ABSTRACT (1200 characters). Perceived racism contributes to cardiovascular disease (CVD) disparities among African Americans. Because C-reactive protein (CRP) is an indicator of cardiovascular disease that is linked to perceived racism, CRP might reflect psychosocial strategies to cope with perceived racism. The current study examined whether CRP is linked to religiosity and racial (Black) identity – two culturally-enshrined individual differences used to cope with perceived racism. Healthy African Americans completed measures of everyday racism, religiosity, and racial identity. We measured positive (PA) and negative (NA) affectivity as outcomes (N = 534) and collected a dried bloodspot measure of CRP (N = 118). Religiosity and racial identity were each associated with greater PA. For NA and CRP, when perceived racism was high, strongly identified African Americans had significantly higher CRP, but lower NA, when they were also low in religiosity. Taken together, findings indicate that religiosity and racial identity may provide both independent and interactive routes to coping with perceived racism among African Americans, and that these relationships may play a role in CVD disparities through links to CRP. Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10