THE IMPACT OF HATE-MOTIVATED BEHAVIOR ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH

At the request of our presenters, Sac Cultural Hub Media Company and Foundation is republishing the following articles for your review and to share on the topic of hate motivated beahvior.

Discrimination is a social determinant of health disparities often experienced by members of vulnerable communities as a series of unique stressors. Discrimination, hate, and White supremacist ideology have increasingly shifted from the fringes of society to mainstream social media, political, and social discourse

Hate-motivated behavior can be thought of as verbal or nonverbal expressions of discrimination. For instance, hate speech comprises the verbal or written expression of prejudice aimed at harming another group. Hate crimes are commonly defined as harmful acts toward a person or group based on actual or perceived group membership. Acts of hate are thought to be effortful or intentional.

Hate-motivated behavior poses a threat to the population’s well-being, especially for Black people. The negative health consequences for victims are numerous, with much of the literature focused on the victimization of people based on race, sexual orientation, and gender minority status. Experiences of hate are associated with poor emotional well-being such as feelings of anger, shame, and fear. Moreover, victims tend to experience poor mental health, including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and suicidal behavior. Medically, impacts include poor overall physical health, physical injury, stress, and difficulty accessing medical care. Victimization is also associated with poor health behaviors such as alcohol or drug use and unhealthy coping strategies such as emotion suppression. The experience of hate-motivated behavior can result in blaming of and lower empathy toward fellow victims.

Entire communities can feel the impacts of victimization. Members of the targeted community may experience vicarious trauma symptoms resulting from witnessing others being victimized. In addition, a review of structural discrimination shows that for a targeted vulnerable group, long-standing, systemic inequalities can be seen in economic, housing, and educational disparities.

Redefining hate as a public health issue entails a shift in how we think about, study, and try to prevent such behavior.

Citation: “Hate-Motivated Behavior: Impacts, Risk Factors, And Interventions, “Health Affairs Health Policy Brief, November 9, 2020.DOI: 10.1377/hpb20200929.601434