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Center for Health Communication

Creator resource: How racial discrimination decays mental health, and what we can do about it

Creator resource: How racial discrimination decays mental health, and what we can do about it

The Center for Health Communication works to create toolkits and briefings that help content creators spread evidence-based health information on social media. The information provided is meant to be educational and is not a substitute for medical advice. This page was last updated on 12/20/24.

This toolkit provides creators with evidence-based strategies for changing the conversation around racism and mental health.

Reframing the conversation

We all want to live in a world where everyone can achieve the best version of their health through fair opportunities, regardless of their race. We can do this by making sure that everyone has access to high quality healthcare, work and education opportunities, and communities and housing that support health. Low income persons of all racial backgrounds face reduced access to opportunity in our society. However, Black people, Native people, and other people of color face additional barriers that create unequal opportunities and harm their mental health. To remove these barriers, we need to work together to create the equal world we believe in. To move the needle on conversations about racism and mental health, work to infuse these evidence-based perspectives:

A note on language – Many of the words and phrases we use to talk about race and racism were created by people with racist biases. Updating our language is an important part of identifying and eliminating racism. When talking with your community about language, make sure they understand that their word choices matter, and encourage them to engage with resources that help them to make informed choices. For example, when talking about slavery, calling someone a ‘slave’ frames the experience of slavery as an identity, while calling someone an ‘enslaved person’ frames slavery as a forced condition.

Take action

Advocate for inclusion of racial content in schools, libraries, and workplaces

We are currently experiencing a wave of national attacks on racial curriculum in schools and DEI programs in the workplace. Many of these actions are motivated by the idea that these programs are hurting and disadvantaging white people. In reality, as a society, we have made much less progress in reducing racial gaps in income, education and wealth than most people think. Accordingly, urge your community to advocate for racial curriculum in their local school districts and in their own workplaces so that we can get all have the correct information. You can also urge them to advocate to their state legislature against laws that ban education about racism.

Advocate for your community to get involved with local organizations fighting racism, and to support local businesses owned by people of color

People have power to change things in their own communities by investing their time, money, and other resources into people of color in their communities. Encourage your online community to move the conversation offline and get involved in a local chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), the NAACPColor of Change, or research other organizations working on racial justice issues in their community. You can also encourage your communities to search-for and support businesses in their area owned by people of color.

Notice where racism is taking place online and, where appropriate, call your community in

Racial stereotypes harm people of color and increase belief in negative stereotypes for white people.

Across the board, it is also important to notice and draw attention to the harm caused when people of color are expected to educate white people on the harms of racism.

Advocacy formula

When advocating for these causes, remember that focusing on shared values is usually more effective than only sharing data, and that focusing on solutions sparks more hope than only focusing on the problem. Use this formula when advocating to audiences with a wide-range of knowledge about racism:

Stats to know

75% of registered voters either see that there is a connection between structural racism and health (31%) or would be open to conversation and learning more about the connection (44%).
Less than 2 in 10 psychologists are people of color, though people of color make up roughly 4 in 10 people in the US.
High amounts of racial discrimination more than double the risk of suicidality for Black youth.
Mothers to young people who are stopped by the police are twice as likely to report sleep difficulties related to anxiety and depression.
Black teens average over five experiences of racism a day.
1 in 4 Black and Hispanic employees experienced discrimination at work in 2021
6 in 10 hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2022 were racially motivated
3 in 4 Americans think it is important for students to be taught about the current impacts of racism.

Content resources

Here’s a short selection of resources that you can use to create content about racial discrimination:

Deeper dives

For a deeper dive on racial discrimination and how to talk about it, check out these resources:

  • Structural racism and health messaging guide – Report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation summarizing research on the best messaging to inspire broader understanding and action on racial discrimination.
  • Resource library for framing racial justice – FrameWorks’ library of resources on the most productive ways to frame racial justice topics for social change.
  • The 1619 Project – Initiative by The New York Times Magazine that reframes United States’ history by placing the contributions of Black Americans and the harms of slavery at the center of the national narrative.

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