Racial Violence and Stress in U.S. Higher Education

Racism is increasingly seen by scholars not simply as a form of oppression but as a form of violence. This form of violence can be perpetrated against People of Color through overt (visible or blatant) or covert (invisible or hidden) mechanisms, all of which produce stress. All people deal with stressful life events, which one might argue is unavoidable and an expected part of the human experience. However, certain racial and ethnic groups in the United States—in particular, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx, Native Americans, and U.S. Pacific Islanders—are discriminated against, exploited, terrorized, and disadvantaged by racial group oppression, systemic racism, social stigma, and stereotypes. This entry discusses these mechanisms and their effects.