Does social selection explain the association between state-level racial animus and racial disparities in self-rated health in the United States?

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Racism, whether defined at individual, interpersonal, or structural levels, is associated with poor health among Blacks. This association may arise because exposure to racism causes poor health, but geographic mobility patterns pose an alternative explanation-namely, Black individuals with better health and resources can move away from racist environments.

Methods

We examine the evidence for selection effects using nationally representative, longitudinal data (1990-2009) from the Panel Study on Income Dynamics (n = 33,852). We conceptualized state-level racial animus as an ecologic measure of racism and operationalized it as the percent of racially-charged Google search terms in each state.

Results

Among those who move out of state, Blacks reporting good self-

SUBMITTER: McKetta S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5610069 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature