George Floyd, Racial Stress and Intersectionality
If you read the title of this post and hoped that this one article would fully encapsulate or explain the depth of what each of those phrases is referring to, you will likely be disappointed. Not because I won’t make a genuine effort to educate, or, in the case of some, validate, but because these are massive topics with extensive history and/or data points. And while I can be a research nerd, that is not in my lane. So let me just speak to you for a minute.
The U.S. is under incredible stress right now. Between a major pandemic that we were not prepared for, the rising death toll as a result, and the outbreak of protests in response to what seems to be an outbreak of death by police (or a continuation of police brutality that has long been present, depending on your perspective), many of us are showing the signs of trauma from one cause or another.
George Floyd was one of several Black individuals who have lost their lives recently, during episodes of heinously excessive use of force. As a Black woman, I have done my best to avoid watching the viral videos of his death. I do this because as a Black individual who is embedded in a Black and Brown family, and who has been educated in both Sociology and Social Work on institutionalized racism and the health effects of systemic racism, I know that I must be careful to manage my physical and mental health in order to live well and be present for those I love. Repeatedly subjecting myself to these bone-chilling images does not accomplish that goal.
I am heartbroken that his death, among those of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, etc, etc, have become fodder for politicized arguments around a real and eminent danger to the roughly 12% of the U.S. population that is Black American. I am heartbroken because as much as each of these events pains me in a way I have not found words to describe, these individuals left behind family, friends, community members that loved them and are now grieving these unexpected and violent deaths. They are living a special kind of horror that I do not know.
I am aware for both myself and my Black clients that these events, and other less obvious micro aggressions, have a cumulative effect on the body. Chronic stress from racism likely plays a larger role than we even understand to date on the alarming health disparities between Blacks and Whites in the U.S., as well as between other POC and Whites. As referenced in the NPR article entitled “Scientists start to tease out the subtler ways racism hurts health,” from November 2017, even the threat of discrimination can flood the body in a wash of stress hormones that strain one’s various internal systems.
The factors that lead to incidents of police brutality cut across so many dimensions, and the call for change can only be authentically honored when all systems of oppression and ingrained biases are acknowledged, challenged and replaced. If, for example, I fail to see my privileges as an able, cis-gendered, heterosexual, Christian, highly educated Black woman, I will miss all the ways that I “miss” other folx around me who are living different realities and I will fail to give them deserved validation and dignity. Ignoring the institutionalized structures of racism and other forms of discrimination in our country will lead to even graver results.
I am deeply disappointed and disturbed by these last several weeks. At the same time, in loving and working with so many individuals across the spectrum of humanity, I do have hope in the amazing good that we are also quite capable of. I will continue to work on me and my ingrained biases and act on behalf of those who cannot, in hopes of a better world for my family, my friends, my clients, my community, and my son. I hope you will join with me.