This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Swim, J. K. Articles by Bylsma, W. H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

African American College Students’ Experiences With Everyday Racism: Characteristics of and Responses to These Incidents

Pennsylvania State University

Lauri L. Hyers

University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Laurie L. Cohen

Arizona State University

Davita C. Fitzgerald

Pennsylvania State University

Wayne H. Bylsma

American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal Medicine

African American college students reported their experiences with everyday forms of racism at a predominantly European American university using a daily diary format. Their reported incidents represented verbal expressions of prejudice, bad service, staring or glaring, and difficulties in interpersonal exchanges (e.g., rudeness or awkward and nervous behavior). Both women’s and men’s experiences with interpersonal forms of prejudice were common, often occurred with friends and in intimate situations, and had significant emotional impact on them in terms of decreasing their comfort and increasing their feelings of threat during the interaction. Moreover, anger was the most frequently reported emotional reaction to these events. Participants were not passive targets, however, with many responding either directly or indirectly to the incidents. Findings from this study converged upon patterns of results found in in-depth interviews and surveys while also adding information to a growing body of literature on everyday experiences with racism.

Key Words: racism • discrimination • diary methodology • college students • stigma

Journal of Black Psychology, Vol. 29, No. 1, 38-67 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0095798402239228


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Ashburn-Nardo and J. S. Smith Black College Students' Extropunitive and Intropunitive Responses to Prejudice: Implications for Concrete Attitudes Toward School in a Predominantly White Institution Journal of Black Psychology, November 1, 2008; 34(4): 479 - 493. [Abstract] [PDF]

				W. A. Smith, W. R. Allen, and L. L. Danley "Assume the Position . . . You Fit the Description": Psychosocial Experiences and Racial Battle Fatigue Among African American Male College Students American Behavioral Scientist, December 1, 2007; 51(4): 551 - 578. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. M. Greer Measuring Coping Strategies Among African Americans: An Exploration of the Latent Structure of the COPE Inventory Journal of Black Psychology, August 1, 2007; 33(3): 260 - 277. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Pena, E. I. Hernandez, C. Sotello Viernes Turner, and D. Dirks Balancing School With the Call to Community Service: Hispanic Master's Students in U.S. Theological Schools Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, July 1, 2007; 6(3): 284 - 296. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Gill and K. Matheson Responses to Discrimination: The Role of Emotion and Expectations for Emotional Regulation Pers Soc Psychol Bull, February 1, 2006; 32(2): 149 - 161. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Clark Interethnic Group and Intraethnic Group Racism: Perceptions and Coping in Black University Students Journal of Black Psychology, November 1, 2004; 30(4): 506 - 526. [Abstract] [PDF]