IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v253y2020ics0277953620301866.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Missing Mayberry: How whiteness shapes perceptions of health among white Americans in a rural Southern community

Author

Listed:
  • Efird, Caroline R.
  • Lightfoot, Alexandra F.

Abstract

Elucidating how the racialized social system of whiteness affects the health of white Americans is critically important given current trends. Mirroring the nation, whites in rural North Carolina are currently experiencing increases in early mortality at greater levels than any other racial group in the state. Health focused oral history interviews conducted with whites (n = 13) in an economically distressed, rural community provide insight into potential determinants of this trend. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Analysis was guided by the whiteness and health framework, which considers how structural racism is both health promoting and health harmful for whites. Analysis highlighted three key themes: color-blind ideology, belief in the American Creed, and resistance to change. Whiteness influenced these rural whites' beliefs such that they were blind to the experiences of people of color in their community. Their explicit and figurative nostalgia for The Andy Griffith Show's idyllic town of Mayberry (a fictional Southern community devoid of Black American characters and racial tension during the 1960s) exposed color-blind expectations of what it means to have a healthy community. Additionally, interviewees attributed health status to individual effort and health behaviors, rather than considering how macro-level social determinants impact health. Individual level blame and resistance to change influenced interviewees' political views and suspicion of some social programs that could benefit the health of their community. These meritocratic beliefs about hard-work and self-sufficiency have implications for individual and community level health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Efird, Caroline R. & Lightfoot, Alexandra F., 2020. "Missing Mayberry: How whiteness shapes perceptions of health among white Americans in a rural Southern community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:253:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620301866
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112967
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620301866
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112967?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Malat, Jennifer & Mayorga-Gallo, Sarah & Williams, David R., 2018. "The effects of whiteness on the health of whites in the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 148-156.
    2. Kwate, N.O.A. & Meyer, L.H., 2010. "The myth of meritocracy and African American health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(10), pages 1831-1834.
    3. Kwate, Naa Oyo A. & Goodman, Melody S., 2014. "An empirical analysis of White privilege, social position and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 150-160.
    4. Stein, E.M. & Gennuso, K.P. & Ugboaja, D.C. & Remington, P.L., 2017. "The epidemic of despair among white americans: Trends in the leading causes of premature death, 1999-2015," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(10), pages 1541-1547.
    5. Hicken, Margaret T. & Kravitz-Wirtz, Nicole & Durkee, Myles & Jackson, James S., 2018. "Racial inequalities in health: Framing future research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 11-18.
    6. Jacoby, Sara F. & Dong, Beidi & Beard, Jessica H. & Wiebe, Douglas J. & Morrison, Christopher N., 2018. "The enduring impact of historical and structural racism on urban violence in Philadelphia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 87-95.
    7. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303941_0 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Efird, Caroline R. & Barrington, Clare & Metzl, Jonathan M. & Muessig, Kathryn E. & Matthews, Derrick D. & Lightfoot, Alexandra F., 2023. "“We grew up in the church”: A critical discourse analysis of Black and White rural residents’ perceptions of mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    2. Schwarz, Carolyn, 2021. "Freed from insurance: Health care sharing ministries and the moralization of health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    3. Speed, David & Barry, Caitlin & Cragun, Ryan, 2020. "With a little help from my (Canadian) friends: Health differences between minimal and maximal religiosity/spirituality are partially mediated by social support," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    4. Cotti, Chad D. & Gordanier, John M. & Ozturk, Orgul D., 2020. "The relationship of opioid prescriptions and the educational performance of children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Malat, Jennifer & Mayorga-Gallo, Sarah & Williams, David R., 2018. "The effects of whiteness on the health of whites in the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 148-156.
    2. Shellae Versey, H. & Cogburn, Courtney C. & Wilkins, Clara L. & Joseph, Nakita, 2019. "Appropriated racial oppression: Implications for mental health in Whites and Blacks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 295-302.
    3. Efird, Caroline R. & Barrington, Clare & Metzl, Jonathan M. & Muessig, Kathryn E. & Matthews, Derrick D. & Lightfoot, Alexandra F., 2023. "“We grew up in the church”: A critical discourse analysis of Black and White rural residents’ perceptions of mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    4. San Juanita García & Taylor Trummel & Monica Cornejo & Katherine Maldonado & Ana Ojeda & Humberto Flores & Bruce G. Link, 2021. "Immigrant Health Inequities: Exposing Diversions and White Supremacy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, September.
    5. Mosi Adesina Ifatunji & Yanica Faustin & Wendy Lee & Deshira Wallace, 2022. "Black Nativity and Health Disparities: A Research Paradigm for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-40, July.
    6. Sylvestre, Paul & Castleden, Heather & Denis, Jeff & Martin, Debbie & Bombay, Amy, 2019. "The tools at their fingertips: How settler colonial geographies shape medical educators’ strategies for grappling with Anti-Indigenous racism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Miller, Charlotte E. & Vasan, Ramachandran S., 2021. "The southern rural health and mortality penalty: A review of regional health inequities in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    8. Anuli Njoku & Marcelin Joseph & Rochelle Felix, 2021. "Changing the Narrative: Structural Barriers and Racial and Ethnic Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    9. Bruce, Marta M. & Ulrich, Connie M. & Webster, Jessica & Richmond, Therese S., 2022. "Injured black men's perceptions of the recovery environment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    10. Gianfranco Alicandro & Matteo Malvezzi & Silvano Gallus & Carlo La Vecchia & Eva Negri & Paola Bertuccio, 2019. "Worldwide trends in suicide mortality from 1990 to 2015 with a focus on the global recession time frame," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(5), pages 785-795, June.
    11. Pinghui Wu, 2022. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Labor Force Exit: The Case of US Prime-Age Men," Working Papers 22-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    12. Shannon M. Monnat, 2022. "Demographic and Geographic Variation in Fatal Drug Overdoses in the United States, 1999–2020," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 703(1), pages 50-78, September.
    13. Boslett, Andrew & Hill, Elaine, 2022. "Mortality during resource booms and busts," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    14. Jens Kandt & Paul A Longley, 2018. "Ethnicity estimation using family naming practices," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-24, August.
    15. Hoke, Morgan K. & Boen, Courtney E., 2021. "The health impacts of eviction: Evidence from the national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    16. Perry, Seth W & Allison, Stephen & Bastiampillai, Tarun & Wong, Ma-Li & Licinio, Julio & Sharfstein, Steven S. & Wilcox, Holly C., 2019. "Rising US Suicides: Achieving Health Equity," OSF Preprints m5q64, Center for Open Science.
    17. Shannon M. Monnat, 2020. "Trends in U.S. Working-Age non-Hispanic White Mortality: Rural–Urban and Within-Rural Differences," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(5), pages 805-834, October.
    18. Martz, Connor D. & Benner, Aprile D. & Goosby, Bridget J. & Mitchell, Colter & Gaydosh, Lauren, 2024. "Structural racism in primary schools and changes in epigenetic age acceleration among Black and White youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    19. Seto, Christopher, 2022. "Saving Grace? Religious ecology and deaths of despair," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    20. Allan K. Nkwata & Ming Zhang & Xiao Song & Bruno Giordani & Amara E. Ezeamama, 2022. "Toxic Psychosocial Stress, Resiliency Resources and Time to Dementia Diagnosis in a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Americans in the Health and Retirement Study from 2006–2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-18, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:253:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620301866. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.