Researchers at Michigan State University and Rutgers University say they will lead the first nationally funded study of the effects of structural racism on housing, aging and health.

The research — funded by an expected $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging — will examine the impact that “racist and discriminatory” policies over the past 100 years have had on a cohort of 800 black and white people. adults based.

Most prior research has focused “almost singularly” on either residential segregation or historical redlining. This report will examine how factors such as redlining, gentrification, predatory lending, urban renewal, highway construction, segregation and more have shaped neighborhoods, homes, schools and stores in which black residents engage in and how it has contributed to racial inequalities, according to. researcher Dick Sadler, associate professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Leading researchers say ongoing exposure to structural racism — the policies and processes that give rise to race-based inequalities — are key drivers of health disparities and accelerated aging among Black people.

Previous research has shown that Black residents are more likely to experience earlier onset and higher rates of aging-related cognitive decline, physical function, and frailty compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. .

The researchers say they will also examine the impact of systemic racism on other racial and ethnic groups who live in these disinvested environments.

Understanding how disinvestment and discrimination occur “is critical to developing strategies to disrupt racial inequities in communities,” according to the study announcement.

“We need to comprehensively document what the full constellation of tools, tactics, and strategies look like across our urban landscapes to better contextualize why racial inequities emerge and persist across many health settings, for which all Americans ultimately suffer but for which Black Americans consistently take responsibility for the greatest successes,” Sadler and Danielle Beatty Moody, associate professor at Rutgers University School of Social Work, said in the announcement. .

The researchers hope the study can support advocacy and policy efforts aimed at addressing these inequities.

The study comes as the majority of Americans – 65% – say racism perpetrated by individuals is a bigger problem than racism in laws when it comes to discrimination against black people in the United States today. today, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey. About a quarter – 23% – say racism in U.S. laws is the most important problem.

However, Pew found that more than half of black adults – 52% – say racism in U.S. laws is the biggest problem, and 43% say individual racism is the most important problem.