As videos of Black people being killed at the hands of police surface online, many African Americans are experiencing a sense of grief and pain. It's a distinct distress that psychologists call 'racial trauma.'
In this July 8, 2010, file photo, Wanda Johnson, center, mother of Oscar Grant, who was killed by transit officer Johannes Mehserle, speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles. As videos and stories of Black people being killed at the hands of police officers make the rounds online, many Americans have been called to protest racial injustice in recent weeks. For many Black Americans, those videos are also contributing to a sense of grief and pain.
Each time, she finds herself reliving the trauma of losing her son, Oscar Grant, who was shot to death by a transit police officer. Most recently, Johnson couldn’t escape the video of George Floyd, pinned to the ground under a Minneapolis officer’s knee as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.“I began to shake. I was up for two days, just crying,” she said. “Just looking at that video opened such a wound in me that has not completely closed.
“It’s really frustrating that that’s what it takes for a lot of people in this country to actually start caring,” said Alasia Destine-DeFreece, 20. “It takes showing something that’s actively harming those of us who are Black and then having it spread on social media.” Symptoms of racial trauma can include anxiety and depression and be similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder. The triggering event could be a shouted slur on the street or poor treatment because of one’s race or creed. The profusion on social media of graphic images of harm to people of color means they are often inescapable.
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