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Microaggressions before middle school--understanding one of the roots of chronic conditions in the Black community

  • 1.  Microaggressions before middle school--understanding one of the roots of chronic conditions in the Black community

    Posted 10-22-2023 01:08:00 AM

    Why do so many African American people have chronic health conditions--the answer lies in the fact that many of us "experience the first microaggression by age 6." This means that we begin to learn to navigate racism before we learn to ride a bike without training wheels. Think about that for a moment.  

    The Racism Black Kids Endure Is Spiraling Into a Health Crisis - Capital B News

    Capital B News remove preview
    The Racism Black Kids Endure Is Spiraling Into a Health Crisis - Capital B News
    New research shows that although racism might not be the most common type of discrimination, it had the greatest impact on teens.


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    Imanni Sheppard, PhD
    Co-Director of Bioethics and the Medical Humanities, Assistant Professor, Med. Ed. Facilitator
    Carle Illinois College of Medicine
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  • 2.  RE: Microaggressions before middle school--understanding one of the roots of chronic conditions in the Black community

    Posted 10-24-2023 09:50:00 AM

    @Imanni Sheppard, PhD thank you for sharing the link. Learning to recognize microaggressions has to become a priority in our curricula. In our recent curriculum committee meeting we were discussing differences among students' perception of faculty behavior that indicated a lack of respect for gender or race/ethnicity. Not surprisingly, more reports came from women and minority students. I asked what those faculty behaviors would be. A student member helped with examples: in small groups a sense of not having comments taken as seriously, or not being as included in the discussion. It's easy to be defensive about this, but more productive to step back and realize, microagressions don't have to be intentional to be perceived.. 



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    Nancy Hayes
    Director of Clinical Foundations
    Florida State University College of Medicine
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