Racism’s hidden costs: For people of color, death of George Floyd by police is one more reason to be fearful.
For minorities, headlines bolster climate of fear
George Floyd, after a police officer knelt on his neck. Ahmaud Arbery, while on a jog in Georgia. Breonna Taylor, while police raided her Louisville, Kentucky, home.
And the ones before: Eric Garner, who couldn’t breathe. Philando Castile, in the car with his girlfriend and her 4year-old daughter. Trayvon Martin, only a boy. Scores of killings answered with acquittals. Now, as a pandemic rages, African Americans disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 are forced to bear witness to more black deaths.
The costs of these deaths ripple. When people of color repeatedly witness racism, there is a profound toll.
“The persistent pandemic is racism. That’s the pandemic. Recent deaths of individuals of color and the deleterious impact of COVID-19 on communities of color stems all the way from 1776,” said Alisha Moreland-capuia, head of Oregon Health & Science University’s Avel Gordly Center for Healing, which focuses on culturally sensitive care for the African American community.
“The emotional and psychological impact of racism means acutely, every day, being reminded that you are not enough, being reminded that you are not seen, being reminded that you are not valued, being reminded that you are not a citizen, being reminded that humanity is not something that applies to you.”
Research shows racism has harmful mental and physical effects. They can result from a person experiencing racism directly or vicariously, such as someone watching the video of Floyd’s suffering.
Racism is associated with a host of psychological consequences, including depression, anxiety and other serious, and sometimes debilitating mental conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders, mental health experts say.
High-profile incidents of racism and police brutality, especially when accompanied by viral videos, are triggering for people of color who see how little changes in their aftermath.
“Racism is traumatic for people of color,” said Monnica Williams, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. “Everything that you have to carry around anyway as a black person in America, to add onto it having to watch people in your community who’ve done nothing killed at the hands of people in power who will probably suffer few, if any, consequences. I think there’s no better word to describe it than traumatizing.”
Williams says social media’s amplification can be re-traumatizing for people of color, and in some ways, its viral spread is yet another act of dehumanization.
“These are human beings and they deserve dignity, and the fact that you can just go online and ... watch a black person be killed – when is the last time you saw a white person killed online?” she said.