Excerpts from Racism and Racial Identity: Reflections on Urban Practices in Mental Health and Social Services

"Sanchez-Hucles (1998) clarifies that racism can be a form of emotional abuse and trauma for ethnic minorities because it involves negative, rejecting and/or demeaning societal messages that undermine self-esteem. Building on the work of Hart, Germain, and Brassard (1983), Sanchez-Hucles describes emotional abuse as 'consisting of both acts of commission and omission that are psychologically damaging and can be perpetuated by groups or individuals' (pg 73). Emotional abuses adversely impact one's affective, behavioral, and cognitive functioning.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Mental Disorder (DSM-IV-TR;American Psychiatric Association, 2000), some instances of emotional abuse can be justifiably diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).... Some argue that racism-related aspects of trauma may operate in ways that are different from classic PTSD. In particular, the DSM-IV-TR specifies that traumatic events must involve actual or witnessed 'death, serious injury or a threat to one's physical integrity.' Yet, Sanchez- Hucles (1998) notes that 'the trauma and abusiveness of racism is as likely to be due to chronic, systemic, and invisible assaults on the personhood of ethnic minorities as a single catastrophic event' (72).

A number of scholars, clinicians, and researchers have argued for expanding the definition of PTSD to include responses to racism by people of color. Root describes the trauma of racism as 'insidious trauma.' Sanchez-Hucles and Root both argue that current trauma theory and definitions of PTSD 'fail to both address the accumulated effects of devalued status for ethnic minorities that begins upon birth, persists throughout a lifetime, and carries threats to individuals' well-being when actual violence is not acted out. Butts notes that the origins of trauma related PTSD in the DSM-IV-TR are not inclusive enough. In his opinion, racial/ethnic discrimination experiences can result in symptoms associated with a diagnosis of PTSD."

I've been thinking about how to explain some of my emotional responses to racism... I (and a lot of other folks of colour) often describe racism as being traumatic. I'm doing a bit of research for my zine right now, but can't really bring myself to write anything and elaborate about my own experiences. And though I realize the limitations and some of the problems of framing responses to racism within the discourses of psychology (because the institution itself is problematic), I guess I'm trying to find ways to be able to explain it from a distance. If that makes sense? I'm not sure if I would identify as having symptoms of PTSD, but the idea of "insidious trauma" is something that speaks to me. Sigh. I wish I could articulate it better.