PTSS: Generational ethnic PTSD

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Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Cousin to the Breeding People in America
and the Books Read or Wanted threads.

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from the back cover


In the 16th century, the beginning of African enslavement in the Americas until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and emancipation in 1865, Africans were hunted like animals, captured, sold, tortured, and raped. They experienced the worst kind of physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual abuse. Given such history, isn't it likely that many of the enslaved were severely traumatized? And did the trauma and the effects of such horrific abuse end with the abolition of slavery?

Emancipation was followed by one hundred more years of institutionalized subjugation through the enactment of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, peonage, convict leasing, domestic terrorism and lynching. Today the violations continue, and when combined with the crimes of the past, they result in yet unmeasured injury. What do repeated traumas, endured generation after generation by a people produce? What impact have these ordeals had on African Americans today?

Dr. Joy DeGruy, answers these questions and more. With over thirty years of practical experience as a professional in the mental health field, Dr. DeGruy encourages African Americans to view their attitudes, assumptions, and behaviors through the lens of history and so gain a greater understanding of how centuries of slavery and oppression have impacted people of African descent in America.

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome helps to lay the necessary foundation to ensure the well-being and sustained health of future generations and provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of society's beliefs, feelings, attitudes and behavior concerning race in America.

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Apr 24, 2019 21:31:38 GMT -5 Gil 'Like it is' Noble said:

Dr. Joy DeGruy is a priceless asset to us all. She has lifted the bandages from the four hundred-year-old abscess of slavery that remains unhealed. Many black and white Americans have been taught that slavery ended by legislative means in 1865--so the issue is neatly sidestepped in school curricula, print and broadcast media. However, the hallmark of classroom teaching and responsible journalism must be proper context--for full understanding. The removal of the slave shackle is important, but what about the emotional damage suffered by the enslaved?

Dr. DeGruy has raised this argument brilliantly, for years lecturing far and wide. Her many appearances on my program, Like It Is, have evoked huge audience reactions from our viewers. Many have told me how coming to understand Dr. DeGruy's message on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome has helped them grapple with the multiplicity of problems today. I share those feelings of my viewers.

Now Dr. DeGruy has set down her highly important message/thesis in print. And so, to quote this wondrous physician, Let the healing begin.

--Gil Noble, producer and host, Like It Is, WABC

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Psychology Today article

Monnica T Williams Ph.D.
Culturally Speaking
The Link Between Racism and PTSD
A psychologist explains race-based stress and trauma in Black Americans

Several people have asked me why I focus on African Americans, given the many similar experiences faced by other ethnic/racial groups, immigrants, sexual minorities, disabled people, and other stigmatized individuals.

I want to state up front that the problems faced by those groups are real and deserve attention too, however in this article I am going to stick to what I know, the Black experience in America.