These are public expressions of racism, often involving slurs, biases, or hateful words or actions.

“Implicit Bias and Structural Racialization,” By Kathleen Osta & Hugh Vasquez, National Equity Project. Download full PDF

No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make. Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily. These choices require ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection as we move through life. In the absence of making antiracist choices, we (un)consciously uphold aspects of white supremacy, white-dominant culture, and unequal institutions and society. Being racist or antiracist is not about who you are ; it is about what you do .

To be antiracist is a radical choice in the face of history, requiring a radical reorientation of our consciousness. Ibram Kendi "How to be an Antiracist"

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Being Actively Conscious

The quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself.

Being Antiracist at the Individual and Interpersonal Level When we choose to be antiracist, we become actively conscious about race and racism and take actions to end racial inequities in our daily lives. Being antiracist is believing that racism is everyone’s problem, and we all have a role to play in stopping it. In “ The Racial Healing Handbook ,” Dr. Anneliese A. Singh reminds us of the importance of being purposeful: “You need the intentional mindset of Yep, this racism thing is everyone’s problem-including mine, and I’m going to do something about it.”

Being antiracist is different for white people than it is for people of color. For white people, being antiracist evolves with their racial identity development. They must acknowledge and understand their privilege, work to change their internalized racism, and interrupt racism when they see it. For people of color, it means recognizing how race and racism have been internalized, and whether it has been applied to other people of color.

All racial groups struggle under white supremacy. People of color groups are not always united in solidarity. People of color can act by challenging internalized white supremacy and interrupting patterns of prejudice against other racial groups. For everyone, it is an ongoing practice and process.

As a White Person or a Person of Color, Read More About Becoming Antiracist

Stop and Think!

Why do you want to be antiracist? Considering the breadth and depth of racism, committing to being antiracist may feel overwhelming yet small choices made daily can add up to big changes. Reflect on choices you make in your daily life (i.e., who you build relationships with, what media you follow, where you shop). How do these choices reflect being antiracist?

A Questioning Frame of Mind A commitment to being antiracist manifests in our choices. When we encounter interpersonal racism, whether obvious or covert, there are ways to respond and interrupt it. Asking questions is a powerful tool to seek clarity or offer a new perspective. Below are some suggestions to use in conversations when racist behavior occurs:

• Seek clarity: “Tell me more about __________.”
• Offer an alternative perspective: “Have you ever considered __________.”
• Speak your truth: “I don’t see it the way you do. I see it as __________.”
• Find common ground: “We don’t agree on __________ but we can agree on __________.”
• Give yourself the time and space you need: “Could we revisit the conversation about __________ tomorrow.”
• Set boundaries. “Please do not say __________ again to me or around me.

What is a "Trigger?"

A trigger is something that causes an emotional and or physical reaction which impacts how you respond and or interact with another person or group of people.

As you practice, take note of your responses and ask: How am I processing the experience? What body sensations do I have? What is my emotional reaction? Notice what triggers your response and how it manifests in your body.

Another practical step is to uncover your own bias . In the video below, Verna Myers talks about acknowledging your biases in her Ted Talk:

Being antiracist on the individual and interpersonal levels is only part of the work. To end racism, we must also work to dismantle racist policies at the structural and institutional levels.

Example of Being Antiracist at the Institutional Level Institutional racism is the policies and practices within institutions that benefit white people to the disadvantage of people of color. An example of institutional racism is how children of color are treated within the U.S. education system. On average, children of color are disciplined more harshly  than their white peers. They are also less likely to be identified as gifted and have less access to quality teachers. Racism in schools can and does have severe consequences for students and our future.

When I say antiracist education, I am talking about equipping students, parents, and teachers with the tools needed to combat racism and ethnic discrimination, and to find ways to build a society that includes all people on an equal footing. Enid Lee

Antiracist education is a theory of learning and action to help us do the important work of dismantling racism in schools. It explicitly highlights, critiques, and challenges institutional racism. It addresses how racist beliefs and ideologies structure one-on-one interactions and personal relationships. It also examines and challenges how institutions support and maintain disadvantages and advantages along racial lines.

Antiracist education, while considering class, race, and gender inequity, places race at the center of its analysis. Focusing on race exposes direct links to unequal power, a system of oppression and privilege, and institutional practices.

One of the early formulations of antiracist education was developed by social science researchers, Carol Tator and Frances Henry, in Canada. It lists nine key traits.

Infographic © NMAAHC. Data source: “ Multicultural Education vs Anti-Racist Education: The Debate in Canada ,” Social Education 58(6), 1994, pp. 354-358. National Council for the Social Studies. 

What do the elements of learning listed above mean to you?

Developing routines to make antiracist choices is a daily commitment that must be carried out with intention. The continued efforts of each of us individually can add up to a lasting change in our society. Since racism operates at multiple levels, we have to make antiracist choices at the various levels - individual, interpersonal, and institutional - to eradicate racism from the structures and fabric of our society. In “How to Be an Antiracist,” Dr. Ibram Kendi writes, “[We must] believe in the possibility that we can strive to be antiracist from this day forward. Believe in the possibility that we can transform our societies to be antiracist from this day forward. Racist power is not godly. Racist policies are not indestructible. Racial inequities are not inevitable. Racist ideas are not natural to the human mind.”

Take a moment to reflect

Let's Think

• How have racist ideas impacted your daily life?  Reflect and process - you may choose to sit in quiet reflection or write in your journal.  
• EDUCATORS: Read “ The Urgent Need for Anti-Racist Education ,” by Christina Torres. She writes that antiracist education has an important role to play in fighting against hatred and violence. What benefits do you think could result from having discussions with young people about current events involving race and racism?

• The Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University contends that racist policies fuel racist beliefs and behaviors and keep us divided in society.  
• By yourself, divide two pieces of paper into 4 sections. Write the following categories, one in each section, on the page: Education, Healthcare Treatment, Neighborhoods/Housing, Criminal Justice. Do this for both pages.  
• On the first sheet, jot down 2-3 racial groups of people you think get the best service/experience/outcomes in America for each category. You can repeat groups.  
• On the second sheet, jot down 2-3 racial groups of people you think get the worst service/experience/outcomes in America for each category. You can repeat groups.  
• Now, with a partner discuss what policies, old and newer, you believe might account for these groups’ experiences.  
• With your partner, return to each racial group you’ve listed, one at a time. Search the internet, look up the racial group, one of the four categories, and the word “policy” (limit your search to U.S. policies and seek out fact-based sources). Browse through the results for things that strike you.  

Discuss with your partner :

• Was it easy or difficult to find useful information on policies in these categories having to do with race? Why do you think that was?  
• For those racial groups that you thought had the best service/experience/outcomes, were you able to identify specific policies that helped them? Why yes? Or why not?  
• How do you think policies can be hidden or difficult to see in operation?  
• What did you discover that was new to you?  
• Were you wrong about anything you thought? How did you find out?  
• Was there anything uncomfortable about this exercise? Why yes? Or why not?  
• How can our learning about policies, racial groups, and outcomes help support anti-racism efforts?

Watch these two videos on Implicit Bias:

• How can you hang out authentically with folks of some common interest, across racial lines?
• EDUCATORS: Consider your current classroom or academic space. What one small shift can you do to strive to be more antiracist?
• Visit the “ Antiracism and America ” web series developed by American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center and The Guardian news outlet.  
• Pick a story to read. As you reflect on the story, think about what you learned that was new, how the story made you feel, how race shaped the experience of the storyteller and your response. You may choose to process this mentally, with a friend or in writing. 

Why Us, Why Now?

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