Perceived discrimination is a historically neglected race-related aspect of life that may adversely affect health. However, it does not comprehensively capture the effects of racism in society. Some researchers erroneously assume that a scale that assesses racial discrimination captures a respondent’s exposure to racism. Perceived discrimination, though important, is only one component of racism. We briefly consider some of the other pathways by which racism can affect health. Fully capturing the role of racism in health will require an understanding of how discrimination combines with other aspects of racism to increase the risk of disease.
