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Study Investigates the Everyday Wear and Tear of Racism on Black Couples

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The surveys measured aspects of relationship quality, including satisfaction, trust, and intimacy; the frequency and impact of experiencing 20 different daily experiences of racial discrimination, and how participants were feeling each day, ranging from “angry,” “ashamed,” and “dejected” to “cheerful,” “excited” and “happy.”

Published

2 years ago

July 22, 2022

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

A new study has revealed growing evidence that everyday experiences of discrimination in general, and racial discrimination in particular, are associated with adverse relationship outcomes, including decreased relationship satisfaction and increased relationship instability and strain.

“The Relational Wear and Tear of Everyday Racism Among African American Couples,” published June 30 in Psychological Science, found that the wear and tear of adapting to chronic stressors such as racism and discrimination can have detrimental effects on mental and physical health.

The authors from Cornell University investigated the broader implications of everyday racism for relationship quality in an adult sample of 98 heterosexual African American couples. According to the authors, participants reported their experiences of racial discrimination and positive and negative affect for 21 consecutive evenings.

Using dyadic analyses, researchers found that independently of age, gender, marital status, income, racial-discrimination frequency, neuroticism, and mean levels of affect, participants’ relationship quality was inversely associated with their partner’s negative affective reactivity to racial discrimination.

“Associations did not vary by gender, suggesting that the effects of affective reactivity were similar for men and women,” the authors noted in an abstract from the report.

They said the findings highlight the importance of a dyadic approach and call for further research examining the role of everyday racism as a critical source of stress in the lives of African American couples.

“These findings advance our understanding of the social effects of everyday racism and the various ways it can impinge on the interpersonal flourishing of African American couples,” Anthony Ong, professor of psychology in the College of Human Ecology (CHE) and professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, told the Cornell Chronicle.

Ong led the study with co-authors Dr. Betül Urganci, Anthony Burrow, the Ferris Family Associate Professor of Life Course Studies in the Department of Psychology, and Tracy DeHart, associate professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago.

Approximately 100 Chicago area Black couples completed online surveys about their daily experience for 21 consecutive evenings, the Cornell Chronicle reported.

Participants, on average, were 36 years old and had been in their current relationship for about seven years.

The surveys measured aspects of relationship quality, including satisfaction, trust, and intimacy; the frequency and impact of experiencing 20 different daily experiences of racial discrimination, and how participants were feeling each day, ranging from “angry,” “ashamed,” and “dejected” to “cheerful,” “excited” and “happy.”

“The team compared changes in reported moods and feelings – known as “affective reactivity” – on days when they did or did not experience discrimination,” the Chronicle reported.

“The researchers controlled for variables including age, gender, marital status, income and frequency of discrimination, as well as how easily stressed participants said they were typical.”

The authors continued the results showed an inverse association between relationship quality and heightened affective reactivity to everyday racism.

Regardless of gender, study participants said a partner’s anger, depression, or humiliation from a racist experience spilled over into their relationship. One consequence was lower levels of passion or intimacy.

In addition, the effects were more significant when negative feelings intensified versus when positive feelings diminished.

The Chronicle noted further that spillover stress impacts on intimate relationships had been widely reported. However, researchers said the new study is the first to analyze that process in the context of African American couples.

They said the findings highlight the importance of considering everyday racial discrimination as an interpersonal phenomenon and suggest clinical interventions could be designed to help teach couples how to regulate responses more effectively to the strain of daily experiences.

“These findings suggest more attention should be paid to the effects of racism-related stress in African American couples,” Ong told the Chronicle.

“Among whom heightened affective reactivity to daily encounters of racial discrimination may reflect an embedded history of racism.”

The authors stated that, relative to white Americans, Black people consistently report more experiences of unfair treatment and discrimination at every level of age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Moreover, the authors wrote that studies had documented consistent associations between reports of discrimination and various mental and physical health indicators among African Americans.

Citing the daily data collected from African American couples as a critical strength of their study, the authors noted limitations, including potential memory bias in self-reported data, and called for further research.

“How African American couples respond to and are affected by each other’s experiences of everyday racial discrimination,” they wrote, “thus remains a critical direction for future research.”

Stacy M. Brown

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IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.