A major tenet of American history was the institution of slavery. It was a lucrative industry that propelled America economically and into becoming the superpower that it is today. The topic of slavery in the United States is quite vast and exhaustive. Volumes of books have been written on the subject.
At one-point African Americans were not considered fully human. They were viewed as three-fifths of a person. Fast forward a few hundred years to 2020, many argue that this subtle viewpoint remains alive and well today. Warning, ←29 | 30→the evidence presented in this book is both factual and compelling; read on with courage but keep in mind that the barriers to rebuilding the African American community can be both overwhelming and unpleasant to read.
It’s All Linked to Racism
The majority of the ailments that the black community suffers from today is linked to racism. In modern America, the research relating to outcomes of systemic racism and ACEs are exploding. Social scientists and other related researchers are sprinting to this groundbreaking research field as more patterns to human behaviors have been linked to ACEs and racism. Researchers Vanessa Sacks and Dr. David Murphey commented on a recent study regarding the issues. They reported that “along with many other researchers, the study authors believe that the experience of racism itself have toxic effects. It may be useful, as some researchers have done, to distinguish between catastrophic (acute) stressors and routine (chronic) ones, of which the experiences of racism is an example. ACEs (including racism) can make people physically and mentally ill (8).”
Racism has a colossal impact on the ability for the black community to recover from its brutal experience with slavery, Jim Crow laws, and other forms of oppression. In addition racism has been linked to mental illness, high unemployment rates, poor health outcomes, and low standardized test scores such as the SAT (scholastic aptitude test) and the GRE (graduate record examination) exams.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article regarding the subject of diversity and standardized test scores in American higher education. In August 2019, Douglas Belkin of the WSJ reported that “the College Board, the New York-based nonprofit that oversees the SAT, said it has worried about income inequality influencing test results for years. White students scored an average of 177 points higher than black students and 133 points higher than Hispanic students in 2018. Asian students scored 100 points higher than white students. The children of wealthy and college-educational parents outperformed their classmates (1).”
In the past few years, hate crimes in America have been on the rise. One would imagine that considering the Civil Rights era passing the nation over fifty years ago would have decreased the intensity and frequency of hate crimes and racial issues. Unfortunately, racism and racial tension have climaxed to epic levels.
University campus hate crimes and racially biased incidents have soared. Victoria Nelson of, American Progress, reported that “experiences of racism can cause racial trauma, especially for Black students. The theory of racial battle fatigue ←30 | 31→maintains that race-related stressors, such as exposure to racism and discrimination on campuses, and the time and energy African American students expend to battle these stereo types, can lead to detrimental psychological and physiological stress (6).”
By this point, you have been informed of some developing research, data, and information related to the ailments caused by racism. There is far more to come. Chapter Seven of this book dives thoroughly into ACEs, the nemesis of the black community. Ultimately, between the atrocious experience and the destructive factors of ACEs lies the chief barriers to the rebuilding of the black American community.
A major study was released in 2019 regarding the issues and effects of racism and ACEs primarily in the black community. Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison revealed some disturbing results. “ACEs are especially prevalent in low-income, minority patient populations. African Americans are disproportionally exposed to stressful and traumatic events particularly in urban areas, and the combination of traumatic, racial, and socioeconomic stressors contributes to reduced life expectancy. Racial and ethnic minority populations that experience significant health disparities are vulnerable to historical traumas.
African Americans are particularly susceptible to the intergenerational transmission of trauma through multiple mechanisms including ongoing discrimination and epigenetic inheritance. African Americans are at greater risk of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), than the general population, and are more likely to receive mental health care from primary care providers than whites. Mental health care is not easily accessed or accepted among black Americans as a result of the potential stigma of receiving a formal diagnosis and the cultural mistrust stemming from numerous racial disparities in health (3).”
References
1. Belkin, D. (August 2019). College board drips plans for SAT student adversity scores. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-board-drops-plans- for-sat-student-adversity-scores-11566928181
2. Brodkin, K. (1994). How Jews became white folks and what that says about race in America. New Brunswick, NJ. Rutgers University Press.
3. Goldstein, E., Topitzes, J., Birstler, J., & Brown, R. L. (2019). Addressing adverse childhood experiences and health risk behaviors among low-income, Black primary care patients: Testing feasibility of a motivation-based intervention. General Hospital Psychiatry, 56, 1–8. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163834318303189
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4. Koenig, K. (August 2016). Kaine highlights civil rights work in urban league address. NBCnews.com. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/kaine-highlights-civil- rights-work-urban-league-address-n623106
5. Marsiglia, F., & Kulis, S. (2015). Diversity, oppression, and change. London, England: Oxford University Press.
6. Nelson, V. (August 2019). Addressing racial trauma and hate crimes on college campuses. American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2019/08/09/473299/addressing-racial-trauma-hate-crimes-college-campuses/
7. PBS.org. (2003). An unfinished crusade: An interview with Jane Elliott. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/an-unfinished-crusade-an-interview-with-jane-elliott/
8. Sacks, V., & Murphey, D. (2018). The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences, nationally, by state, and by race or ethnicity. Child Trends. Retrieved from https://ncvc.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.11990/1142
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5 Chicanery and Politics; Opposing Viewpoints
For most of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Democratic Party has been identified as the party that defends America’s disenfranchised and marginalized populations. To some degree, this is true. The party has made significant