Black teens face more racial discrimination than we otherwise believed. The bulk of this intolerance is in the form of microaggression daily. Recent research, published in Elseiever’s Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology showed that blacks adolescents face more than five instances of racial discrimination, most of it online. The research also revealed that such frequent discrimination increases the chances of short-term depression. [1]
The researchers picked 101 participants between the ages of 13 and 17 from the predominately black neighborhood of Washington DC. The participants reported on their experience with racial discrimination every day for two weeks. The team also measured depressive symptoms among the participants during this period.
The team found over 5,600 experiences of racial discrimination, which amounted to over five experiences per day for each participant. The prejudice revealed itself in many ways, both online and offline, such as racial teasing, jokes, and prejudicial behavior online. Importantly, the researchers also found that racial teasing, seen as harmless by many, can have a significant negative effect on black teens.
