Against Discrimination: A Public Health Necessity ---- "Discrimination
is a crime that consists of treating a person unfavorably based on aground prohibited by law (e.g., origin, sexual orientation, etc.). This
offense can be committed by an individual (natural person), an agent of
public authority, or a person charged with a public service mission."
This legal definition is taken from the website Service-public.fr. It is
accurate. The twenty-five criteria of discrimination must be added. This
legal, criminal approach is essential to protect victims of this
behavior. From mockery to refusal to serve, recruit, or house, the cases
are numerous and odious. Sometimes, the justice system is involved, but
its slowness, the weakness of sanctions, and its procedures do not
address the psychological dimension and the suffering endured by the
victims.
In her book, Discrimination: A Public Health Issue: The Hidden Cost,
published by Bord de l'eau, academic and researcher Meziani Yamina
invites us to measure the effects on individual health. "Whether it's
chronic stress, psychosomatic and eating disorders, or gradual
exhaustion, these experiences leave lasting marks on the body." This
results in both social and financial costs.
Repeated discrimination breeds social distrust and psychological wear
and tear. Curiously, laws are multiplying, but so are cases.
Organizations are increasing the number of measures promoting diversity.
Yet major obstacles call their effectiveness into question. Sometimes
there is a form of perversity. "Employees from minority groups are often
valued to the extent that their presence brings a measurable benefit to
the organization." This also avoids fundamentally transforming the
discriminatory structures of that same organization. Faced with the gaps
in the analysis of these phenomena in France, Meziani Yamina "adopts an
innovative approach: the 'corporeality of discrimination' to examine how
it directly or indirectly affects the health of workers."
The "corporeality of discrimination"
The first chapter of the book engages in a theoretical reflection on
this corporality. Then, in the second part, Meziani Yamina introduces us
to patients who express their experiences and their suffering. The last
two chapters explore how discrimination is concretely embodied in
individuals' professional lives and impacts their health, including
those who, despite this discrimination, have achieved financial success.
Through interviews, we discover the suffering experienced in various
settings, such as sports and hospitals, including anxiety, depression,
burnout, chronic fatigue, cardiovascular disease, and more, despite
socioeconomic status. Experience also includes difficulties with
renting, reception in public or commercial services, school orientation,
insults, verbal humiliation, and stereotypes conveyed by society. This
results in cumulative discrimination, as mentioned by the interviewees,
who experience societal violence. The primary emotions are revealing:
anger, sadness, anxiety, a form of "fed up with things." Meziani Yamina
emphasizes: "That being said, the main results of our study demonstrate
the urgency of considering the effects of ethno-racial and religious
discrimination on well-being and health, and of increasing research on
this subject in order to strengthen our sociological, medical, and legal
knowledge of these processes, among audiences with diverse
socio-professional profiles." Indeed, the mobilization of complementary
skills in various fields enriches the analysis, as demonstrated by the
interview with Harvard Professor David R. Williams, included in the
book's appendix.
* Meziani Yamina
Discrimination, a public health issue: the hidden cost
Published by Le Bord de l'eau, 2025
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8487
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