Shardé McNeil Smith

Black families disproportionately encounter psychosocial stressors (e.g., racial discrimination) that compromise intimate relationship functioning (Rice et al. 2023). Culturally relevant coping strategies may be particularly adaptive for intimate relationship functioning in the face of such stress (Murry et al. 2018). Two notable coping strategies for Black Americans are John Henryism (a high-effort coping strategy; James et al.

Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor—. Bare. The foregoing stanza from Langston Hughes' poem “Mother to Son” serves as an apt metaphor for the experience of Black families in the United States.

INTRODUCTION Racial discrimination—explicit or subtle racially based differential treatment—is a chronic social stressor that alienates individuals racialized as Black (henceforth referred to as Black Americans/people), produces differential outcomes, and limits equal opportunity and access to resources (Cuevas & Boen, 2021). Nearly three-quarters of Black adults report experiencing racial discrimination in their lifetime (Lee et al., 2019).