"What she said was blatantly, potently the definition of racism."
"Roseanne Barr tweeted this:"
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.
They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists."
Words have power.
Racist words or statements — like these — over time can impact a person's mental
and physical health.
"It is just as painful as if you have been in a physical attack."
Dr. Anita Thomas is a clinical psychologist who says
being subjected to racist statements or acts, over time, can lead to chronic stress
and stress-related illnesses like diabetes and hypertension.
"We certainly have research that shows that it can be a result of an experience that's
directly experienced, but it also can be the results of witnessing, I think, now that we
have social media and video clips.
We probably are actually more traumatized and carrying more stress about the possibility
of racism than we ever have in our country.
And so that really will have long-term both mental and physical health implications."
Research suggests racial minorities may experience more stress-linked health problems because
of discrimination.
A compilation of studies found young people between 12 and 18 who reported they'd experienced
discrimination were more likely to have mental illnesses than young people who didn't experience
discrimination.
And another review found black Americans who perceived they'd experienced racism were also
more likely to have certain mental illnesses and reported an overall lower quality of life.
"We certainly know that people of color have higher hypertension rates, higher
rates of diabetes, a lot of the stress-related illnesses, and that has, in the research,
been correlated to experiences of oppression and discrimination.
Sometimes you just can't emotionally react in a situation, but it has an impact on your heart rate,
and that, over time, can then lead to a lot of the stress-related illnesses."
Racism can be bold and explicit, but it can also be subtle and still have an impact.
Dr. Gina Torino is a psychologist who studies microagression.
"Racial microaggressions ... are very subtle forms of racism that are communicated
verbally, behaviorally or environmentally.
And some of the preliminary research in this area indicates that people who have experienced
these type of microaggressions have symptoms of depression, low self-esteem.
Symptoms of anxiety. Even some racial microaggressions
have been found to impact suicidal thoughts or ideation, so it can have that really detrimental long term
impact of people if it's not attended to.
And we're not necessarily talking about extreme examples. These are actually examples that can happen
to everyday ordinary people.
Yes, and they can occur on a daily basis so, for example, asking somebody 'where are you from?'
Well that may seem just like an innocuous 'oh I'm just trying to find out where this perosn is from.'
But saying that to a person who is Latino or maybe Asian-American, that person may feel
'Oh, I don't belong here,' that somehow I'm a foreigner.'
Both Torino and Thomas say there are warning signs of stress-related illness: inability
to focus, withdrawing socially, or changes in sleep and eating patterns.
When those symptoms appear, it might be time to see a medical professional.
As for everyday microagressions, Thomas says there are healthy ways to manage them.
"You have to do two things."
"You have to acknowledge that an experience of racism has occurred to you and that it was painful.
And then I think you need to engage in effective coping strategy.
So whether it's finding social support, talking to other people about it, blogging, journaling
— sharing that experience helps to depersonalize it.
... For whites, it's really important to listen to the person.
And even if you don't think it's based on race, not to minimize it for the person."