Category Archives: Racism/Diversity

Kids, Racism/Diversity

How police killings of unarmed blacks affect us

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They directly impact both our mental health
as well as our physical health

Have you, like so many black parents and
helping professionals, been wondering what impact
these killings of our brothers and sisters are having
on us and our children?

It affects their health, both
emotional and physical. It’s no coincidence that our
communities have disproportionate levels of heart
disease, hypertension, diabetes and addictions. But
when you see the statistics, it is startling.

A report published in the British medical journal,
The Lancet, validates the negative impact of police
killings of unarmed blacks on black people in the
states in which they happened. The inter-
national response to George Floyd’s death shows
that there has been a measurable impact around
the world. It is validating to realize that people
all over the world have been touched by what
has been going on here in the States.

The mental health of white Americans was not
similarly affected by killings of unarmed blacks,
the researchers found. Nor were negative health
effects associated with police killings of unarmed
white Americans or armed black Americans.

The study, which looked at survey data and
examined a database of police killings, noted that
white Americans were not affected similarly.
They also found that killings of armed black
Americans or unarmed white people did not
seem to generate negative health effects.

While we are seeing the increase in violent crime
with the emergence of the pandemic, data tracking
of police killings of blacks found no correlation with
local crime rates. It is more likely that a firearm
and implicit bias don’t belong together but anti-
racism training and more progressive policing
methods do.

Books We're Reading, Racism/Diversity

Rx for racism

Gallery

Now that racism has come out of the closet, there is the
question of how to approach it. As black folks, many of
us have been waiting too long to turn big, bright lights
on it. Something so big, that we have been walking around,
climbing over and burdened under all of our lives – we want
to expose all the ugly, huge extent of it. Blacks are too (?)
angry about it and naturally want to throw it in the faces of
those who’ve taken advantage of us, dismissed us and
simply lied about us. Especially those who’ve accepted the
lies unquestioningly. Whites, say they feel suddenly exposed
and wanting to not be blamed for accepting “privileges”
that they didn’t realize are not afforded everyone.

Confrontation rarely causes people to immediately give in,
admit guilt and sin no more. Trying to convince, educate and
persuade really rankles many black folks. “Why should I have
to teach you how to not be prejudiced?”, they moan. And they
are right. Fairness, empathy and truthfulness are the expected
behaviors that mark one as human. How do you get people to
recognize the suffering of others and actively work to correct
the laws and social customs that cause it?

Author Celeste Headlee has some great ideas. She focuses on a
logical and valuable technique for getting people to change their
minds. It’s a tool that all of us can use. One wants to do what works
so that we can quickly reduce the spread of racism by those who
use it as a political tool.

Lifestyle, Racism/Diversity

Trumpin’ for domestic violence

bl woman cartoon pulling hair outA recent article in the Huffington Post pointed out something that many victims of domestic violence have been thinking; that Trump’s personality and behavior are characteristic of the abusive partners  they’ve had. The article was sent to me by a client who felt Trump was a good example of an abusive spouse and for her as for the women the Huffington Post talked to, watching him was triggering the feelings associated with the trauma from which they were escaping.

And we elect him for president, because he sounds strong and we want change? Maybe that makes us wishful dreamers that are hoping for help when we feel like we have no control over our lives. As many know, the first step in  helping an abused woman out of a relationship, is not just helping her to see that her partner is dangerous to her survival. It’s helping her to know that there are other choices, that she can do for herself what she is wishing someone else would do for her. Showing her that her mind, her skills are enough. Especially, it is important for her to accept the truth of her situation. In abusive relationships, the perpetrator works his weak spell by convincing his partner that she needs him alone, that she is weak and unable to take care of herself. This psychological imprisonment is as effective as real imprisonment.

When Trump declared that only he could save America from “the system”,  that we need protection and only he could save us, alarm bells went off in the minds of many listeners. Angel Marie Russell wrote on her Facebook page, per the Huffington Post, ” Trump is triggering so many abuse and rape victims, including me”. “His behavior is almost exact to my abusive exes. It’s terrifying. I can’t even watch him.” But watch him we must.  And as with all crazy-making behavior, we have to pay attention not just to what he says, but more importantly, to what he does.

Racism/Diversity

Grace standing in her truth

Photo by Jonathan Bachman
Photo by Jonathan Bachman

Fear blocks your ability to hear God

Ieshia Evans, a peaceful protester in Baton Rouge, LA demonstration in July, 2016 following the killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota shows what faith looks like. Faith has no fear. Faith stands in the certainty of its truth. Ms. Evans, a 28 year old nurse and mother of a 6 year old son told Gayle King, CBS “This Morning” co-host, that it was a first demonstration for her.

Why she stood up

After watching the videos of  the two shootings and after the countless other police shootings of unarmed black men and women that she had heard about, she felt that she had to stand up for her people. Noting that her job is to take care of people and that she could even be the nurse who takes care of those policemen one day, she demonstrates for all the world what it looks like to show peacefully and powerfully that Black Lives Matter as all lives matter.

Books We're Reading, Racism/Diversity

We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation by Jeff Chang

Gallery

 

Picador
Picador

“Race makes itself known in crisis, in the singular event that captures a larger pattern of abuse and pain,” writes author Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, Who We Be)  in the introduction to a series of essays on the significance of ongoing police shootings, social inequities, housing discrimination and campus diversity.

As an historian, Chang helps us focus on the broader picture (and effects) of the long-term system of racism and how it has played out and continues to develop in our country.  Chang touches on Trump’s speech in Mesa, Arizona (December, 2015),  demonstrations in Ferguson, MO (where he was arrested for participating) on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death,  and the effects of gentrification to produce a powerful punch through the veil of denial that shrouds and nurtures systemic racism.