#systemicracism — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Gloria Steinem

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. We are filled with the popular wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up. Patriotism means obedience, age means wisdom, woman means submission, black means inferior: these are preconceptions embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there.

Gloria Steinem (1934–2026) American feminist, journalist, activist
Essay (1971-08-21), “A New Egalitarian Life Style,” New York Times

More about this quote: wist.info/steinem-gloria/18472…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gloriasteinem #bias #custom #prejudice #receivedwisdom #sexism #stereotypes #subconscious #systemicracism #tradition #ageism #patriotism #culture

A quotation from Gloria Steinem

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. We are filled with the popular wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up. Patriotism means obedience, age means wisdom, woman means submission, black means inferior: these are preconceptions embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there.

Gloria Steinem (1934–2026) American feminist, journalist, activist
Essay (1971-08-21), “A New Egalitarian Life Style,” New York Times

More about this quote: wist.info/steinem-gloria/18472…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gloriasteinem #bias #custom #prejudice #receivedwisdom #sexism #stereotypes #subconscious #systemicracism #tradition #ageism #patriotism #culture

A quotation from Gloria Steinem

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. We are filled with the popular wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up. Patriotism means obedience, age means wisdom, woman means submission, black means inferior: these are preconceptions embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there.

Gloria Steinem (1934–2026) American feminist, journalist, activist
Essay (1971-08-21), “A New Egalitarian Life Style,” New York Times

More about this quote: wist.info/steinem-gloria/18472…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gloriasteinem #bias #custom #prejudice #receivedwisdom #sexism #stereotypes #subconscious #systemicracism #tradition #ageism #patriotism #culture

A quotation from Gloria Steinem

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. We are filled with the popular wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up. Patriotism means obedience, age means wisdom, woman means submission, black means inferior: these are preconceptions embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there.

Gloria Steinem (1934–2026) American feminist, journalist, activist
Essay (1971-08-21), “A New Egalitarian Life Style,” New York Times

More about this quote: wist.info/steinem-gloria/18472…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gloriasteinem #bias #custom #prejudice #receivedwisdom #sexism #stereotypes #subconscious #systemicracism #tradition #ageism #patriotism #culture

The #Trump admin released new rules that could revoke #TaxExempt status from any #school offering targeted support to #Black or other “minority” students, a sweeping change that opens another front in his campaign to reshape #US #education.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #CostOfLiving #affordability #Financial #Aid #HigherEducation

The #Trump admin released new rules that could revoke #TaxExempt status from any #school offering targeted support to #Black or other “minority” students, a sweeping change that opens another front in his campaign to reshape #US #education.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #CostOfLiving #affordability #Financial #Aid #HigherEducation

The #Trump admin released new rules that could revoke #TaxExempt status from any #school offering targeted support to #Black or other “minority” students, a sweeping change that opens another front in his campaign to reshape #US #education.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #CostOfLiving #affordability #Financial #Aid #HigherEducation

The #Trump admin released new rules that could revoke #TaxExempt status from any #school offering targeted support to #Black or other “minority” students, a sweeping change that opens another front in his campaign to reshape #US #education.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #CostOfLiving #affordability #Financial #Aid #HigherEducation

The #Trump admin released new rules that could revoke #TaxExempt status from any #school offering targeted support to #Black or other “minority” students, a sweeping change that opens another front in his campaign to reshape #US #education.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #CostOfLiving #affordability #Financial #Aid #HigherEducation

#Trump Moves to Strip #TaxExemption From #Schools That Offer #Financial #Aid to “Minority” Students

The #Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a tremendous threat to #HigherEducation & other private schools.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #education #CostOfLiving #affordability #college #university
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/business/economy/trump-irs-college-nonprofits.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.8dZO.ORk3zYFsiFfJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share

#Trump Moves to Strip #TaxExemption From #Schools That Offer #Financial #Aid to “Minority” Students

The #Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a tremendous threat to #HigherEducation & other private schools.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #education #CostOfLiving #affordability #college #university
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/business/economy/trump-irs-college-nonprofits.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.8dZO.ORk3zYFsiFfJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share

#Trump Moves to Strip #TaxExemption From #Schools That Offer #Financial #Aid to “Minority” Students

The #Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a tremendous threat to #HigherEducation & other private schools.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #education #CostOfLiving #affordability #college #university
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/business/economy/trump-irs-college-nonprofits.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.8dZO.ORk3zYFsiFfJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share

#Trump Moves to Strip #TaxExemption From #Schools That Offer #Financial #Aid to “Minority” Students

The #Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a tremendous threat to #HigherEducation & other private schools.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #education #CostOfLiving #affordability #college #university
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/business/economy/trump-irs-college-nonprofits.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.8dZO.ORk3zYFsiFfJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share

#Trump Moves to Strip #TaxExemption From #Schools That Offer #Financial #Aid to “Minority” Students

The #Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a tremendous threat to #HigherEducation & other private schools.

#law #WhiteSupremacy #BrainDrain #racism #SystemicRacism #education #CostOfLiving #affordability #college #university
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/business/economy/trump-irs-college-nonprofits.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.8dZO.ORk3zYFsiFfJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share

DATE: September 3, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Historical slavery predicts modern mortality gaps between Black and White Americans

URL: https://www.psypost.org/historical-slavery-predicts-modern-mortality-gaps-between-black-and-white-americans/

A recent study has found that United States counties with a higher proportion of enslaved people in 1860 currently experience wider mortality gaps between Black and White residents. This historical legacy appears to be maintained through modern structural inequities like economic and educational disparities. The findings were published in PNAS.

Despite beliefs that racial equality has progressed in the United States, severe health disparities remain between White and Black Americans. These inequalities are reflected in rates of chronic illness, life expectancy, and overall mortality. Over the past two decades, these disparities have resulted in an estimated 1.63 million excess deaths among Black Americans.

Systemic racism theory proposes that historical injustices are not just isolated events of the past but form the foundation of ongoing social institutions. Under this framework, historical practices like chattel slavery shaped the distribution of resources, political power, and opportunities in ways that persist across generations. Because these institutions are tied to specific locations, they can create durable, place-based conditions that maintain racial hierarchies long after formal policies have ended.

When resources like education, stable housing, and health care are unequally distributed, they become social determinants of health. These determinants act as cumulative risks or protections over a person’s life. Previous research indicates that patterns of enslavement prior to the Civil War continue to predict modern disparities in income, segregation, and some specific health outcomes like heart disease.

The authors of this new study aimed to test whether historical slavery predicts modern differences in the overall death rate. They also wanted to see if this relationship is carried through specific structural inequalities, such as economic gaps and unequal college access. Additionally, the researchers sought to address a long-standing debate about whether systems of racial oppression provided broad advantages to White Americans or only benefited a small elite class.

The research, led by Manuel J. Galvan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed data from counties in sixteen states where slavery was legal in 1860. The team combined historical census data on the proportion of enslaved people in each county with modern health data. For their main outcome, they used age-adjusted, all-cause mortality rates from 2010 to 2020 for both non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations.

“I generally study what conditions create and reproduce inequality,” Galvan told PsyPost. “In the case of Black-White racial inequality in the U.S., there is a lot of historical, theoretical, and empirical research that links slavery to a wide variety of racial disparities. This project was about linking the different variables in the literature together in one model where we could evaluate how slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in 1990-2000, and mortality disparities in 2010-2020.”

To understand how historical slavery might connect to modern health, the researchers looked at data on structural inequalities from the years 1990 to 2000. These included measures of residential segregation, overall economic inequality, racial disparities in poverty, and differences in college attainment. Using data from up to 901 counties, they constructed statistical models that accounted for various historical geographic and economic factors.

The team found that modern mortality gaps closely track the historical presence of slavery. In counties where 0 percent of the population was enslaved in 1860, the modern mortality rate was slightly higher for Black residents, with 11 additional deaths per 100,000 people compared to White residents. In counties with the highest historical enslavement rates, the gap was nearly 20 times larger.

In those areas, which had up to 92 percent of their population enslaved in 1860, the model estimated 214 additional deaths per 100,000 for Black Americans compared to White Americans. Specifically, the data indicates that for every 10 percent increase in the historical enslaved population, there are 13.6 more deaths per 100,000 among Black Americans today. At the same time, every 10 percent increase in historical enslavement predicts 8.5 fewer deaths per 100,000 among White Americans.

“These are rate differences, but they describe real people,” Galvan noted. “A county-level gap in age-adjusted mortality is a gap in how many people reach the next birthday.”

“The most important takeaway is that historical slavery predicts contemporary Black-White mortality disparities across U.S. counties, even when the authors use an unusually rigorous design to address alternative explanations,” Kimmo Eriksson, a professor of applied mathematics at Mälardalen University and researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Sweden, told PsyPost. Eriksson, who was not involved in the study, noted that the research “provides strong evidence that institutions and inequalities originating in slavery continue to have measurable health consequences today.”

“The findings largely extend a substantial literature linking slavery to contemporary racial inequalities, but they do so using stronger methods and a health outcome of fundamental importance,” Eriksson added. “The most novel and surprising result is that greater historical slavery was associated not only with higher Black mortality but also with lower White mortality.”

This pattern provides evidence for the competition perspective, which suggests that systemic racial oppression generated widespread material and health advantages for White populations at the expense of Black populations. The researchers also found that this widening mortality gap is largely carried by modern structural inequalities. By measuring these specific pathways, the study illustrates how historical institutions shape everyday life today.

Counties with higher historical enslavement rates tend to have greater economic inequality, wider Black-White poverty gaps, and larger disparities in college attainment. When these economic and educational factors were factored into the models, they fully accounted for the link between historical slavery and modern mortality disparities. This suggests that the legacy of slavery continues to operate primarily through these enduring socioeconomic divides.

The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that increases in school segregation were independently associated with higher racial disparities in health outcomes, including life expectancy and early mortality. That earlier study, which tracked changes in school and residential segregation across a broad set of health metrics rather than the historical legacy of slavery on adult mortality, similarly found that racial segregation predicts wider Black-White health disparities at the county level.

To evaluate if the link between slavery and mortality might be causal rather than coincidental, the researchers used an analytical technique based on the suitability of the soil for growing cotton. Since cotton suitability is a natural geographic feature that heavily dictated where slavery was economically viable, it acts as a neutral proxy. The models showed that slavery predicted by cotton suitability was still strongly linked to modern mortality disparities, structural inequalities, and educational gaps.

“I think people find the whole thing surprising, ‘how could it be that something from 166 years ago could be influencing life today?'” Galvan said. “But, what was surprising for me was how robust the findings were. The supplemental materials are full of attempts to find alternative explanations.”

“We tried to poke holes in our analysis and kept finding evidence consistent with our theoretical model: That slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in the ’90s and 2000s, which predicts Black-White mortality disparities today,” he added.

Eriksson placed high confidence in the main findings. “The authors use multiple complementary analyses and take causal identification more seriously than is typical in this literature,” he said.

There are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. Because the study relies on historical data and observations rather than a controlled experiment, the statistical models cannot completely rule out the influence of unmeasured variables. Although the researchers adjusted for many historical and modern factors, they note that their findings provide a plausible causal pathway rather than definitive proof of causation.

“From what I’ve read on social media, the main misinterpretation I’ve seen is that some people are motivated to dismiss the findings by simply saying, ‘correlation is not causation,'” Galvan explained. “But the paper does not report a simple correlation.”

“While it is true that the paper is observational and cannot fully check for a causal relationship between the variables, we implemented a causal identification strategy and find evidence that increases the plausibility of causal inference,” he said. “We also looked for evidence of alternative models to our causal model, and did not find support for those alternatives. I encourage people who feel skeptical to read the paper, it is completely open access.”

Eriksson advised some caution regarding the exact mechanisms benefiting White Americans. “My confidence is somewhat lower regarding the interpretation of why White mortality is lower in counties with more historical slavery, because several plausible mechanisms could generate that pattern,” he said. “Readers should be careful not to interpret the study as showing that an otherwise identical White individual would necessarily have better survival chances if placed in a county with a history of greater inequality.”

“The analysis identifies long-run effects on places and populations, not directly on individuals,” Eriksson continued. “Contemporary county populations have been shaped by generations of migration and demographic change, which may contribute to the observed pattern. The data also cannot determine whether the apparent benefits were broadly shared among White residents or concentrated among particular socioeconomic groups.”

“I would most like to see research that disentangles the mechanisms behind the lower White mortality finding, especially the roles of migration, population composition, and socioeconomic stratification within the White population,” Eriksson added. “That would help clarify whether the result reflects broad-based benefits, selective retention of advantaged groups, or some combination of the two.”

The study also measured structural inequalities using snapshots of data from specific time periods. For instance, the poverty data does not capture how deeply poverty may be entrenched across multiple generations within a community. Similarly, by focusing only on college attainment, the analysis does not account for inequalities earlier in the education system, such as disciplinary differences or resources in primary and secondary schools.

“The average person tends to think of health disparities as primarily a consequence of individual choices, but our paper suggests that things outside of our control, like skin color and county history are also shaping our health,” Galvan said. “I also hope that the paper helps people see the role of policy in shaping health.”

“Racial discrimination, through slavery or otherwise, was a policy choice that continues to shape life in the U.S.,” he pointed out. “But that’s also hopeful! If discriminatory policy created an unequal world, egalitarian policy could create a more equitable world.”

Future research might explore the specific timing of other historically discriminatory policies, such as redlining and mass incarceration, to see how they co-occurred and compounded these health inequalities. Untangling these historical events could help policymakers design structural interventions that expand access to resources and improve health outcomes. Such efforts could address the deep-rooted origins of racial health disparities.

“I am generally interested in how historical and structural inequalities influence psychological outcomes,” Galvan added. “My current work shifts attention from how structural inequality is related to mortality to how it is related to psychological variables, like how people perceive and react to inequality, their policy beliefs, and their biases.”

The study, “https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas“>Historical slavery predicts contemporary disparities in mortality between Black and White Americans,” was authored by Manuel J. Galvan, B. Keith Payne, Keely A. Muscatell, Julian M. Rucker, and Paschal Sheeran.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/historical-slavery-predicts-modern-mortality-gaps-between-black-and-white-americans/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HistoricalSlavery #RacialHealthDisparities #BlackWhiteMortality #StructuralInequality #PlaceBasedHealth #HealthEquity #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #PolicyAndHealth #SystemicRacism #CausalInference

DATE: September 3, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Historical slavery predicts modern mortality gaps between Black and White Americans

URL: https://www.psypost.org/historical-slavery-predicts-modern-mortality-gaps-between-black-and-white-americans/

A recent study has found that United States counties with a higher proportion of enslaved people in 1860 currently experience wider mortality gaps between Black and White residents. This historical legacy appears to be maintained through modern structural inequities like economic and educational disparities. The findings were published in PNAS.

Despite beliefs that racial equality has progressed in the United States, severe health disparities remain between White and Black Americans. These inequalities are reflected in rates of chronic illness, life expectancy, and overall mortality. Over the past two decades, these disparities have resulted in an estimated 1.63 million excess deaths among Black Americans.

Systemic racism theory proposes that historical injustices are not just isolated events of the past but form the foundation of ongoing social institutions. Under this framework, historical practices like chattel slavery shaped the distribution of resources, political power, and opportunities in ways that persist across generations. Because these institutions are tied to specific locations, they can create durable, place-based conditions that maintain racial hierarchies long after formal policies have ended.

When resources like education, stable housing, and health care are unequally distributed, they become social determinants of health. These determinants act as cumulative risks or protections over a person’s life. Previous research indicates that patterns of enslavement prior to the Civil War continue to predict modern disparities in income, segregation, and some specific health outcomes like heart disease.

The authors of this new study aimed to test whether historical slavery predicts modern differences in the overall death rate. They also wanted to see if this relationship is carried through specific structural inequalities, such as economic gaps and unequal college access. Additionally, the researchers sought to address a long-standing debate about whether systems of racial oppression provided broad advantages to White Americans or only benefited a small elite class.

The research, led by Manuel J. Galvan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed data from counties in sixteen states where slavery was legal in 1860. The team combined historical census data on the proportion of enslaved people in each county with modern health data. For their main outcome, they used age-adjusted, all-cause mortality rates from 2010 to 2020 for both non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations.

“I generally study what conditions create and reproduce inequality,” Galvan told PsyPost. “In the case of Black-White racial inequality in the U.S., there is a lot of historical, theoretical, and empirical research that links slavery to a wide variety of racial disparities. This project was about linking the different variables in the literature together in one model where we could evaluate how slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in 1990-2000, and mortality disparities in 2010-2020.”

To understand how historical slavery might connect to modern health, the researchers looked at data on structural inequalities from the years 1990 to 2000. These included measures of residential segregation, overall economic inequality, racial disparities in poverty, and differences in college attainment. Using data from up to 901 counties, they constructed statistical models that accounted for various historical geographic and economic factors.

The team found that modern mortality gaps closely track the historical presence of slavery. In counties where 0 percent of the population was enslaved in 1860, the modern mortality rate was slightly higher for Black residents, with 11 additional deaths per 100,000 people compared to White residents. In counties with the highest historical enslavement rates, the gap was nearly 20 times larger.

In those areas, which had up to 92 percent of their population enslaved in 1860, the model estimated 214 additional deaths per 100,000 for Black Americans compared to White Americans. Specifically, the data indicates that for every 10 percent increase in the historical enslaved population, there are 13.6 more deaths per 100,000 among Black Americans today. At the same time, every 10 percent increase in historical enslavement predicts 8.5 fewer deaths per 100,000 among White Americans.

“These are rate differences, but they describe real people,” Galvan noted. “A county-level gap in age-adjusted mortality is a gap in how many people reach the next birthday.”

“The most important takeaway is that historical slavery predicts contemporary Black-White mortality disparities across U.S. counties, even when the authors use an unusually rigorous design to address alternative explanations,” Kimmo Eriksson, a professor of applied mathematics at Mälardalen University and researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Sweden, told PsyPost. Eriksson, who was not involved in the study, noted that the research “provides strong evidence that institutions and inequalities originating in slavery continue to have measurable health consequences today.”

“The findings largely extend a substantial literature linking slavery to contemporary racial inequalities, but they do so using stronger methods and a health outcome of fundamental importance,” Eriksson added. “The most novel and surprising result is that greater historical slavery was associated not only with higher Black mortality but also with lower White mortality.”

This pattern provides evidence for the competition perspective, which suggests that systemic racial oppression generated widespread material and health advantages for White populations at the expense of Black populations. The researchers also found that this widening mortality gap is largely carried by modern structural inequalities. By measuring these specific pathways, the study illustrates how historical institutions shape everyday life today.

Counties with higher historical enslavement rates tend to have greater economic inequality, wider Black-White poverty gaps, and larger disparities in college attainment. When these economic and educational factors were factored into the models, they fully accounted for the link between historical slavery and modern mortality disparities. This suggests that the legacy of slavery continues to operate primarily through these enduring socioeconomic divides.

The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that increases in school segregation were independently associated with higher racial disparities in health outcomes, including life expectancy and early mortality. That earlier study, which tracked changes in school and residential segregation across a broad set of health metrics rather than the historical legacy of slavery on adult mortality, similarly found that racial segregation predicts wider Black-White health disparities at the county level.

To evaluate if the link between slavery and mortality might be causal rather than coincidental, the researchers used an analytical technique based on the suitability of the soil for growing cotton. Since cotton suitability is a natural geographic feature that heavily dictated where slavery was economically viable, it acts as a neutral proxy. The models showed that slavery predicted by cotton suitability was still strongly linked to modern mortality disparities, structural inequalities, and educational gaps.

“I think people find the whole thing surprising, ‘how could it be that something from 166 years ago could be influencing life today?'” Galvan said. “But, what was surprising for me was how robust the findings were. The supplemental materials are full of attempts to find alternative explanations.”

“We tried to poke holes in our analysis and kept finding evidence consistent with our theoretical model: That slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in the ’90s and 2000s, which predicts Black-White mortality disparities today,” he added.

Eriksson placed high confidence in the main findings. “The authors use multiple complementary analyses and take causal identification more seriously than is typical in this literature,” he said.

There are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. Because the study relies on historical data and observations rather than a controlled experiment, the statistical models cannot completely rule out the influence of unmeasured variables. Although the researchers adjusted for many historical and modern factors, they note that their findings provide a plausible causal pathway rather than definitive proof of causation.

“From what I’ve read on social media, the main misinterpretation I’ve seen is that some people are motivated to dismiss the findings by simply saying, ‘correlation is not causation,'” Galvan explained. “But the paper does not report a simple correlation.”

“While it is true that the paper is observational and cannot fully check for a causal relationship between the variables, we implemented a causal identification strategy and find evidence that increases the plausibility of causal inference,” he said. “We also looked for evidence of alternative models to our causal model, and did not find support for those alternatives. I encourage people who feel skeptical to read the paper, it is completely open access.”

Eriksson advised some caution regarding the exact mechanisms benefiting White Americans. “My confidence is somewhat lower regarding the interpretation of why White mortality is lower in counties with more historical slavery, because several plausible mechanisms could generate that pattern,” he said. “Readers should be careful not to interpret the study as showing that an otherwise identical White individual would necessarily have better survival chances if placed in a county with a history of greater inequality.”

“The analysis identifies long-run effects on places and populations, not directly on individuals,” Eriksson continued. “Contemporary county populations have been shaped by generations of migration and demographic change, which may contribute to the observed pattern. The data also cannot determine whether the apparent benefits were broadly shared among White residents or concentrated among particular socioeconomic groups.”

“I would most like to see research that disentangles the mechanisms behind the lower White mortality finding, especially the roles of migration, population composition, and socioeconomic stratification within the White population,” Eriksson added. “That would help clarify whether the result reflects broad-based benefits, selective retention of advantaged groups, or some combination of the two.”

The study also measured structural inequalities using snapshots of data from specific time periods. For instance, the poverty data does not capture how deeply poverty may be entrenched across multiple generations within a community. Similarly, by focusing only on college attainment, the analysis does not account for inequalities earlier in the education system, such as disciplinary differences or resources in primary and secondary schools.

“The average person tends to think of health disparities as primarily a consequence of individual choices, but our paper suggests that things outside of our control, like skin color and county history are also shaping our health,” Galvan said. “I also hope that the paper helps people see the role of policy in shaping health.”

“Racial discrimination, through slavery or otherwise, was a policy choice that continues to shape life in the U.S.,” he pointed out. “But that’s also hopeful! If discriminatory policy created an unequal world, egalitarian policy could create a more equitable world.”

Future research might explore the specific timing of other historically discriminatory policies, such as redlining and mass incarceration, to see how they co-occurred and compounded these health inequalities. Untangling these historical events could help policymakers design structural interventions that expand access to resources and improve health outcomes. Such efforts could address the deep-rooted origins of racial health disparities.

“I am generally interested in how historical and structural inequalities influence psychological outcomes,” Galvan added. “My current work shifts attention from how structural inequality is related to mortality to how it is related to psychological variables, like how people perceive and react to inequality, their policy beliefs, and their biases.”

The study, “https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas“>Historical slavery predicts contemporary disparities in mortality between Black and White Americans,” was authored by Manuel J. Galvan, B. Keith Payne, Keely A. Muscatell, Julian M. Rucker, and Paschal Sheeran.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/historical-slavery-predicts-modern-mortality-gaps-between-black-and-white-americans/

-------------------------------------------------

Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org

Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot

-------------------------------------------------

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HistoricalSlavery #RacialHealthDisparities #BlackWhiteMortality #StructuralInequality #PlaceBasedHealth #HealthEquity #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #PolicyAndHealth #SystemicRacism #CausalInference

DATE: September 3, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------

TITLE: Historical slavery predicts modern mortality gaps between Black and White Americans

URL: https://www.psypost.org/historical-slavery-predicts-modern-mortality-gaps-between-black-and-white-americans/

A recent study has found that United States counties with a higher proportion of enslaved people in 1860 currently experience wider mortality gaps between Black and White residents. This historical legacy appears to be maintained through modern structural inequities like economic and educational disparities. The findings were published in PNAS.

Despite beliefs that racial equality has progressed in the United States, severe health disparities remain between White and Black Americans. These inequalities are reflected in rates of chronic illness, life expectancy, and overall mortality. Over the past two decades, these disparities have resulted in an estimated 1.63 million excess deaths among Black Americans.

Systemic racism theory proposes that historical injustices are not just isolated events of the past but form the foundation of ongoing social institutions. Under this framework, historical practices like chattel slavery shaped the distribution of resources, political power, and opportunities in ways that persist across generations. Because these institutions are tied to specific locations, they can create durable, place-based conditions that maintain racial hierarchies long after formal policies have ended.

When resources like education, stable housing, and health care are unequally distributed, they become social determinants of health. These determinants act as cumulative risks or protections over a person’s life. Previous research indicates that patterns of enslavement prior to the Civil War continue to predict modern disparities in income, segregation, and some specific health outcomes like heart disease.

The authors of this new study aimed to test whether historical slavery predicts modern differences in the overall death rate. They also wanted to see if this relationship is carried through specific structural inequalities, such as economic gaps and unequal college access. Additionally, the researchers sought to address a long-standing debate about whether systems of racial oppression provided broad advantages to White Americans or only benefited a small elite class.

The research, led by Manuel J. Galvan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, analyzed data from counties in sixteen states where slavery was legal in 1860. The team combined historical census data on the proportion of enslaved people in each county with modern health data. For their main outcome, they used age-adjusted, all-cause mortality rates from 2010 to 2020 for both non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations.

“I generally study what conditions create and reproduce inequality,” Galvan told PsyPost. “In the case of Black-White racial inequality in the U.S., there is a lot of historical, theoretical, and empirical research that links slavery to a wide variety of racial disparities. This project was about linking the different variables in the literature together in one model where we could evaluate how slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in 1990-2000, and mortality disparities in 2010-2020.”

To understand how historical slavery might connect to modern health, the researchers looked at data on structural inequalities from the years 1990 to 2000. These included measures of residential segregation, overall economic inequality, racial disparities in poverty, and differences in college attainment. Using data from up to 901 counties, they constructed statistical models that accounted for various historical geographic and economic factors.

The team found that modern mortality gaps closely track the historical presence of slavery. In counties where 0 percent of the population was enslaved in 1860, the modern mortality rate was slightly higher for Black residents, with 11 additional deaths per 100,000 people compared to White residents. In counties with the highest historical enslavement rates, the gap was nearly 20 times larger.

In those areas, which had up to 92 percent of their population enslaved in 1860, the model estimated 214 additional deaths per 100,000 for Black Americans compared to White Americans. Specifically, the data indicates that for every 10 percent increase in the historical enslaved population, there are 13.6 more deaths per 100,000 among Black Americans today. At the same time, every 10 percent increase in historical enslavement predicts 8.5 fewer deaths per 100,000 among White Americans.

“These are rate differences, but they describe real people,” Galvan noted. “A county-level gap in age-adjusted mortality is a gap in how many people reach the next birthday.”

“The most important takeaway is that historical slavery predicts contemporary Black-White mortality disparities across U.S. counties, even when the authors use an unusually rigorous design to address alternative explanations,” Kimmo Eriksson, a professor of applied mathematics at Mälardalen University and researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Sweden, told PsyPost. Eriksson, who was not involved in the study, noted that the research “provides strong evidence that institutions and inequalities originating in slavery continue to have measurable health consequences today.”

“The findings largely extend a substantial literature linking slavery to contemporary racial inequalities, but they do so using stronger methods and a health outcome of fundamental importance,” Eriksson added. “The most novel and surprising result is that greater historical slavery was associated not only with higher Black mortality but also with lower White mortality.”

This pattern provides evidence for the competition perspective, which suggests that systemic racial oppression generated widespread material and health advantages for White populations at the expense of Black populations. The researchers also found that this widening mortality gap is largely carried by modern structural inequalities. By measuring these specific pathways, the study illustrates how historical institutions shape everyday life today.

Counties with higher historical enslavement rates tend to have greater economic inequality, wider Black-White poverty gaps, and larger disparities in college attainment. When these economic and educational factors were factored into the models, they fully accounted for the link between historical slavery and modern mortality disparities. This suggests that the legacy of slavery continues to operate primarily through these enduring socioeconomic divides.

The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2024, which found that increases in school segregation were independently associated with higher racial disparities in health outcomes, including life expectancy and early mortality. That earlier study, which tracked changes in school and residential segregation across a broad set of health metrics rather than the historical legacy of slavery on adult mortality, similarly found that racial segregation predicts wider Black-White health disparities at the county level.

To evaluate if the link between slavery and mortality might be causal rather than coincidental, the researchers used an analytical technique based on the suitability of the soil for growing cotton. Since cotton suitability is a natural geographic feature that heavily dictated where slavery was economically viable, it acts as a neutral proxy. The models showed that slavery predicted by cotton suitability was still strongly linked to modern mortality disparities, structural inequalities, and educational gaps.

“I think people find the whole thing surprising, ‘how could it be that something from 166 years ago could be influencing life today?'” Galvan said. “But, what was surprising for me was how robust the findings were. The supplemental materials are full of attempts to find alternative explanations.”

“We tried to poke holes in our analysis and kept finding evidence consistent with our theoretical model: That slavery in 1860 predicts structural inequality in the ’90s and 2000s, which predicts Black-White mortality disparities today,” he added.

Eriksson placed high confidence in the main findings. “The authors use multiple complementary analyses and take causal identification more seriously than is typical in this literature,” he said.

There are a few things to keep in mind when interpreting these results. Because the study relies on historical data and observations rather than a controlled experiment, the statistical models cannot completely rule out the influence of unmeasured variables. Although the researchers adjusted for many historical and modern factors, they note that their findings provide a plausible causal pathway rather than definitive proof of causation.

“From what I’ve read on social media, the main misinterpretation I’ve seen is that some people are motivated to dismiss the findings by simply saying, ‘correlation is not causation,'” Galvan explained. “But the paper does not report a simple correlation.”

“While it is true that the paper is observational and cannot fully check for a causal relationship between the variables, we implemented a causal identification strategy and find evidence that increases the plausibility of causal inference,” he said. “We also looked for evidence of alternative models to our causal model, and did not find support for those alternatives. I encourage people who feel skeptical to read the paper, it is completely open access.”

Eriksson advised some caution regarding the exact mechanisms benefiting White Americans. “My confidence is somewhat lower regarding the interpretation of why White mortality is lower in counties with more historical slavery, because several plausible mechanisms could generate that pattern,” he said. “Readers should be careful not to interpret the study as showing that an otherwise identical White individual would necessarily have better survival chances if placed in a county with a history of greater inequality.”

“The analysis identifies long-run effects on places and populations, not directly on individuals,” Eriksson continued. “Contemporary county populations have been shaped by generations of migration and demographic change, which may contribute to the observed pattern. The data also cannot determine whether the apparent benefits were broadly shared among White residents or concentrated among particular socioeconomic groups.”

“I would most like to see research that disentangles the mechanisms behind the lower White mortality finding, especially the roles of migration, population composition, and socioeconomic stratification within the White population,” Eriksson added. “That would help clarify whether the result reflects broad-based benefits, selective retention of advantaged groups, or some combination of the two.”

The study also measured structural inequalities using snapshots of data from specific time periods. For instance, the poverty data does not capture how deeply poverty may be entrenched across multiple generations within a community. Similarly, by focusing only on college attainment, the analysis does not account for inequalities earlier in the education system, such as disciplinary differences or resources in primary and secondary schools.

“The average person tends to think of health disparities as primarily a consequence of individual choices, but our paper suggests that things outside of our control, like skin color and county history are also shaping our health,” Galvan said. “I also hope that the paper helps people see the role of policy in shaping health.”

“Racial discrimination, through slavery or otherwise, was a policy choice that continues to shape life in the U.S.,” he pointed out. “But that’s also hopeful! If discriminatory policy created an unequal world, egalitarian policy could create a more equitable world.”

Future research might explore the specific timing of other historically discriminatory policies, such as redlining and mass incarceration, to see how they co-occurred and compounded these health inequalities. Untangling these historical events could help policymakers design structural interventions that expand access to resources and improve health outcomes. Such efforts could address the deep-rooted origins of racial health disparities.

“I am generally interested in how historical and structural inequalities influence psychological outcomes,” Galvan added. “My current work shifts attention from how structural inequality is related to mortality to how it is related to psychological variables, like how people perceive and react to inequality, their policy beliefs, and their biases.”

The study, “https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas“>Historical slavery predicts contemporary disparities in mortality between Black and White Americans,” was authored by Manuel J. Galvan, B. Keith Payne, Keely A. Muscatell, Julian M. Rucker, and Paschal Sheeran.

URL: https://www.psypost.org/historical-slavery-predicts-modern-mortality-gaps-between-black-and-white-americans/

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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #HistoricalSlavery #RacialHealthDisparities #BlackWhiteMortality #StructuralInequality #PlaceBasedHealth #HealthEquity #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #PolicyAndHealth #SystemicRacism #CausalInference

Through a political desire for unity, ‘we are documenting the transformation of the very meaning given to the principle of #laïcité, the interpretation of which has undergone a notorious shift: whereas yesterday it allowed the pluralist expression of beliefs, today it requires religious neutrality’.

Stéphanie Hennette-Vauchez in "L'École et la République - La nouvelle laïcité scolaire" (2023)

#unitary #normalization #normation #normal #normativity #school #secularism #neutrality #education #HennetteVauchez #hijab #bioPolitics #bioPower #islamophobia #racism #raceMaking #systemicRacism #France

Here I spin a yarn about an efficient method of using orientalism to support israel. 🧶

#unitary #normalization #normation #normal #normativity #school #secularism #neutrality #education #hijab #bioPolitics #bioPower #islamophobia #racism #raceMaking #systemicRacism #France #Europe #extremeCentre #extremeCenter #proZionism #confusion #conflation #entanglement #EstelleSays

She Saw Her Racist Father Beat A Black Man And Chose Anti-Racist Solidarity Over Inherited Hate

Brittani Mazzone recalls her racist father beating a Black man and explains how that trauma pushed her to reject hate, choose allyship, and stand for justice.

The Confederate Question Never Closed

https://bolesblogs.com/2026/07/02/the-confederate-question-never-closed/

Steffi Love and Namor discuss W. E. B. Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk." #blackauthor #blackauthors #webdubois #bookdiscussion #discussion #blm #blacklivesmatter #civilrights #discrimination #enddiscrimination #endracism #racism #systemicracism #endsystemicracism #doubleconsciousness #jimcrow #jimcrowlaws #segregation #racialinjustice #marchforcivilrights #equality #identity #psychologicalconflict #racismiswrong #doll #dolls #dollcollector #dollcollectors #dollphotographer

A Minneapolis police shooting reignites a painful pattern: authorities swiftly disparage victims like Alex Pretti and Renee Good, only for evidence to contradict those claims. Black families already familiar with such narratives see echoes of their own fights for justice, noting law enforcement often fails to correct falsehoods that hinder fair proceedings. Experts highlight how cases like Floyd and Castile highlight ongoing systemic issues. Timothy Welbeck calls it “painfully ironic” that Pretti and Good died where others faced police brutality, underscoring a long history of racial injustice in America’s law enforcement. Read more: https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-ice-shootings-racial-justice-pretti-good-2958f284a7f434726c0f09e89266cf7b #JusticeMatters #PoliceReform #BlackLives #Minnesota #Accountability #SystemicRacism

Huge #OrangeShirt #memorial to honour all the native kids' lives lost in the cruel #ResidentialSchool system.
On the site of one of the worst in Canada - #Namgis territory, #AlertBay. It was called St. Michael's Indian Residential School. It was demolished in 2015. #Umista Cultural Center sits on the old site. #Indigenous peoples have reclaimed their land there & are trying to heal from colonial abuses.

We have racists in #Canada who are currently dishonouring the victims of residential schools by denying survivors' histories & saying mass graves are a lie. This is so wrong. We owe the ones who died & the living survivors support & reparations. Please don't let folks use denialism around you - confront them & stand up for the victims & survivors.

Relevant links:
https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/Detail/objects/518

https://orangeshirtday.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Indian_Residential_School_(Alert_Bay)

https://www.umista.ca/

https://www.7generations.org/what-is-every-child-matters/

#IndigenousChildren #ColonialCrimes #ColonialViolence #ChurchAbuses #RacialViolence #IndigenousGenocide #EveryChildMatters #BelieveVictims #SupportSurvivors #NativeChildren #IndigenousChildren #ChildAbuse #ColonialCoverUps #TruthBeforeReconcilliation #Decolonization #DecolonizeYourMind #BritishColumbia #Canada #CrimesAgainstHumanity #CanadasGenocide #BChistory #CanadianHistory #StopRacism #SystemicRacism #SystematicAbuse

Because the rest of us can’t afford to gamble our futures on your “I don’t know.”

#Mediocre #MythOfWhiteMaleSupremacy #TaNehisiCoates #EzraKlein #WhiteMen #GoodWhiteFolx #Antiracism #Accountability #PowerAndPrivilege #SystemicRacism #CulturalCritique #DoTheWork #ProfitWithoutOppression #KimCrayton

If you are serious about change, then stop protecting your own mediocrity and start supporting those whose brilliance, sacrifice, and leadership have been carrying democracy while you benefitted from the myth.

#Mediocre #StaceyAbrams #GeorgiaPolitics #MythOfWhiteMaleSupremacy #SystemicRacism #AntiRacism #GoodWhiteFolx #PoliticalBacklash #Democracy #BlackWomenLead #WhiteMediocrity #ProfitWithoutOppression #KimCrayton

The nationalistic fervor I'm seeing in Canada creeps me out. The Canadian flag is not the great balm for the soul so many settlers think it is. It is a symbol of colonial oppression for Indigenous folks. It wasn't so long ago that those hidden graves at residential schools were discovered. More continue to be found at the sites of former residential schools, and genocide deniers have been taking over the narrative.

Indigenous communities still remain without drinking water despite political promises even while Nestle plunders nearby water sources.

A large percentage of calls to action for Truth and Reconciliation remain unmet.

I see the jingoistic flag-waving disturbing and alienating. I've already had people laughing at my alienation.

Do not alienate Indigenous people. As Jeff Doctor says over on BlueSky, "Remember who taught you about maple trees, about the food from these lands, the ways to keep safe and warm. Some of your ancestors have already resisted Americans alongside ours, learn from the true histories, not the nationalist versions."
https://bsky.app/profile/jeff.doctor/post/3liaarncgwf2x
#Canada #CanadianFlag #MapleLeafFlag #215Children #ResidentialSchool #Jingoism #TruthAndReconciliation #SystemicRacism #Genocide

There is no judicial truth. Organisations cannot "do Justice". Let's discuss the biases of the judicial institutions.

! to be followed @sociology @ethics

#toBeFollowed #judicialBias #institutionsDeceive #ethics #choice #choosing #sentencing #judging #systemicRacism #racialisation #racialization #patriarchy #fragility #truth #reputation #domination #stateViolence #sociology #mentalHealth #unitary #corporatism #justice #law #publicLaw #bias #responsibility

#Revolution #BlackLivesMatter #blacklives #racism #systemicracism