1. April 2014
ECCWA Research
Brief 01
Racism
Dr. Zarrin S Siddiqui
President
20 View Street, North Perth WA 6006
eccwa.info@gmail.com
@eccwa

2. Preamble
One of the objectives of our strategic plan 2014-2016 is to promote Multiculturalism, Integration
and Harmony so the ethnic communities can participate effectively. In order to achieve this it is
important to undertake research, consultation, and collaborative projects to identify, address and
advocate the needs of ethnic and CaLD communities.
ECCWA Research Brief will thus be produced quarterly to keep abreast of recent research in the
areas that are important for ethnic communities. During the month of March the Attorney General
George Brandis has tabled proposed amendments in the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 for feedback
hence it is timely that our first Research Brief provides an over view of the recent literature related
to Racism.
I hope you find the information valuable. As the ECCWA is not receiving funding, we can only
contribute a summary of research available however it is anticipated that our future Research Briefs
will actually be integrative or systematic reviews subject to state funding which will allow us to
employ policy officers.
Please do not hesitate to provide feedback.
D. Zarrin S Siddiqui

3. Literature on Racism
1. Lifetime racism and blood pressure changes during pregnancy:
Implications for fetal growth.
Health Psychology, Volume 33, 2014, 43-51
HILMERT, CLAYTON J.; DOMINGUEZ, TYAN PARKER; SCHETTER, CHRISTINE DUNKEL; SRINIVAS,
SINDHU K.; GLYNN, LAURA M.; HOBEL, CALVIN J.; SANDMAN, CURT A.
This research suggests that exposure to racism partially explains why African American
women are 2 to 3 times more likely to deliver low birth weight and preterm infants.
However, the physiological pathways by which racism exerts these effects are unclear. This
study examined how lifetime exposure to racism, in combination with maternal blood
pressure changes during pregnancy, was associated with fetal growth. Methods: African
American pregnant women (n = 39) reported exposure to childhood and adulthood racism
in several life domains (e.g., at school, at work), which were experienced directly or
indirectly, meaning vicariously experienced when someone close to them was treated
unfairly. A research nurse measured maternal blood pressure at 18 to 20 and 30 to 32
weeks gestation. Standardized questionnaires and trained interviewers assessed maternal
demographics. Neonatal length of gestation and birth weight data were collected from
medical charts. Results: Childhood racism interacted with diastolic blood pressure to predict
birth weight. Specifically, women with two or more domains of indirect exposure to racism
in childhood and increases in diastolic blood pressure between 18 and 32 weeks had lower
gestational age adjusted birth weight than the other women. A similar pattern was found
for direct exposure to racism in childhood. Conclusions: Increases in diastolic blood pressure
between the second and third trimesters predicted lower birth weight, but only when
racism exposure in childhood (direct or indirect) was relatively high. Understanding
pregnant African American women’s lifetime direct and indirect experiences with racism in
combination with prenatal blood pressure may improve identification of highest risk
subgroups within this population.
2. Structural racism and myocardial infarction in the United States
Social Science & Medicine, Volume 103, 2014, 42-50
ALICIA LUKACHKO, MARK L. HATZENBUEHLER, KATHERINE M. KEYES
There is a growing research literature suggesting that racism is an important risk factor
undermining the health of Blacks in the United States. Racism can take many forms, ranging
from interpersonal interactions to institutional/structural conditions and practices. Existing
research, however, tends to focus on individual forms of racial discrimination using self-
report measures. Far less attention has been paid to whether structural racism may
disadvantage the health of Blacks in the United States. The current study addresses gaps in
the existing research by using novel measures of structural racism and by explicitly testing

4. the hypothesis that structural racism is a risk factor for myocardial infarction among Blacks
in the United States. State-level indicators of structural racism included four domains:
(1) political participation; (2) employment and job status; (3) educational attainment;
and (4) judicial treatment. State-level racial disparities across these domains were
proposed to represent the systematic exclusion of Blacks from resources and
mobility in society. Data on past-year myocardial infarction were obtained from the
National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (non-Hispanic
Black: N = 8245; non-Hispanic White: N = 24,507), a nationally representative survey
of the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 18 and older. Models were
adjusted for individual-level confounders (age, sex, education, household income,
medical insurance) as well as for state-level disparities in poverty. Results indicated
that Blacks living in states with high levels of structural racism were generally more
likely to report past-year myocardial infarction than Blacks living in low-structural
racism states. Conversely, Whites living in high structural racism states experienced
null or lower odds of myocardial infarction compared to Whites living in low-
structural racism states. These results raise the provocative possibility that structural
racism may not only harm the targets of stigma but also benefit those who wield the
power to enact stigma and discrimination.
3. Talking culture? Egalitarianism, color-blindness and racism in
Australian elementary schools
Teaching and Teacher Education Volume39, 2014, 112 - 122
JESSICA WALTON, NAOMI PRIEST, EMMA KOWAL, FIONA WHITE, KATIE BRICKWOOD,
BRANDI FOX, YIN PARADIES.
This study examines egalitarianism as an ethnic-racial socialization message used by
teachers with 8 to12 year old children in four socio-demographically diverse elementary
schools in Melbourne, Australia. The three main types of egalitarian messages identified are
i) procedural-justice color-blindness, ii) distributive-justice colour-blindness and iii) color-
muteness, and each is explored in relation to how teachers talk to children about racial,
ethnic and cultural diversity, and racism. We conclude that teacher confidence and
capability, and to a lesser degree, school context, influenced the types of egalitarian
messages used about diversity and the extent to which teachers had explicit and critical
discussions about racism.

5. 4. Advancing racism with Facebook: Frequency and purpose of
Facebook use and the acceptance of prejudiced and egalitarian
messages.
Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 29, 2013 610 - 615
SHANNON M RAUCH, KIMBERLY SCHANZ
The present study examined the relationship between frequency of Facebook use and
attitude toward negative racial messages that are presented via Facebook. White
participants completed a measure of Facebook use and then read one of three persuasive
messages regarding race: an egalitarian message, a negative message with a superiority
focus, or a negative message with a victim focus. Participants indicated their attitude
toward the message and their Facebook-related behavioral intentions. Results showed that
frequency of Facebook use related positively to message acceptance, particularly messages
with overt racist content. Facebook users who were motivated by information seeking
needs discriminated the most between messages, accepting an egalitarian message and
rejecting messages with racist content.
5. Denial of racism and its implications for local action
Discourse Society, Vol. 24, 2013, 89-109
JACQUELINE K NELSON
Literature on modern racism identifies denial as one of its key features. This article
examines the discourses of denial that feature in the talk of local anti-racism actors in
Australia, and asks what drives these discourses. The research draws on qualitative
interviews undertaken with participants involved in local anti-racism in two case study
areas, one in South Australia and the other in New South Wales. This article explores the
way local participants in the case study areas deployed four discourses to deny or minimise
racism: temporal deflections; spatial deflections; deflections from the mainstream; and
absence discourses. Place defending and the desire to protect one’s local area from being
branded a racist space is discussed as a driver of those local denial discourses. Local denial
of racism is also linked to national politics of racism and anti-racism. In particular, the
Australian government’s retreat from multiculturalism, and the preference for ‘harmony’
rather than ‘anti-racism’ initiatives, was linked to the avoidance of the language of racism
within participants’ responses. The way denial discourses narrow the range of possibilities
for local anti-racism is discussed, as is the importance of acknowledgement of racism,
particularly institutional and systemic racism. Public acknowledgement of these forms of
racism will broaden the scope of local anti-racism.

6. 6. Cultural diversity, racialisation and the experience of racism in
rural Australia: the South Australian case
Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 30, 2013, 1-9.
JAMES FORRESTA, , KEVIN DUNNB
Rural spaces in settler nations like Australia are commonly perceived as ‘white’, with low
numbers of ‘non-white’ ethnic minorities. Perhaps because of this, although ethnic diversity
is a feature of some rural communities, there is a paucity of research into issues of cultural
exclusion. This is surprising in view of recent federal government initiatives to encourage
non-Anglo immigrants to settle in rural areas. How welcoming are the receiving
communities? Set within a constructivist paradigm, racism is analysed here as a social
construction within places, reflecting the local ethnic mix and socio-demographic profiles.
From a telephone survey in 2007 and questions looking at ‘old’, ‘new’ and ‘symbolic’
racisms, this study finds that levels of tolerance and intolerance are everywhere different.
Traditional associations between racism and higher education or increasing age are
sometimes true, sometimes not; degree of contact is sometimes associated with
acceptance, sometimes not. Particulars of the ethnic mix are especially important.
Consistent with new racist attitudes, dispositions towards ‘out-groups’ varies between
acceptance of immigrants from Britain and Europe and lesser acceptance of those from sub-
Saharan Africa, Asia, or the Middle East (Muslims). However, while rural South Australians
are less tolerant than people living in metropolitan Adelaide, low levels of experience of
racist behaviour are found among ethnic minority group members than analysis of attitudes
might have suggested.
7. A systematic review of studies examining the relationship
between reported racism and health and wellbeing for children
and young people
Social Science & Medicine, Volume 95, October 2013, Pages 115-127
NAOMI PRIEST, YIN PARADIES, BRIGID TRENERRY, MANDY TRUONG, SAFFRON KARLSEN, YVONNE
KELLY
Racial discrimination is increasingly recognised as a determinant of racial and ethnic health
inequalities, with growing evidence of strong associations between racial discrimination and
adult health outcomes. There is a growing body of literature that considers the effects of
racial discrimination on child and youth health. The aim of this paper is to provide a
systematic review of studies that examine relationships between reported racial
discrimination and child and youth health. We describe the characteristics of 121 studies
identified by a comprehensive search strategy, including definitions and measurements of
racial discrimination and the nature of reported associations. Most studies were published
in the last seven years, used cross-sectional designs and were conducted in the United

7. States with young people aged 12–18 years. African American, Latino/a, and Asian
populations were most frequently included in these studies. Of the 461 associations
examined in these studies, mental health outcomes (e.g. depression, anxiety) were most
commonly reported, with statistically significant associations with racial discrimination
found in 76% of outcomes examined. Statistically significant associations were also found
for over 50% of associations between racial discrimination and positive mental health (e.g.
self-esteem, resilience), behaviour problems, wellbeing, and pregnancy/birth outcomes. The
field is currently limited by a lack of longitudinal studies, limited psychometrically validated
exposure instruments and poor conceptualisation and definition of racial discrimination.
There is also a need to investigate the complex and varying pathways by which reported
racial discrimination affect child and youth health. Ensuring study quality in this field will
allow future research to reveal the complex role that racial discrimination plays as a
determinant of child and youth health.
8. Racism and Social Capital: The implications for social and
physical well-being
Journal of Social Issues, Volume 68, 2012, 358 - 384
ELIZABETH BRONDOLO, MADELINE LIBRETTI, LUIS RIVERA, KATRINA M.WALSEMANN
Racism can be manifest at the cultural, institutional and individual levels, and can exert
effects at the intrapersonal level if targeted individuals internalize attitudes toward their
own racial/ethnic groups. The general aim of this article is to examine the ways in which all
levels of racism undermine the development of peer relations, one component of social
capital; and consequently affect the health and well-being of targeted individuals. The
evidence suggests that cultural racism inculcates attitudes that may foster race-related
social distancing; institutional racism isolates individuals from the opportunities to develop
the skills needed to develop cross race-relations and promotes engagement with peers who
exhibit antisocial behavior; interpersonal racism may erode the quality of routine
interpersonal exchanges and engender anxiety about interacting with cross-race peers; and
internalized racism may undermine the benefits of cross-race peer interactions. To the
degree that racism affects the ability to form, maintain and benefit from peer relationships;
it can contribute to racial disparities in economic, social and health-related outcomes and
undermine the types of social cohesion that promote national unity.
9. More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory,
and immigrant health
Social Science & Medicine, Vol.75, 2012, 2099-106
EDNA A. VIRUELL-FUENTES A, PATRICIA Y. MIRANDA B, SAWSAN ABDULRAHIM C
Explanations for immigrant health outcomes often invoke culture through the use of the
concept of acculturation. The over reliance on cultural explanations for immigrant health

8. outcomes has been the topic of growing debate, with the critics’ main concern being that
such explanations obscure the impact of structural factors on immigrant health disparities.
In this paper, we highlight the shortcomings of cultural explanations as currently employed
in the health literature, and argue for a shift from individual culture-based frameworks, to
perspectives that address how multiple dimensions of inequality intersect to impact health
outcomes. Based on our review of the literature, we suggest specific lines of inquiry
regarding immigrants’ experiences with day-to-day discrimination, as well as on the roles
that place and immigration policies play in shaping immigrant health outcomes. The paper
concludes with suggestions for integrating intersectionality theory in future research on
immigrant health.
10. The pervasive effects of racism: Experiences of racial
discrimination in New Zealand over time and associations with
multiple health domains
Social Science & Medicine, Volume 74, Issue 3, February 2012, Pages 408-415
RICCI HARRIS, DONNA CORMACK, MARTIN TOBIAS, LI-CHIA YEH, NATALIE TALAMAIVAO, JOANNA
MINSTER, ROIMATA TIMUTIMU
Self-reported experience of racial discrimination has been linked to a range of health
outcomes in various countries and for different ethnic groups. This study builds on previous
work in New Zealand to further investigate the prevalence of self-reported experience of
racial discrimination by ethnicity, changes over time and associations with multiple health
measures.
The study uses data from the 2002/03 (n = 12,500) and 2006/07 (n = 12,488) New Zealand
Health Surveys, nationally representative population-based surveys of adults (15+ years).
Reported experience of racial discrimination was measured in both surveys and covered 5
items: experience of an ethnically motivated physical or verbal attack; and unfair treatment
because of ethnicity by a health professional, in work, or when gaining housing. Ethnicity
was classified as Maori, Pacific, Asian or European. Health indicators included measures of:
mental health (SF36 mental health scale, psychological distress, doctor diagnosed mental
health condition); physical health (self-rated health, SF36 physical functioning scale,
cardiovascular disease); and health risk (smoking, hazardous drinking, excess body fat).
Logistic regression was used to examine changes in prevalence of reported experience of
racial discrimination over time and associations with health.
Reported experience of racial discrimination increased between 2002/03 (28.1% ever) and
2006/07 (35.0% ever) among Asian peoples but remained largely unchanged for other
ethnic groupings (Maori 29.5%, Pacific 23.0%, European 13.5%). Experience of racial

9. discrimination was associated with all negative health measures except excess body fat.
Where there were significant associations, a dose-response relationship was also evident.
We conclude that racial discrimination experienced across a range of settings has the
potential to impact on a wide range of health outcomes and risk factors. While ongoing
research is needed to understand the multifarious nature of racism and the pathways by
which it leads to poor health, it is feasible to monitor experiences of racial discrimination in
national surveys.
11. Responding to racism: Insights on how racism can damage
health from an urban study of Australian Aboriginal people
Social Science & Medicine, Volume 73, 2011, 1045-1053
ANNA M. ZIERSCH, GILBERT GALLAHER, FRAN BAUM, MICHAEL BENTLEY
This paper examines responses to racism and the pathways through which racism can affect
health and wellbeing for Aboriginal people living in an urban environment. Face-to-face
interviews were conducted in 2006/07 with 153 Aboriginal people living in Adelaide,
Australia. Participants were asked about their experience of, and responses to, racism, and
the impact of these experiences on their health. Racism was regularly experienced by 93%
of participants. Almost two thirds of people felt that racism affected their health. Using a
thematic analysis with a particular focus on how agency and structure interacted, a number
of key reactions and responses to racism were identified. These included: emotional and
physiological reactions; and responses such as gaining support from social networks;
confronting the person/situation; ignoring it; avoiding situations where they might
experience racism; ‘minimising’ the significance or severity of racism or questioning whether
incidents were racist; and consuming alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. A further theme was
a conscious decision to not ‘allow’ racism to affect health. Our study found that most people
used more than one of these coping strategies, and that strategies were selected with an
awareness of positive and negative health impacts. While individuals demonstrated
substantial agency in their responses, there were clear structural constraints on how they
reacted and responded. We found that not only was racism potentially detrimental to
health, but so too were some responses. However, while some strategies appeared
‘healthier’ than others, most strategies entailed costs and benefits, and these depended on
the meanings of responses for individuals. This paper concludes that initiatives to promote
health-protective responses to racism need to consider structural constraints and the
overarching goal of reducing systemic racism.

10. 12. Racism and Hypertension: A Review of the Empirical Evidence
and Implications for Clinical Practice
American Journal of Hypertension, Volume 24,2011, 518-529.
ELIZABETH BRONDOLO, ERICA E. LOVE, MELISSA PENCILLE, ANTOINETTE SCHOENTHALER,GBENGA
OGEDEGBE
Despite improved hypertension (HTN) awareness and treatment, racial disparities in HTN
prevalence persist. An understanding of the biopsychosocial determinants of HTN is
necessary to address racial disparities in the prevalence of HTN. This review examines the
evidence directly and indirectly linking multiple levels of racism to HTN. Published empirical
research in EBSCO databases investigating the relationships of three levels of racism
(individual/interpersonal, internalized, and institutional racism) to HTN was reviewed.
Direct evidence linking individual/interpersonal racism to HTN diagnosis is weak. However,
the relationship of individual/ interpersonal racism to ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) is
more consistent, with all published studies reporting a positive relationship of interpersonal
racism to ABP. There is no direct evidence linking internalized racism to BP. Population-
based studies provide some evidence linking institutional racism, in the forms of residential
racial segregation (RRS) and incarceration, to HTN incidence. Racism shows associations to
stress exposure and reactivity as well as associations to established HTN-related risk factors
including obesity, low levels of physical activity and alcohol use. The effects vary by level of
racism. Overall the findings suggest that racism may increase risk for HTN; these effects
emerge more clearly for institutional racism than for individual level racism. All levels of
racism may influence the prevalence of HTN via stress exposure and reactivity and by
fostering conditions that undermine health behaviors, raising the barriers to lifestyle
change.
13.Racial/Ethnic Differences in Self-Reported Racism and Its
Association With Cancer-Related Health Behaviors
American Journal of Public Health, Volume 100, 2010, 364 – 374.
SALMA SHARIFF-MARCO, ANN C. KLASSEN JANICE V. BOWIE
This study used population-based survey data to estimate the prevalence of self-reported
racism across racial/ethnic groups and to evaluate the association between self-reported
racism and cancer-related health behaviors. Cross-sectional data from the 2003 California
Health Interview Survey was used. Questions measured self-reported racism in general and
in health care. The cancer risk behaviors we assessed were smoking, binge drinking, not
walking, being overweight or obese, and not being up to date with screenings for breast,
cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancers. Analyses included descriptive analyses and logistic
regression. Prevalence of self-reported racism varied between and within aggregate
racial/ethnic groups. In adjusted analyses, general racism was associated with smoking,

11. binge drinking, and being overweight or obese; health care racism was associated with not
being up to date with screening for prostate cancer. Associations varied across racial/ethnic
groups. Associations between general racism and lifestyle behaviors suggest that racism is a
potential stressor that may shape cancer-related health behaviors, and its impact may vary
by race/ethnicity.
14. Responses to Racism: A Taxonomy of Coping Styles Used by
Aboriginal Australians American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, volume 74, 2004, 56-71
MELLOR, DAVID.
In this article the author has explored the coping responses of those who experience racism.
Previous attempts to provide taxonomies of responses to racism-discrimination-oppression
are reviewed. An analysis of data derived from semi-structured interviews conducted with
34 Indigenous Australians that explored experiences of racism and emotional and
behavioral responses is reported, and taxonomy of coping made up of 3 broad categories is
presented. The defining feature of these categories is the purpose of the responses
contained therein: to defend the self, to control or contain the reaction, or to confront the
racism. It is argued that this may be a more useful way to understand responses to racism
than taxonomies previously proposed.

12. Glossary
1
Gee, G. C., Ro, A., Shariff-Marco, S., & Chae, D. (2009). Racial discrimination and health among
Asian Americans: Evidence, assessment, and directions for future research. Epidemiologic
Reviews, 31, 130 – 151.
2
Helms, J. E. (1990). An overview of Black racial identity theory. In J. E. Helms (Ed.), Black and White
racial identity: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 9 – 32). Westport, Conn: Praeger.
3
The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Report of an inquiry by Sir William MacPherson of Cluny (The MacPherson
Report): Chapter 6". The Stationery Office. February 1999. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
4
Griffith, Derek, Childs, Erica L., Eng, Eugenia, and Jefferies, Vanessa. "Racism in organizations: The case of a
county public health department." Journal of Community Psychology 35.3Apr 2007 287-302. 6 November
2008.
Racism The process, norms, ideologies, and behaviours that perpetuate
racial inequality1
Cultural Racism Societal beliefs and customs that promote the assumption that the
products of white culture (e.g., language, traditions, appearance) are
superior to those of non-White cultures.2
Institutional Racism the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate
and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or
ethnic origin3,4