Racism Affects Whites and Blacks Mental Health

by CC Campbell-Rock

Four days after the concrete lynching of George Floyd by three rabidly racists cops, Sandra L. Shullman, PhD, president of the American Psychological Association released a statement on the mental health consequences impacting  black people, as a result of witnessing high-profile violent events targeting African-Americans.

 “George Floyd, dead after a police officer knelt on his neck. Ahmaud Arbery, fatally shot while on a jog. Breonna Taylor shot to death by police raiding her home. Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin — the list is far too long and ever growing. The deaths of innocent black people targeted specifically because of their race — often by police officers — are both deeply shocking and shockingly routine.”

“If you’re black in America — and especially if you are a black male – it’s not safe to go birding in Central Park, to meet friends at a Philadelphia Starbucks, to pick up trash in front of your own home in Colorado or to go shopping almost anywhere” the psychologist said.

“We are living in a racism pandemic, which is taking a heavy psychological toll on our African American citizens. The health consequences are dire. Racism is associated with a host of psychological consequences, including depression, anxiety, and other serious, sometimes debilitating conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. Moreover, the stress caused by racism can contribute to the development of cardiovascular and other physical diseases.” 

“The American Psychological Association urges those who are experiencing trauma in the aftermath of these tragedies to practice self-care. Connect with family, friends, and other community support people, talk about your feelings, and limit your exposure and that of your children to news media and viral videos. Seek professional help if you need it,” Schullman advised.

Shullman, who is white, was born in Philadelphia and grew up in transitional/project housing. Her exposure to people of various cultures has informed her lifelong commitment to social justice.

Calling out both the psychological and physical damage done to black people, as a result of what Schullman calls a “Racism Pandemic,” is one facet on the pyramid of savage injustices black people have had to face from generation to generation: from slavery to American Apartheid (Jim Crow), voting rights, violations of civil and human rights, targets of police brutality and murder, victims of gerrymandering and gentrification, redlining, and economic injustices, and the theft of the America Dream from those aspiring to rise out of poverty.

Several black psychologists and psychiatrists have been sounding alarms about this “racism pandemic,’ for several decades.

Although he is best known as a script and production consultant to NBC’s The Cosby Show (and also to The Cosby Show’s spin-off A Different World) Alvin Francis Poussaint, M. D. is an American psychiatrist well known for his research on the effects of racism in the black community. He is a noted author, public speaker, and television consultant, and Dean of Students at Harvard Medical School.

During an interview with this writer, Dr. Poussaint said, “People have a right to be racist but it’s when they act on their racial tendencies, they become dangerous.” Poussaint said he’s treated clients for racism.

In 2002, Poussaint authored an article called: “Is extreme racism a mental illness?” for the Western Journal of Medicine. After concluding that extreme racism is a mental illness, Poussaint wrote: “The American Psychiatric Association never officially recognized extreme racism as a mental health problem, although the issue was raised more than 30 years ago.  After several racist killings in the civil rights era, a group of black psychiatrists sought to have extreme bigotry classified as a mental disorder. The association’s officials rejected the recommendation, arguing that because so many Americans were racists (at the time), even extreme racism in this country was seen as normative—a cultural problem rather than an indication of psychopathology (until the 1960s)…” 

“To continue perceiving extreme racism as normative and not pathologic is to lend it legitimacy. Clearly, anyone who scapegoats a whole group of people and seeks to eliminate them to resolve his or her internal conflicts meets criteria for a delusional disorder, a major psychiatric illness,” Poussaint continued.

“As a clinical psychiatrist, I have treated several patients who projected their own unacceptable behavior and fears onto ethnic minorities, scapegoating them for society’s problems. Their strong racist feelings, which were tied to fixed belief systems impervious to reality checks, were symptoms of serious mental dysfunction. When these patients became more aware of their own problems, they grew less paranoid—and less prejudiced.”

Dr. Poussaint believed then and continues to believe, that extreme racism should be classified as a mental disorder in the DSM–5, the diagnostic manual for the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the U.S.

“It is time for the American Psychiatric Association to designate extreme racism as a mental health problem by recognizing it as a delusional psychotic symptom. Persons afflicted with such psychopathology represent an immediate danger to themselves and others. Clinicians need guidelines for recognizing delusional racism in all its forms so that they can provide appropriate treatment. Otherwise, extreme delusional racists will continue to fall through the cracks of the mental health system, and we can expect more of them to explode and act out their deadly delusions.”

It’s been 18 years since Poussaint’s clarion call. In 2020, during the month of May, the extreme racism harbored by police with guns and badges took the lives of three unarmed black people: Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd.

Monnica Williams, Ph.D. is a board-certified, licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapies. Her research interests also include the role of culture and race on mental illness. Dr. Williams has created a screening tool to determine the level of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) experienced by people of color, as a result of racial trauma.

“Many ethnic and racial groups experience higher rates of PTSD as compared to White Americans. One explanation for this is the experience of racism, which can itself be traumatic. Racial trauma can result from major experiences of racism such as workplace discrimination or hate crimes, or it can be the result of an accumulation of many small occurrences, such as everyday discrimination and microaggressions,” Williams wrote in Practice Innovations. The article aimed to provide a context understanding how racism can lead to a diagnosis of PTSD according to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

Beyond the psychologic impact and the possibility of getting killed for breathing while black, very little attention has been paid to the economic devastation and the provocation of poverty that has been visited upon black people because of racist people who are in high places, i.e., the leaders of Fortune 500 corporations, who have put concrete ceilings in place that prevent black people from acquiring the well-paying jobs that are typically held by people who are living the American Dream. As it stands, despite the alphabet soup behind an educated black person’s name, blacks are still not well-represented at the corporate table.

Justice delayed, is justice denied.

However, Reverend Al Sharpton’s powerful eulogy at George Floyd’s Memorial Service in Minneapolis, captured the essence of the impact of the racism pandemic on black people.

“We don’t want any favors. We just want you to take your knee off of our necks so we can be anything we want to be.”

5 thoughts on “THE RACISM PANDEMIC & SAVAGE INJUSTICES”
  1. in the Bible, GOD, declares, when people follow the ways on men to solve their problems, thus, those men deny His Wisdom and Solutions, and the end result is a world filled with chaos and Hostility, God proclaims, In the Emnity of the people thus will I turn them over to a “reprobate mind”, so that, they will believe Lies, and then Incrementlly seek to destroy my people and me, and become Beguiled where no one can get them to acknowledge the Truth. A reprobate, is a suicide mind.
    please do not miss out on this civil rights man speak to the people.
    Civil Rights Leader Shelby Steele to America: 
    https://video.foxnews.com/v/6162276226001#sp=show-clips  
         eye opener !  sunday  2020  07  June
    God,,, “please woke the people” !

  2. The Deception never stops! Beware “Media Treason” and the propagation of “False Narratives”!

    LBRC- Too many Negroes follow Erroneous Narratives and False Premises! Not even Negroes with so- called Degrees in “Political Science” are immune, and lots are in fact “Miseducated! ‘Dats Real! How many for instance have called out some like “Lester Holt”, for misreporting the Confederate “Rebellion”, void off and no mention about “Constitutional Treason”! “Don’t just Believe, Read”, especially Miseducated Negroes! 

    1. So- called Mainstream Media never says the following regarding the “Constitution”-  

    a. Article III, Sect. 3, U.S. Constitution- Section 3 says- 

    Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

    b.Therefore- Confederates were “Traitors”! Confederates Flags are “Icons” of “Rebellion and Treason”, period end of sentence!  

    c. Neo Confederate say Julian Assange is a “Traitor” who should be hung! But why weren’t their ancestors hung for “their Treason, Rebellion and Murder? Why weren’t “their” ancestors slammed to the ground and a knee placed on their necks until Death? Treason in the U.S. Military is punishable by Death! Robert E. Lee was a Union West Point Grad, turned Rebellious and a “Traitor”, then murdered innocent and “loyal” Union Soldiers who stayed faithful to “The Union” and “Their Oath”! The Union “Won”,’memba? The “Treasonous” Rebellion was “Put Down”! Is ‘Dis ‘Thang on Imhotep???

    2. The “Narrative” allowed to flow and adopted as nearly a single issue is- “Confederates were Pro Slavery”, which is true! However, what Confederates want buried is- 

    a. They were not just “Pro Slavery” only.

    b. Truth is- Confederates were not only “Traitors”, but “Statutory Murderers” too! Lester Holt during the week of June 9, said- “Confederates were Pro Slavery”! What about “The Rest of the Story” Lester? We emailed Lester, but we think we know why Lester, others, plus lots of Miseducated Negroes, are so reluctant to call out Confederates for what “They Are” and promote “The Constitutionally Historical “Narrative” accurately! Isn’t The U.S. Constitution “Supreme Law” via. Art. VI, paragraph 2? How does a so- called “Professional” Journalist miss this? btw- Lester is not alone! Judy Woodruff, PBS News, called Robert E. Lee- “A Great Man”! We wrote Judy to query her about what is so Great about “Treason”? No response yet! We know they got our message. They have removed direct “Feedback” and simply ignore us now! Gwen Ifill felt it necessary to “Check” Judy “On Air” once! Of course reminding Judy ‘Dat John Dean was a convicted Felon, and Judy’s husband is a “Dear” friend and associate to Charlie Rose didn’t help either!!! During recent broadcasts- Judy has the unmitigated gull to have a “Book” about Gen. Grant prominently placed on her bookshelf, as though…? Admittedly, some viewers are ‘Simps! 

    3. Common Negroes are Programmed to follow ‘Massa’s narrative aka “It ain’t got ‘Dat  swing, if it ain’t got ‘Massa’s ‘Thang”! Too many are too easily duped into “Insanity” aka “Voting in The Same “Negro Sell Outs”, Apostates and Politicos plus handlers (But they expect different results), then they move on into actual “Worship” aka “The Paradigm”! literate and De Facto Educated Blacks know ”betta!! The Miseducated spew false facts and misguided opinions, then give them validity just because…! Miseducated Negroes who are “Very Public” and of course “Look and sound Serious” perpetuate this aka “The Intellectual Zombies”!  

    btw- The CIA instituted “Propaganda” Programming called “Operation Mocking Bird” aka “Media Treason” aka Plants in so- called Mainstream Media! Look it up! Zombie Negroes, ‘Simps, The Miseducated and lots of so- called Instructors, are the “Useful Idiots”! They carry and promote Propaganda more efficiently than does Covid RNA!!!

    Peace Out…

     

  3. EXCELLENT 1ST HAND REPORTS THAT, ARE HIDDEN FROM THE NEWS , THERE ARE
    1000s OF STORIES OF THE WHOLE TRUTH, NOT FICTICIOUS FONEY SCRIPTED DRAMAS SEEKING ATTENTION TO SCAM AMERICA…..
    *** LIKE THIS MASTER PIECE *** , BECAUSE, THE MAN SAYS: BLACK LIES MATTER.
    https://twitter.com/sandyleevincent/status/1271163602473492481
    2020 JUNE FRI, 11
    IF YOU PARTICIPATE WITH THEM, YOU BECOME BAMBOZZLED , SNOOKERED, AND DECEIVED, AND THE HARM TO THE CITY HURTS FAMILIES !
    ____ DO NOT BE LURED TO THE HOOK !

  4. The current protests did not come about as a reaction to a video from Minnesota by accident. The main-stream media high-lighted and focused on this story as part of an organized psyop that was and is well funded. The media is told what stories to focus on and they’re told how they are to present them.
    The protests began by using paid protesters who were sent from out of town and deployed in various cities. These hired workers were told which businesses to target first for destruction and in many cases the store owners were also told their business was a target. It seems this was worked out ahead of time with the owners consent. Ordinary people quickly joined in with the paid protesters and chaos ensued.
    I witnessed this in my own city. Two large white buses came into the downtown area and parked in a spot that was reserved for them ahead of time. As the people stepped off of the bus (around 60 total) they were all dressed in black from head to toe, they soon split off into two groups where each group gathered around an instructor of sorts and were talked to for around ten minutes. After this one group was given baseball bats and hammers along with fireworks. There were a half dozen police and one local news station reporter standing among the protesters while these bats and such were handed out. Watching this told me that this demonstration and the destruction of store fronts that followed was all pre-planned with the cooperation of the the police and obviously the mayor. It didn’t takes long before hundreds of regular people joined in the protest, around 11pm the destruction started and continued as the police watched but took no action. After the first night the mayor issued a city wide 8pm curfew and said violators would be fined. This action kept the public from witnessing the destruction, looting and fires which occurred over the next two nights as hundreds rioted in the downtown area. After the third night the protesters mostly went away leaving a much smaller group of local residents to continue on with quiet peaceful protests.
    This exact same scenario played out in dozens of cities nation-wide. Although it was obvious that these events were pre-planned and well organized with police cooperation there were no news stories stating this anywhere in the main-stream. Yes this was and is a large psyop being played out not only across the country but in several major cities in many countries all following the same recipe. The easily seen goal of this psyop is to cause fear and chaos as well as to cause racial tension and divide the population, but as to the bigger end goal one can only speculate.

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