Whittaker Shannon, Hyacinthe Marie-Fatima, Keene Danya, Dulin Akilah, Kershaw Trace, Warren Joshua
Center for Innovation in Social Science, Boston University, 704 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, United States.
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT, 06510, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2025 May;373:117963. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117963. Epub 2025 Mar 14.
Due to the ongoing legacy of structurally racist policies and practices in the U.S., Black Americans face great challenges to wealth accumulation and, as a result, may be more likely to report adverse health outcomes. However, little research has examined the potential impact of racial justice interventions like reparations on closing the racial health gap.
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, multi-level regression models were employed to assess race and wealth as predictors of self-rated health across general health, physical health, and mental health. Predicted probabilities analyzed the probability of reporting better health with the inclusion of three reparation estimations to Black respondents' wealth: Darity's land-based estimation, Craemer's wage-based estimation and the racial wealth gap.
The final sample included 2471 respondents. Race was a significant predictor of general health, with White respondents more likely to report excellent/very good health (OR = 1.35, p = 0.0047) compared to Black respondents. Wealth was a significant predictor for all health variables, with increased wealth linked to better health. In predicted probability models, reparations payments were associated with health such that as payments increased so did the probability of improved health for Black respondents across all three health measures. Only general health reported significant mean differences across race.
Reparations payments may help narrow the racial health gap. However, reparative justice interventions should look beyond only using monetary reparations payments to dismantle systems of oppression that perpetuate current inequities.
由于美国结构性种族主义政策和做法的持续影响，美国黑人在财富积累上面临巨大挑战，因此可能更有可能报告不良健康结果。然而，很少有研究探讨诸如赔偿等种族正义干预措施对缩小种族健康差距的潜在影响。
使用1979年全国青年纵向调查的数据，采用多层次回归模型来评估种族和财富作为总体健康、身体健康和心理健康方面自我评定健康的预测因素。预测概率分析了纳入对黑人受访者财富的三种赔偿估计后报告更好健康状况的概率：达里蒂基于土地的估计、克雷默基于工资的估计以及种族财富差距。
最终样本包括2471名受访者。种族是总体健康的一个重要预测因素，与黑人受访者相比，白人受访者更有可能报告优秀/非常好的健康状况（OR = 1.35，p = 0.0047）。财富是所有健康变量的一个重要预测因素，财富增加与更好的健康状况相关。在预测概率模型中，赔偿支付与健康相关，即随着支付增加，黑人受访者在所有三项健康指标上健康改善的概率也增加。只有总体健康在种族间报告了显著的平均差异。
赔偿支付可能有助于缩小种族健康差距。然而，恢复性正义干预措施不应仅仅着眼于使用货币赔偿支付来拆除使当前不平等永久化的压迫制度。
