Courtney Tobin

ABSTRACT The National Survey of American Life (NSAL) has advanced the sociology of Black American life, documenting how racism, resilience, and identity shape well-being. Building on this legacy, we examined how racial centrality (i.e., how central being Black is to one’s identity) is associated with depressive symptoms and buffers against everyday discrimination among 1,627 African American adults in the NSAL.

To the Editor: A 34-year-old woman presented for evaluation of dry mouth and painless peeling of the oral mucosa of 2 months’ duration. She denied any other skin eruptions, dry eyes, vulvar or vaginal pain, or recent hair loss. A recent antinuclear antibodies test was negative. The patient’s medical history was otherwise unremarkable and her current medications included multivitamins only. Oral examination revealed peeling gray-white tissue on the buccal mucosa and mouth floor (Figure 1).