Gender Differences in Coping with Racism: African American Experience and Empowerment

Abstract

Black men and women encounter multiple forms of racism in American society and require numerous strategies to manage the stress associated with these experiences. This chapter reviews the current state of the literature regarding Black people and how they cope with racism. Findings demonstrate that Black people tend to cope with racism through social support, religion, avoidance, and problem-focused coping, with some gender differences in coping approaches. We also contrast functional versus dysfunctional coping approaches and underscore the importance of empowerment to promote well-being and social change. Limitations of this review include the predominance of American-based samples used in the literature, which often excludes other Black ethnic and national groups. Further, the experiences of other Black intersectional identities are not well represented in the literature and require more study as their experiences of coping with racism may differ.

A Systematic Review of Black People Coping With Racism: Approaches, Analysis, and Empowerment

“…Positive social change will occur as racism becomes increasingly unacceptable and society becomes more equitable. Making value-based contributions to anti-racist and social-justice causes that work to dismantle racism can be a coping act of agency and self-affirmation (Hope et al, 2018; Jacob et al, 2021).…”

“…How functionality is defined will determine whether the goal is to stop acts of racism from occurring or to reduce the emotional distress caused by racist acts in the short term. The former may result in increased stress in the short term but could offer greater dividends in the long term ( Jacob et al, 2021). Although not all racism can be prevented, individuals can reduce racism they experience through deliberate actions, such as changing their environment, confronting offenders when safe to do so, and reporting more dangerous perpetrators.…”

“…An understanding of the history, source, and nature of racism is a necessary prerequisite for remedying the stress experienced by Black individuals caused by racism, because it can be difficult to come up with solutions when the core nature of the issue is incompletely grasped. Black people will be best prepared to cope with racism when they understand how racism operates, feel secure in their identity, and are well equipped to address racism as it arises in the moment ( Jacob et al, 2021). In this way forceful personal agency in the face of racist actions can serve a therapeutic purpose.…”

Perpetuation of Gender Inequalities in Households: From Culture to Cognition

“…As a flexible toolkit, culture provides several possible strategies of responding to traumatic experiences -from coping and emotional regulation (i.e., disengagement, not responding, working harder) to open confrontation (Jacob et al, 2022) or long-term strategies of negotiating one's identity and shaping it to become a respectable member of society (Skeggs, 1997;Lamont et al, 2016). Avoidant behaviors can specifically include actions such as dropping out of college, leaving one's job, changing career orientations, which, in the end, shapes and significantly limits one's outside options (Sennett and Cobb, 1973;Silva, 2015;Jacob et al, 2021). Such instances exemplify the fact that it is not just the availability of outside options (as discussed in section 2), but its interaction with cultural factors and its effects on individual perceptions, that lead to the visible outcomes of social inequality.…”

“…Experiments largely consist of generating feelings of ostracism and diminished self-concept, by either attempting to lower the participant's perceived standing in their own group, or by lowering the perceived standings of participants' affiliated groups. The overarching trend in the literature demonstrates that individuals are motivated to protect their conceptions of themselves (Chen et al, 2015;Derks et al, 2007;Kurzban, 2011;Williams, 2021) and the groups they affiliate with (Carmines et al, 2016;Claassen & Ensley, 2017;Kahan, 2012). In this case, maintaining stability of the household by accepting traditional divisions of labor, might be an extension of self-affirming behavior in that individuals incorporate their conception of a group into their own identities (Goldman & Hogg, 2016;Hogg & Adelman, 2013;Mason & Wronski, 2018).…”