“Researchers say the toxic stress that racial and ethnic minorities, including African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, experience—regardless of economic or social success—can erode their physical health. It’s known as “weathering,” a concept developed by University of Michigan professor of public health Arline Geronimus that suggests the health of African Americans deteriorates earlier than that of whites because of the cumulative effects of racism and bias. It may help explain why even black mothers with the highest levels of education are dying at higher rates than white women with the least education.”

More about Geronimus’ research featured in the National Geographic Magazine >