Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation. There are many identified forms of discrimination, such as:
Direct discrimination: an explicit distinction is made between groups of people that results in individuals from some groups being less able than others to exercise their rights.
Indirect discrimination: when a law, policy, or practice is presented in neutral terms (that is, no explicit distinctions are made) but it disproportionately disadvantages a specific group or groups.
Intersectional discrimination: when several forms of discrimination combine to leave a particular group or groups at an even greater disadvantage.
Racial and ethnic discrimination
Racism affects virtually every country in the world. It systematically denies people their full human rights just because of their colour, race, ethnicity, descent (including caste) or national origin.
Xenophobia/Non-national discrimination
Discrimination against non-nationals is frequently based on racism or notions of superiority, and is often fuelled by politicians looking for scapegoats for social or economic problems in a country. Ethnocentrism (evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture) promotes xenophobia—we must deviate from ethnocentric beliefs and encourage cultural differences as well as educate ourselves about different cultures. Educating ourselves on the symbolic and beautiful origins, celebrations, and beliefs of other cultures can help us become more inclusive and understanding towards each other. Non-national discrimination has also been a feature of the response of authorities to refugees and asylum seekers in other parts of the world. Many people in countries receiving refugees and asylum-seekers view the situation as a crisis with leaders and politicians exploiting these fears by promising, and in some cases enacting, abusive and unlawful policies.
Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people
Everywhere in the world, people face discrimination because of who they love, who they are attracted to and who they are. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people risk being unfairly treated in all areas of their lives, whether it’s in education, employment, housing or access to health care, and they may face harassment and violence.
Gender discrimination
In many countries, in all regions of the world, laws, policies, customs and beliefs exist that deny women and girls their rights. By law, women cannot dress as they like (Saudi Arabia, Iran) or work at night (Madagascar) or take out a loan without their husband’s signature (Equatorial Guinea). In many countries, discriminatory laws place limits on a woman’s right to divorce, own property, exercise control over her own body and enjoy protection from harassment. All over the world, women and girls have been at the forefront of demands for change. Yet despite the stratospheric rise of women’s activism, the stark reality remains that many governments around the world openly support policies, laws and customs that subjugate and suppress women.
The Consequences of Discrimination and Inequality
It is important that we acknowledge the negative consequences that discrimination and inequality have on marginalized groups. When we educate ourselves about the negative consequences that discrimination and inequality create, we become more empathic and understanding towards others.
Negative life outcomes connected to the life experiences of marginalized groups create inequalities related to education, occupation, physical and mental well-being disparities, and more. Some of these outcomes include:
Chronic stress
Loss of educational/job opportunities
Health disparities, lack of proper care
Law enforcement mistreatment
Economic disparities
Living in harmful environments
Discrimination is a public health issue. According to the 2015 Stress in America Survey, people who say they have faced discrimination rate their stress levels higher, on average, than those who say they have not experienced discrimination.
Chronic stress can lead to a wide variety of physical and mental health problems. Indeed, perceived discrimination has been linked to issues including anxiety, depression, obesity, high blood pressure and substance abuse.
Almost half of all adults (47 percent) report experiencing major forms of discrimination, which include police unfairly stopping, searching, questioning, physically threatening or abusing them; neighbors making life difficult for them or their family upon moving into a neighborhood; a teacher or advisor discouraging them from continuing their education; or experiencing unfair treatment when receiving health care.
Thirty percent of women cite gender as a reason for day-to-day discrimination, compared to just 8 percent of men.
Health Care & Stress
Rates of health care access differ widely. Hispanics are the most likely to report that they do not have access to a non-emergency doctor when they need it (33 percent), followed by 31 percent of Asians, 29 percent of Blacks, and significantly fewer Whites (23 percent) and AI/AN (21 percent). Rates of health care insurance coverage also differ across groups: 20 percent of Hispanics report having no health insurance, followed by 15 percent of Blacks, 14 percent of AI/AN, 6 percent of Asians and 5 percent of Whites.
More than one in 10 adults (13 percent) say they have been treated unfairly when receiving health care, and significantly more AI/AN adults (28 percent) report experiencing discrimination when receiving health care treatment.
More than one-quarter of AI/AN (39 percent), Blacks (30 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) report that they are in fair or poor health, compared to 23 percent of adults overall.
Nearly half (46 percent) of Black adults who rate their stress as high extreme (46 percent) report fair or poor health, while only 22 percent who report low stress levels say the same. One in three (35 percent) Hispanics who report having extreme high stress (35 percent) also report being in fair or poor health, compared to 19 percent of Hispanics reporting low stress.
About half of adults who are LGBT (49 percent) report that their stress has increased, whereas only 34 percent of adults who are not LGBT say the same. In addition, adults who are LGBT also are less likely than adults who are non-LGBT to report that they are in very good or excellent health (24 percent and 36 percent, respectively).
Nearly seven in 10 adults (69 percent) in the U.S. report having experienced any discrimination, with 61 percent reporting experiencing day-to-day discrimination, such as being treated with less courtesy or respect, receiving poorer service than others, and being threatened or harassed.
Employment
The unemployment rate according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Whites is much lower than for other groups (4.3 percent for Whites, compared to 9.4 for Blacks and 6.4 for Hispanics), with the exception of Asians (3.9 percent).
The Stress in America™ survey found that employed White adults are slightly less likely than others, with the exception of AI/AN, to say that work is a very or somewhat significant stressor in their lives (62 percent of Whites say this, compared to 74 percent of Hispanics, 71 percent of Asians, 69 percent of Blacks and 59 percent of AI/AN). Whites also are significantly less likely to rate job stability as a significant source of stress (30 percent of Whites say this, compared to 55 percent of Hispanics, 52 percent of Asians, 50 percent of Blacks and 47 percent of AI/AN).
Environment
White (43 percent) and Asian (55 percent) adults most commonly live in suburban environments, whereas Hispanic (51 percent) and Black (49 percent) adults most commonly report living in urban areas. AI/AN adults are the most likely to report living in small towns or rural areas (41 percent).
Stress disparities appear across racial groups within the same settings. In urban environments, the average stress level is highest for Hispanics (6.0, compared to 5.5 for Whites, 5.2 for Blacks and 5.1 for Asians).
Blacks and Hispanics are more likely (31 percent and 26 percent , respectively ) to say not having enough access to healthy foods is a big or somewhat big problem.
Forty-six percent of adults living in urban areas rate crime and violence as big problems or somewhat of a problem, compared to 19 percent of rural adults and 17 percent of suburban adults saying the same. Similarly, 34 percent of adults in urban areas consider not enough access to healthy foods as a big problem or somewhat of a problem, compared to 20 percent of adults living in rural areas and 13 percent of those in suburban areas saying the same.
Nearly two in five Black men (39 percent vs. 19 percent of all men) say that police have unfairly stopped, searched, questioned, physically threatened or abused them.
Information provided by the American Psychological Association, The Impact of Discrimination "2015 Stress in America".
Challenge Racial Discrimination
Finding healthy ways to deal with discrimination is important, for your physical health and your mental well-being. Here are some ways to cope with discrimination according to the American Psychological Association:
Focus on your strengths. Focusing on your core values, beliefs and perceived strengths can motivate people to succeed, and may even buffer the negative effects of bias. Overcoming hardship can also make people more resilient and better able to face future challenges.
Seek support systems. One problem with discrimination is that people can internalize others’ negative beliefs, even when they’re false. You may start to believe you’re not good enough. But family and friends can remind you of your worth and help you reframe those faulty beliefs.
Get involved. Support doesn’t have to come from people in your family or circle of friends. You can get involved with like-minded groups and organizations, whether locally or online. It can help to know there are other people who have had similar experiences to yours. And connecting with those people might help you figure out how to address situations and respond to experiences of discrimination in ways you haven’t thought of.
Help yourself think clearly. Being the target of discrimination can stir up a lot of strong emotions including anger, sadness and embarrassment. Such experiences often trigger a physiological response, too; they can increase your blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. Try to check in with your body before reacting. Slow your breathing or use other relaxation exercises to calm your body’s stress response. Then you’ll be able to think more clearly about how you want to respond.
Don’t dwell. When you’ve experienced discrimination, it can be really hard to just shake it off. People often get stuck on episodes of discrimination, in part because they’re not sure how to handle those experiences. You might want to speak out or complain, but you’re not sure how to go about it, or are afraid of the backlash. So instead, you end up ruminating, or thinking over and over about what you should have done.
Seek professional help. Discrimination is difficult to deal with, and is often associated with symptoms of depression. Psychologists are experts in helping people manage symptoms of stress and depression, and can help you find healthy ways to cope.
Being an Ally
"Be a Better Ally," an article written by Tsedale M. Melaku, Angie Beeman, David G. Smith, and W. Brad Johnson which was published by the Harvard Business Review in late 2020, talks about the importance of being an ally to marginalized groups (women, people of color, and women of color) as well as specific ways of how someone can be an ally to marginalized groups.
Current social justice movements and COVID-19 have been pressuring white men (who dominate leadership roles across public and private institutions) to realize that they need to step up and advocate for marginalized groups if there is to be any hope of making organizations more diverse, fair, and inclusive.
Angie Beeman’s research brings white male leader incompetence to light as it has been shown that they take extensive measures to deny racism and avoid discussing it as it makes them uncomfortable and are controversial. At times, big companies are possibly performative when displaying their “diverse” workspaces (in commercials or promos, which usually consist of 1-2 people of color or women) instead of having a real discussion and publicly expressing their efforts to be better allies/creating better environments for marginalized groups.
Being “gender-blind" or "color-blind" isn’t the best course of action while combating discrimination/racism within our communities –instead, we should acknowledge our privileges and be aware of the unfairness that marginalized groups experience, instead however CEOs are insisting that they and their organizations are gender- and color-blind. We need more powerful figures within political and large companies to actively fight injustice and promote equity through the promotion of supportive personal relationships and public acts of sponsorship and advocacy.
In order to be a better ally for marginalized groups within the workspace, the authors recommend you must:
Educate yourself by asking questions and learning about the history of inequality and oppression.
Own your privilege by recognizing your advantages, opportunities, resources, and power you’ve automatically been accorded while others have been overtly or subtly denied them. This also means admitting that you haven’t entirely earned your success.
Accept feedback by deliberately seeking feedback from marginalized groups while also recognizing the power dynamics at play.
Become a confidant by making yourself available, listening generously, and try to empathize with and validate their experiences.
Bring diversity to the table. Marginalized groups are often the “only” in the room, a scenario that can spur outsider and impostor feelings. Allies combat this by inviting more colleagues from marginalized groups to gatherings.
See something, say something. Vigilantly monitor your workplace for racist or sexist comments and behavior, and then be clear and decisive in shutting them down.
Sponsor marginalized coworkers. Allies seek out talented protégés from entirely different racial and cultural backgrounds and become their vocal fans. They get to know these colleagues’ strengths and weaknesses, help them develop as leaders, challenge and encourage them, and tout their abilities and achievements.
Insist on diverse candidates. Make sure candidate pools are diverse—with at least one person and ideally many people from marginalized groups. Also, enforce fair application reviews and committee deliberations.
Build a community of allies. Allies can broaden their impact by joining or forming groups of colleagues interested in fighting racism and gender inequality. Focus your advocacy on evidence-based tactics that will drive small wins within your sphere of influence, and create opportunities to interact through networking, mentoring, and professional development events.
One of Encourage Kindness' missions is to spread awareness of social problems in order to educate others on the importance of understanding the lives of others and inspire people to be more compassionate and empathetic. In honor of Women's History Month, I've written about the inequalities and discrimination that marginalized groups experience in their day-to-day lives. These experiences can have negative outcomes to someones physical/mental well-being. Additionally, being an ally to marginalized groups is important for societal growth and advancement —I've provided ways for others to become better allies as well as ways to cope with discrimination.
Resources
Amnesty International- Discrimination: https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/discrimination/
APA, "2015 Stress In America": https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2015/impact
OHCHR- Combating Racial Discrimination: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Discrimination/Pages/discrimination_racial.aspx
American Psychological Association, "Discrimination: What it is, and how to cope": https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination/types-stress
"Be a Better Ally" Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2020/11/be-a-better-ally