The last video on generational trauma got me thinking about a greater issue as we address anti-racism. It never helps a person to point out their weak points and say, "this is due to your trauma." You cannot say to a person "you have been traumatized." When we do anti-racism work, especially in schools, we need to address all the folks in the room, not just the white people. We cannot afford to be diagnosing generational PTSD willy-nilly without also actively practicing trauma-informed care.
We just need to agree that nearly every person we meet carries some sort of trauma, and act accordingly. We need to understand that different traumas require different approaches and that is okay. The conversation you have about anti-racism with a black child whose parent is in jail will be different from the anti-racism conversation you have with a white child whose parent is a therapist and that will be different from the conversation you have with the white child who was molested by their parent's black spouse. I've been having conversations with all three of these children individually. But when you have all of these children in one classroom, it gets tricky.
We need more than just anti-racism information, we need actively trauma-informed approaches to these conversations.
Yes! Watching the videos in itself was very difficult. We humans are terrible to each other.
I agree with a lot of the thoughts presented in the original post. I think part of the emphasis needs to be on accepting that every child has a story. That story has presented them with opportunities as well as challenges.
While racism needs to be addressed given current events in society, the deeper issue is creating a change in our climate. I hope that, as educators, we can foster a classroom climate where there is acceptance of differences.
Thank you for these points!
Regarding trauma, @Crystal Garrity , I would love to hear your opinion regarding a friend's scenario: My friend is Black, his wife is White, and their son is biracial. My friend expressed a concern that his son will feel ashamed or guilty of being part white, since--for obvious and understandable reasons--certain segments of the black activist community rage against white people without having much subtlety about it. My friend is worried that his son will grow up feeling like the White "part" of him is less virtuous, or that he'll carry guilt.
Does this count as trauma on some level? I instinctively want to say no, because that seems to imply that white guilt is trauma, and that leads us down a rabbit hole of centering white emotional trauma over/instead of black violent physical trauma. What makes something rise to the level of trauma?
This may be a lot to respond to, so I'll continue to research on my own. But thank you for your points; it was good food for thought.
Hi, Stephanie-
First of ll, I am by no means an expert. I don't have a clear answer. Trauma has a wide range and something that could be traumatic to one person might not even affect another person in the same situation.
Without knowing the ins and outs of this family's life, it's hard to gauge how likely trauma is for the child. Do they talk about race? Do they celebrate racial identity? What kind of neighborhood do they live in? What kind of school does the child attend? What is he learning in school, who are his peers? I think many, many people do raise mixed race children with a powerful sense of their identity and where they come from. I think trauma can come from bullying from others, pressure from parents to be or act a certain way, or a feeling of not having an identity. The child will only feel shame if he is taught, at home or at school, that he should feel shame. Talking to children about race and identity and how to be kind and loving to others can help alleviate that shame when traumatic things happen. If the child is a darker complexion and experiences the racism that comes with that, that can easily turn into trauma and bring up the generational trauma he carries in his DNA.
I agree with this argument that antiracist work should be trauma-informed. Some additional thoughts I have as I process the videos and our society:
As we have been hearing, BIPOC have had higher rates of exposure to COVID-19. People who I have spoken with in NY (mainly, NYC) told gut-wrenching stories about their fight with COVID-19 or having, unintentionally, passed the virus on to their families and other people that they care for. That PLUS the new economic hardship and delay in unemployment insurance and PUA payments adds to their stress. (I'm going to add another plus) The economic stimulus payments was NOT given to households who had a taxpayer without a SSN on 2019 taxes. So, your migrant status also adds additional stress.
All of these stresses are not just socioeconomical, they are health-related and psychological. So, trauma is a good place to start with many of our conversations. I'm wondering what else we can be doing in our communities to address the many, many layers of trauma that BIPOC face, noting that not everyone has access to affordable health care to see a therapist. Plus, I believe community-wide healing must occur at the same time as personal healing.
I'd love to hear suggestions and get any additional support and resources from people in this training course.