discrimination happens, whether it is being teased by peers, asked to speak for their racial group in class or seeing a racist post on social media,” lead author Devin English said in a press release.
In order to collect this data, researchers studied the daily lives of 101 Black teens, ages 13 to 17, living in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Washington D.C. While similar studies have only examined discrimination over a year-long period, daily assessment was found to be more accurate, so for two weeks, the researchers looked at each teen’s daily anti-Black experiences.
The internet was found to be a major source of experiences with discrimination. One factor is the anonymity of being online, so perpetrators are not likely to face consequences for discriminatory behavior.
During the two weeks, researchers examined the changes in the teens’ psychological state. A variety of anti-Black incidents were reported, including name-calling and jokes/teasing about physical appearance like skin tone and hair texture. Almost all of these incidents led to short-term depressive symptoms.
“Racial teasing is important because it is one of the most common ways adolescents communicate about race,” English said. “Critically, young people and adults, such as teachers, often see this teasing as harmless and choose not to