By Joan McLaughlin Aiken, co-chair, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, MPI Potomac Chapter

This quote is borrowed from Dr. Steven Kniffley, assistant professor of psychology at Spalding University. 

 

In the United States, many Black people are born into a life of trauma. We have been subject to a long history of brutal inhumanity, oppression, violence and injustice. These experiences create racial trauma or race-based traumatic stress (RBTS). This cumulative effect of racism results in damaging impacts on the mental, emotional and physical health of marginalized people. All racial-ethnic minority groups experience racial discrimination and racial trauma, but the links between experiences of racial discrimination and negative health outcomes are stronger for Black Americans than any other group.

 

Psychological science suggests that people who experience race-based stress and trauma frequently have experiences similar to people who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, hypervigilance, nightmares, heart palpitations, poor sleep, heightened anxiety and depression. PTSD is usually caused by a single event, but racial stress is ongoing, pervasive, generationally transmitted and affects both individuals and communities. 

 

Racial trauma and stress are not limited to negative psychological outcomes. Some physical symptoms include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, respiratory complications, digestive issues, diabetes, obesity and higher Allostatic Load (the wear and tear of the body caused by chronic stress). When the body is in a state of distress, it activates the stress response system, which helps us fight or get out of the way (fight or flight). However, when experiences of stress are consistent and chronic, the stress response system becomes overloaded and hormones can be unbalanced, leading to some of the physical conditions listed above. The Black population is also disproportionately affected by COVID-19, which is labeled the “stress pandemic” due to factors like poverty, unemployment and lack of access to healthcare.

 

Every day Black people encounter direct traumatic stressors and vicarious traumatic stressors. Some examples of direct traumatic stressors include being pulled over by police, being racially profiled, mass incarceration, barriers to home ownership, lack of access to healthcare, individual physical and verbal attacks and facing other microaggressions. Vicarious traumatic stressors include viewing repeated videos of brutal police killings of Black people, hearing people in the community more concerned about property than Black lives and listening to repeated racial messages and comments about Black peoples’ appearance, language and emotions. 

 

·      Being seen and heard is essential to healing. 

·      Talk to trusted friends and family members.

·      Seek out therapy from a racial trauma-informed therapist. 

·      Engage in prayer, mindfulness and spiritual practices.

·      Practice self-care by engaging in activities that you enjoy and make you happy. 

·      Also engage in activism which makes you feel empowered.

 

Allies, please note that it should not be the burden of Black people (and other people of color) to cope with racism and racial trauma on their own. The American Psychological Association has recently stated that we are dealing with a pandemic of racism, which affects all people in all communities, and we must actively work to undermine the racist underpinnings of our society. This will necessitate policy change on local, state and national levels. As Black people have been doing for decades, white people need to act and mobilize our communities to demand change from our political leaders. If we are not actively trying to dismantle racism, then we are condoning it.