Racism and the life course: Social and health equity for black American older adults

This article has four aims. First, we briefly review the basic principles and processes described in life course theory. Second, we discuss racial residential segregation (RRS) and disproportionate rates of Black premature mortality as examples of systemic and structural racism (i.e., racialized policies and practices), which operate as fundamental drivers of the social and health inequities experienced by older Black adults. Third, using life course theory principles and processes, we demonstrate how racialized policies and practices operate across the life course in producing social and health inequities. Fourth, we discuss how the LCT framework can be used to inform equity-focused aging policy. (author abstract)