The high prevalence of people who experience racism, and subsequent racial trauma, highlights the need to address the heinous nature of systemic racism in the United States, says Jocelyn Smith Lee, PhD, assistant professor of human development and family studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. “Race-based trauma is serious and can lead to severe effects, psychologically and medically,” she explains. Racial trauma can happen on a micro or macro scale. Macroaggressions that can cause racial trauma include society-level events or policies that discriminate against Black people, according to the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), such as examples of police brutality, like the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Microaggressions that cause racial trauma include direct individual interactions and experiences of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and nationalism, such as when someone clutches their purse when they walk past a group of young Black men, according to ABCT. Having intrusive thoughts, feeling a lowered sense of self-worth or self-esteem, socially withdrawing, or having heightened feelings of anxiety can all be symptoms of racial trauma, Dr. Smith Lee says. “But, it’s important to keep in mind that each person reacts somewhat differently to racial trauma and stress, and will have a different tolerance or threshold to withstand the weight of it.” According to the American Psychological Association (APA), other signs and symptoms that might indicate someone is experience racial trauma include:
Avoiding situations that are reminders of past racist experiencesDistrusting others due to multiple past losses or letdownsFeeling triggered by reminders of a previous racist experience, which can lead to strong emotional or physical responses (such as crying or rapid heartbeat)Extreme paranoia or hypervigilance
Structural Racism The American Medical Association defines structural racism as the multiple ways systems, policies, procedures, and laws perpetuate racial discrimination by mutually reinforcing racial bias in systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, healthcare, and criminal justice. These patterns and practices reinforce discriminatory beliefs, values, and distribution of resources. Intergenerational Trauma The APA defines intergenerational trauma as the phenomenon of descendants of a person who experienced a distressing event presenting with adverse behavioral, psychological, and emotional reactions to the event similar to those of the person who initially experienced the traumatic encounter. Black Americans who are descendants of former slaves may experience intergenerational trauma because of the injustice of the United States’ history of slavery. And descendants of other groups who have experienced a trauma, such as descendants of individuals who suffered during the Holocaust, other genocides, or the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II, may experience intergenerational trauma, too, according to APA. Historical Trauma Like intergenerational trauma, historical trauma is the distress descendants of a particular community, racial or ethnic group, or other group experience because of major oppression that group previously faced, according to the U.S. Administration for Children and Families. The Holocaust, other genocides, and the intentional maltreatment of Black Americans who were part of the Tuskegee experiments, are all examples of events that could cause historical trauma for people in subsequent generations of the affected communities. Microaggressions In his seminal work on the topic, a journal article published in 2007 in the American Psychologist, psychologist Dewald Wing Sue, PhD, defined “microaggressions” as the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults — whether intentional or unintentional — which communicate hostile, derogatory, or harmful messages based solely upon a person’s marginalized cultural status (which can include race, gender identity, or class). Intersectionality Race scholar and professor at the University of California Los Angeles’ School of Law and Columbia University’s Law School, Kimberlé Crenshaw, PhD, coined the term “intersectionality” in a 1989 paper to describe the unique experience of marginalization that Black women face because of being part of two marginalized groups. The already established feminism theory and antiracist policy discourse did not accurately describe the experience of Black women, she wrote in the paper: “Because the intersectional experience is greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated.” Today, the term “intersectionality” is widely used to describe how our various cultural identities, such as biological sex, gender identification, sexuality, class, ability, and race interact with one another to perpetuate various systems injustice and inequality. Addressing these intersections simultaneously is needed to prevent one form of inequality from reinforcing others, according to the Center For Intersectional Justice. For marginalized groups, like Black people and other BIPOC communities, continuous discrimination and racism become a form of chronic stress, explains Jessica Jackson, PhD, a Houston-based public speaker, researcher, and licensed psychologist in private practice. (Much research shows this, as well as that the health consequences of racism and discrimination can be passed down from one generation to the next.) Research shows that higher allostatic load — the wear and tear on the body caused by chronic stress — may explain some of the Black-white disparities in mortality in the United States, according to a study published in 2012 in the Journal of the National Medical Association. Researchers looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and compiled allostatic load scores for participants based on metabolic, cardiovascular, and inflammatory measures (like blood pressure, blood hemoglobin levels, and cholesterol). After controlling for age and clinical conditions, socioeconomic status variables, and health behaviors, higher allostatic load among Black people partially explained higher mortality rates. Data from the Jackson Heart Study (an ongoing study that started in 2000, following more than 5,000 African Americans to better understand disparities in cardiovascular disease) has revealed that higher levels of perceived discrimination among African Americans in the United States is linked with poorer health behaviors, such as sleeping less and smoking, as well as worse health outcomes, such as higher incidence of obesity. Part of what makes racial trauma so insidious, says Smith Lee, is that many of the symptoms stem from the fear that similar traumas will happen again. “There’s a fear of not just how a person of color may be treated or of an isolated event, but that their safety is at stake and that this can happen again,” she explains. When you’re mentally and emotionally always on guard like that, it creates a physiological stress response — it produces cortisol, she explains. That’s normal and healthy if it happens on occasion in response to a stressor you need to deal with. But if it’s happening all the time it can cause all sorts of damage to the body and contribute to anxiety, heart disease, depression, and psychological or cognitive impairment. Angela Neal-Barnett, PhD, professor and director of the Program for Research on Anxiety Disorders among African Americans in the department of psychology at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, adds that some people who are exposed to incidents of racism and racial trauma or stress for prolonged periods may experience symptoms similar to PTSD. According to a review on the topic published in 2019 the journal American Psychologist, those symptoms can include such as:
HypervigilanceDepressionAvoidanceSuspiciousnessChronic stressPhysical symptoms like headaches, heart palpitations, and others
Also problematic is the fact that the burdensome effects of racism start accumulating from an early age. A review of 121 studies published in the journal Social Science & Medicine found that racial discrimination can lead to adverse emotional, psychological, and behavioral outcomes, like extreme paranoia, hypervigilance, and withdrawal, in young people starting as early as age 12. And it’s worth noting that the intersection of multiple marginalized identities can compound the effects of racial trauma. A study published in American Psychologist in 2019, for example, analyzed data explaining how the combination of nativism, racism, sexism, and anti-immigration policies together contribute to a unique type of ethno-racial trauma for Latinx individuals and communities. There’s a structural and cultural environment that allows racism to continue, along with its insidious effects, Smith Lee says. Rooting out racism by changing the environment is the only way you can ultimately get rid of racism and racial trauma, she says. “That’s when safety and healing can occur.” Changing the culture and changing the environment depends on people in positions of power at companies and other organizations, Dr. Jackson says. It will require making sure the voices and experiences of Black people and other marginalized racial groups who experience racial trauma are part of the conversation to review and revise policies, practices, and workplace cultural norms that either reinforce or challenge structural racism or bias (such as when it comes to hiring and promotions within organizations). There’s also a need to better train mental health professionals to help people cope with racial trauma and the emotional health issues that stem from it, Dr. Neal-Barnett says. There is a lack of training among white practitioners when it comes to common societal issues that impact people of color and how to specifically work with patients from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, she explains. “As a result, we see some people of color becoming even more traumatized after receiving medical care due to previous incidents of experiencing racism or bias in the healthcare system.” Research shows that Black mental health providers who are known to give more appropriate and effective care to Black clients make up a small portion of the provider workforce. More targeted efforts need to be made to recruit people of color to the counseling and counseling psychology professions, Neal-Barnett adds. If you or someone you know has been or continues to be exposed to racial trauma, what can you do individually to help take care of yourself and your loved ones? Try the following:
Find safe spaces to express and discuss your thoughts and emotions. Connect with friends, family, and support groups that are supportive and allow you to process your thoughts and emotions, according to the APA.Engage in regular check-ins with yourself. Be aware of and recognize the symptoms of racial trauma so that you can take steps to address them when they show up, according to the University of Georgia Department of Psychology.Seek professional help if you need additional support. If you or someone you know is experiencing extreme paranoia, lack of motivation, increased anxiety, or severe feelings of withdrawal from others, consider seeking professional mental help, says Jackson.Engage in activism. Feeling empowered involves participating in actions to solve difficulties. Agency and self-advocacy are associated with leadership, school engagement, self-esteem, and prosocial behaviors, also according to the University of Georgia.Engage in mindfulness, spiritual practices, and prayer. Engaging in activities that increase happiness and that are calming can help, also according to the University of Georgia.Limit social media use. Smith Lee says this can help reduce exposure to negative images of racial violence and messaging directed toward people of color.
