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. 2023 Jul 12;101(3):768–814. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12662
Direction Description Example research question
Expand measurement of cultural racism to more accurately capture its multiple dimensions Examine geo‐temporal associations among collective racial prejudice, stigmatizing political rhetoric, racist monuments and symbols, and stereotypical or degrading depictions of racially minoritized groups in TV, film, music, advertising, news, fashion, and social media. Develop and test a comprehensive, multidimensional cultural racism index. Incorporate qualitative methods to inform the development of more nuanced and valid measures. Do counties with a greater concentration of confederate monuments have higher levels of Twitter‐expressed negative racial sentiment?
Empirically test bidirectional relationships between cultural and structural racism, across time and place Using the cultural racism index suggested above, explore associations between cultural racism (as a construct and its subcomponents) and indicators of structural racism, including policy regimes, racialized rules, and interinstitutional connections. Is cultural racism (each dimension and a comprehensive index) associated with the timing and location of various racism‐related laws and policies (an indicator of structural racism)? Do cultural and structural racism interact to pattern health outcomes and inequities?
Empirically test pathways to health Examine material, neomaterial, place‐based, psychosocial, behavioral, and biologic processes through which cultural racism—operating directly or indirectly through the other dimensions of racism—“gets under the skin” to shape health across the life course for individuals of varying social identities and intersectionalities. Use qualitative methods to understand how people experience and cope with cultural racism. Do individuals living in areas with greater levels of cultural racism experience more everyday racial discrimination, and does this discrimination mediate or moderate associations with health outcomes? Are associations differential based on intersectional identities and stage in the life course?
Develop and test interventions to reduce cultural racism Conceptualize a culturally antiracist research agenda that situates cultural racism as the fundamental determinant of all other forms of racism and health inequities; envision creative strategies to intervene on cultural racism and its various dimensions, and test impacts on other forms of racism and health inequities. How might the removal of harmful symbols (e.g., racist monuments) or the creation of visible signs valuing diversity, contributions of people of color, culture, or history celebrations reduce collective racial prejudice and promote health?