When Carolyn Williams Francis walks into a room and realizes she's the only black person there, her heart rate increases, her blood pressure increases, and her body goes into fight-or-flight mode.
Yvette Cosier, a senior epidemiologist at Boston University who has studied Black women's health for nearly 30 years, said that reaction could harm East Side residents' long-term health, but it's not a choice. She said it's not even something she can control.
“It's a natural human instinct to observe the environments we enter, because that's why we instinctively Because that's what it's intended to be.” we are survivors. ”
She said being the only black woman in this situation takes a social and physiological toll on her body and mind.
“In the back of your mind, you start doubting yourself and your abilities, and it becomes stressful,” Williams-Francis said. She said she feels that way even though she's been running her own business, Williams Interior Designs, for 39 years. They remain a minority in a field dominated by white men.
The consequences could be devastating, Kozier said.
Black women are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stroke, lupus and some cancers than other races and ethnicities, according to a Boston University study. They are also twice as likely as white women to develop diabetes and have uncontrolled blood pressure over the age of 55.
These poor health outcomes are partially due to the stresses of centuries of racism and other race-related inequalities. For example, black women are more likely than white women to live in dangerous areas with higher levels of poverty and fewer resources. They are less likely to have access to healthy food or health insurance, Kozier said..
Although it can happen to white women and women of other races, the frequency and intensity of the condition is worse in black women, which makes a big difference in health, Cozier said.
The study by Kozier and colleagues at Boston University is currently underway and is the largest and longest-running study in the United States focused solely on the health of Black women. This includes 59,000 women nationwide.
This study shows that racism and other stressors may be stronger predictors of poor health than personal choices or genetics, as Black women's health is often out of their control. It turns out that means no.
Dr. Camilla Dixon, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and vice chair of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the department, said the term “weathering” used to describe this phenomenon He said that there is a concept called “.
“The idea is that the experience of being a black woman in this country inherently leads to stress, which leads to poor health outcomes,” Dixon said.
Studies show that even women who immigrated to the United States recently have better health than Black women who have lived in the United States for years, Dixon said.
“It’s just the experience of being black in this country,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s rooted in systemic racism.”
Although the Black Women's Health Study does not directly measure the effects of sexism, Kozier said sexism can also affect women's health outcomes.
Many inequalities are systemic, so society as a whole must change, Kozier said.
She said it's important to welcome new leaders, young change-makers, fresh ideas and continue to look ahead when it comes to creating systemic change and equity.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is another example, Kozier said. One of Wu's goals is to invest city funds into underfunded areas in historically black neighborhoods. Wu's website states that more efforts are needed to help Black people achieve homeownership, and that redlining, which has denied Black people and other people homeownership rights since the 1930s, is necessary. The practice, known as “death'', has made housing unaffordable for many people and has had discriminatory effects. Practice in other fields.
Education is also important. Ohio State provides health education to help women, especially pregnant women, reduce the impact of so-called “social determinants of health” and non-medical factors that affect health, such as where you are born. We have programs to help you get resources. Grow, work, live and grow old, Dixon said.
On an individual level, how women deal with race-related and other stressors can impact their health outcomes, Kozier said. For example, women who claim their religious beliefs help them cope with stress have lower blood pressure, she said. When women stand up against racism and share their experiences with others, their outcomes also improve.
Williams-Francis, 63, said she deals with stress related to work and racism by confiding in people she trusts, exercising, meditating and praying.
Williams-Francis, who was not involved in the study, said she and others in her family suffer from health issues that appear to hit black women harder than others. .
Her twin sister, Carla Bailey, died last year after a battle with breast cancer, but she also had a congenital heart defect.
Williams-Francis then had two heart stents inserted to prevent a heart attack.
She believes that the need for these interventions is largely due to the stress and after-effects of being a pioneering black female entrepreneur in a white male-dominated world for the past 40 years. There is.
“It’s a lot of stress for our business because sometimes we feel discriminated against in two ways: one, we’re a small business; Because we are an African-American woman-owned business,” Williams said. Francis said. “My clients treat me a little differently than other clients.”
She said her opponents also treat her differently by underestimating her. As a result, Williams-Francis said she strives to perfect every project to set the record straight and pave the way for other Black-owned businesses.
Experiences like Williams-Francis's are not uncommon for professional Black women, Cozier said.
“People think that if you're educated you won't experience racism, but the reality is that being an educated black woman means you're more likely to be the only one in the room. I mean,” Cozier said.
Cozier's advice for Black women dealing with stressors that affect their health is to look not just forward, but also to the past.
“Look at previous generations,” she said. “Those women survived. They brought joy to their families. They overcame and thrived. They gave me a foundation so I could build a foundation for my children.” He laid the foundation.”
dking@dispatch.com
@DanaeKing
