The death of George Floyd shone a global light on life for Black Americans, but of course there are daily indignities and humiliations that are far more hidden costs of being Black in America.  That’s the finding of a new study from UCLA that highlights the heavy physical and mental toll these place on Black people across the country.

The report reveals the high levels of discrimination faced by Black men after speaking with a national sample of both Black and white men from across the country.

“Black men face constant experiences of discrimination and disappointment when they try to contribute. They are treated like criminals in a society where they often are not allowed to achieve their full potential,” the researchers say.

“Successful Black men,” they continue, “hope their hard work will pay off and instead are tormented to find their education and income often do not protect them from racial discrimination. The ‘return on achievement’ is reduced for Blacks in the U.S. It’s a disturbing wake-up call.”

Perceived discrimination

To test the level of discrimination experienced across America, the researchers gathered data from the National Survey of American Life, which assesses the mental health of over 1,250 Black and 350 non-Hispanic adults living across the United States.

The data reveals that Black men suffer racial indignities on a daily basis, with this having an understandable impact on their mental health.  What’s more, the discrimination experienced each day is likely to be an underestimate as the survey didn’t include things like being pulled over by police without just cause or facing discrimination with housing and jobs, all of which are widely cited by Black Americans.

Unfortunately, higher incomes don’t appear to provide any relief, unlike for white men, for whom higher incomes resulted in lower levels of discrimination.  This was sadly not the case for Black men who continued to suffer high levels of discrimination regardless of their income.

The researchers believe that their findings perhaps explain why Black men are largely unprotected from the negative physical and mental health outcomes from discrimination in the way that white men often are as they become wealthier.

“In the United States, many people believe that higher levels of income and education provide relief against being treated differently, badly or unfairly,” the researchers say. “The results of our study show that is truer for white men, but it’s clearly not the case for many Black men. Structural barriers limit the benefits of Black men’s economic achievements, and perceived discrimination increases the risk of adverse physical and mental health outcomes.”

Inverse effect

Indeed, the data actually suggests that as Black men become wealthier, they tend to suffer from more perceived discrimination, which the authors suggest could be because their greater wealth places them into more contact with whites.

They argue that discrimination is sadly deeply embedded in the very fabric of American institutions, and this causes profound harm to Black men each and every day.

“Change has to come faster,” they conclude. “Change has to be permanent. We are tired of hearing ‘wait your turn.’ Black men’s dreams have been deferred for far too long.”