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Despite substantial evidence of the negative mental health effects of perceived race-based discrimination among black Americans, there is a growing consensus that there remain crucial aspects of the black stress experience that have yet to be adequately measured. Relative to blatant, overt forms of racism, less is known regarding the significance of more subtle, ambiguous experiences. The goal of the present study is to examine the significance of ambiguous discrimination stress for blacks’ mental health, testing the hypothesis that this form of stress importantly amplifies mental health risk with more overt forms of discrimination taken into account. Using a representative community sample of black Americans from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (N=636), I examine the prevalence of this stressor, its effect on depressive and anxiety symptoms, and the role of other race-related factors such as past experiences with discrimination, racial identity centrality, and skin tone. Results demonstrate that overall, perception of ambiguous discrimination stress is detrimental to blacks’ mental health. However, the effects of this stressor are amplified among women and vary along a number of other sociodemographic characteristics. The present article presents the first examination of ambiguous discrimination stress, and it represents a fundamental step in understanding how covert and ambiguous forms of discrimination contribute to variations in the mental health outcomes of blacks. Study results also underscore the need for more adequate and comprehensive measurement of race-based stressors.