Being Black in the U.S. Makes People More Vulnerable to Chronic Stress and COVID-19 and Other Diseases
Racism is a chronic, uncontrollable, and unpredictable stress that can wreak havoc on the mind and body.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery are two major catastrophes that shine a light on longstanding social inequities and injustices toward African Americans. Emerging research in the field of social genomics demonstrates how social stress, such as racism and discrimination, can shift the body’s biological resources toward a state that increases risk for disease.
For example, our research group has found that racial discrimination may be affecting the way genes are expressed, leading to increased levels of dangerous stress hormones.
These differences were found even when social determinant factors such as poverty and other forms of stress were accounte...