So imagine you're walking through a department store, like our voice actor here.

Ooh, weekend sale.

You want to buy something to wear for this thing you have coming up.

A date, maybe it's a job interview.

I do need some new shoes.

Anyway, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter.

The point is, you want to look good. So you're

looking around and you're shopping when you notice that one of the security guards is staring at

you, like full on gritting on you. Oh my God. And you get that knowing feeling in the pit of your

stomach. You can't prove it, but you know what it is. He's looking at you because he thinks you're stealing something or about to steal something. And he thinks you're stealing something because you seem like you don't belong there. And you seem like you don't belong there because you're black. Okay. This is really ridiculous. And you're annoyed. You're angry. Come on. And you want to leave, but you also want to be like,

I can afford this shirt. And those shoes. But also, you're like, even if I couldn't afford this shirt,

I still get to be in the store without you clocking me. So maybe you go by the shirt. You copped

that shirt and pointily eyeball the security guard on the way out. You showed him. Hashtag capitalism. Or maybe you put that shirt down and walk out because why would you want to patronize a store that would treat you like that? This is trash. So that encounter is one of those little indignities that make up the tapestry of American racism. Some folks called the microaggressions, I personally hate that word, so I don't say it. But, you know, it's not like mass incarceration or forced displacement. And when you recount that story to someone, maybe they say, you know, you should let it go. Just get over it. That's just the other people's ignorance. You might even say that to yourself. But here's the thing.

When you were in that store and all that stuff was going on, your body had a stress response.

It's evolutionary. Your heartbeat picked up. Your body unleashed glycogen so you had energy to fight or to flee.

You might have felt anxious or you might have felt aggressive. And we're now learning that the toll from this constant drumbeat could ruin your health.

It might even cost you your life.

By the way, you are listening to Code Switch.

I'm Gene Demby.

And on this episode, how discrimination degrades people's health.

Recently, the New York Times reported on a landmark study from the National Bureau of Economic Research,

and that study looked at nearly two million bursts in the state of California

...