Communicating about Race, Class, and Social Policy
Why is this important?
The US is a segregated and stratified society in which people are geographically separated by race and class. This social structure affects many facets of life, including the health policies the nation creates, the implementation of those policies, and how people think about and make sense of their experiences in the broader health ecosystem. Specifically, wealthier, and White Americans tend to have better health outcomes and live for more years than their lower-income and racially minoritized counterparts. These differences in experience affect how Americans from different backgrounds think about their health, their willingness to engage in health behaviors, how they interpret what happens in encounters with health systems, and how they perceive the broader health system. This interplay between the structure of the American health system, and Americans’ psychological experiences in it, matter for our ability to productively communicate about health and health policies. In other words, it is important to take into account the perspectives and experiences of the people with whom we are trying to speak to effectively make healthy changes in society.
What do we know?
Although racialized and class-based policies affect much of American life, White Americans do not like to talk about those facts–in fact, they often go out of their way to avoid the subject. Americans find interracial interactions cognitively and emotionally draining, and White Americans in particular will put greater distance between themselves and Black conversation partners, unless conversations about race are framed as opportunities to learn. For Black Americans, cross-race communication can also create discomfort. When interacting with White Americans, Black Americans often engage in “code-switching” to avoid confirming negative racial stereotypes; navigating those situations can take a psychological toll.
However, certain types of carefully constructed narratives can reduce stigma, although the effects differ by type of health issue. Providing information and context, in a way that is cognizant of the lived experiences of the communities policymakers are trying to reach, can help to promote broader understanding among the public and policymakers which can help to build the support needed for health and policy action to advance health equity.