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“Mentally you don’t function the same”: a Qualitative Examination of the Normalization, Embodiment, and Psychological Impact of Everyday Racism

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Abstract

Everyday racism consists of covert and oppressive practices that uphold systems of power and reproduce White supremacy through subtle forms of repetitive and normalized discriminatory actions. While attention to the material and physical damage everyday racism evokes upon Black Americans is receiving increased attention, inconsistencies regarding its conceptualization and operationalization are impeding our understanding of the impact of everyday racism. Utilizing critical race theory (CRT) as an analytical framework, this article intends to respond to gaps in the literature and deepen the understanding of the psychological burden experiences of everyday racism places upon a sample of (n = 40) Black Americans. We engaged with the racial realism and Whiteness as property tenets to analyze individual in-depth interviews and (1) enhance our interrogation of micro/macro-level interactions and (2) aid in the conceptualization of everyday racism. Three themes emerged from the data: hypervigilance and the normalization of everyday racism, mental preparation for navigating White spaces, and the mental health impact of everyday racism. Participant narratives reveal how the normalization of everyday racism impacts them on a psychological and corporeal (i.e., bodily) level. Their accounts also spoke to how Whiteness operates as a property right that exacerbates everyday racism and places invisible boundaries upon how they navigate space. This study provides conceptual clarity about the realities of racism, deeper awareness of structural and individual measures, and an in-depth understanding of how often taken for granted and assumed “normal” forms of racism generate pathways to negative mental health outcomes.

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Data Availability

Semi-structured interview guide available upon request.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Notes

  1. In this study, the term Black is used to broadly encompass individuals from the African diaspora who reside in the USA.

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Funding

This project was supported by 2019–2020 Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grant at the University of Missouri.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, University of Missouri – Columbia, School of Health Professions, Room 805, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Kaleea R. Lewis

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Missouri – Columbia, College of Arts and Science, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Kandice Grossman & Melissa Horner

  3. Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Nicole E. Jones

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Correspondence to Kaleea R. Lewis.

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Lewis, K.R., Grossman, K., Jones, N.E. et al. “Mentally you don’t function the same”: a Qualitative Examination of the Normalization, Embodiment, and Psychological Impact of Everyday Racism. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 11, 631–642 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01548-y

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