Looking Back, Moving Forward: a Phenomenological Investigation of African American Millennials’ Views on Historical Trauma

Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Phenomenological Investigation of African American Millennials’ Views on Historical Trauma

by Ariel Lewis

B.S. in Business Administration, December 2008, Bowie State University M.A. in General Psychology, May 2011, The Catholic University of America

A Dissertation submitted to

The Faculty of The Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

May 17, 2020

Dissertation directed by

Jorge Garcia Professor of Counseling

The Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington

University certifies that Ariel Lewis has passed the Final Examination for the degree of

Doctor of Education as of March 11, 2020. This is the final and approved form of the dissertation.

Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Phenomenological Investigation of African American Millennials’ Views on Historical Trauma

Ariel Lewis

Dissertation Research Committee:

Jorge Garcia, Professor of Counseling, Dissertation Director

Lionel Howard, Associate Professor of Educational Research, Committee Member

A. Elizabeth Crunk, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Committee Member

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Acknowledgements

It’s difficult to even know where to begin. There are so many people who have contributed to this accomplishment, with some of them being complete strangers to me. I thank my ancestors. You had no way of knowing that one day there would be a little

Black girl in Baltimore, lost and lonely, trying to find her way. You had no way of knowing that she would live in a time where brown-skinned people would achieve amazing things and yet still fight daily against the institutionalized racism that can be traced back to your capture and enslavement. You didn’t know that brown skinned people would claim the highest offices, excel in every field, and undertake the arduous process of reclaiming what was taken from you, but here we are. Here I am. I’m just so thankful and proud to be descended from generations of people who fought for something.

Because you fought, you set an example for us to keep fighting—in our communities, schools, workplaces—we fight every day because too many have sacrificed too much for us to settle for being mediocre or complacent. This dissertation represents a segment of my fight. This program has been a test on many levels but ultimately, even when I felt like the chips were down, I could not give up. I would not be the one to drop the baton in this relay. You deserve more than that. Thank you for being my motivation and cheering for me from whatever beautiful place you currently reside. I hope that I have made you proud.

Wesley Lewis: My husband, my best friend, and my rock. Thank you so much for your undying support. In the most difficult moments, you have been the force that kept me going. Early on in our relationship when I told you that I wanted to pursue a career in

mental health, you supported me, but you couldn’t have really known all of the sacrifices that would be made along the way. Thank you for never giving up on me or my dreams.

Leo, Cadence, and “December bean”: Each of you have been an inspiration and motivation to me in different ways. Leo and Cadie, as I completed this research, it became unavoidably connected to my hopes, dreams, and fears for you. More than anything, I wanted you to grow up having a mom that demonstrates just a snippet of the greatness that you’re capable of. You can accomplish anything you want in this life.

Don’t you dare let anyone tell you anything different. December bean, although you never got to experience the world, your presence is always felt and a driving force for me to reach higher.

Mom and Dad Lewis: Thank you so much for your support along the way.

Whether it was offering to watch the kids, celebrating my successes, or offering reassurance when the going was tough, you’ve offered me the consistent love that I needed. Thank you.

Other family members and friends: I know that many of you wondered if I would ever complete this mysterious document. Although most of you did not directly contribute, you still helped by adding joy to my life. This has been a long journey and no one makes it on their own. No burrito is too big and no contribution is too small.

Dr. Jorge Garcia. I feel very fortunate to have benefited from your guidance throughout the program. Thank you for believing in me and my ability to accomplish this milestone.

Dissertation Committee. Thank you for being so generous with your time, knowledge, and patience. I never doubted that each one of you wanted to see me be successful. I appreciate you all more than words can convey.

GSEHD Department of Counseling and Human Development faculty and staff: Thank you for providing me with such a great foundation and contributing to my love of counseling. When I arrived at GW, I was so excited to begin this journey but I had a lot to learn along the way. Thank you for challenging me and supporting me along the way. I would like to send special love to the CCSC staff. You have been instrumental to me getting to this point. Thanks for everything.

Abstract of Dissertation

Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Phenomenological Investigation of African American Millennials’ Views on Historical Trauma

Background: The current DSM-5 criteria for trauma eliminate events that do not involve actual or threatened death or injury to an individual or someone that that individual has a close relationship with. This is quite limiting as it ignores the reality that one person’s negative experiences may have long-term effects for others as well. Historical trauma is a concept that accounts for these trickle down effects by outlining the manner in which trauma can be group experience that is cumulative over time and damaging across generations. While historical trauma has been explored in relation to some historically marginalized groups, a review of the existing literature reveals that African American historical trauma is an understudied topic. African Americans possess a rich history, inclusive of both tragedy and triumph, with perhaps the most widely recognized of the tragedies being chattel slavery. Slavery would then be followed by many years of institutionalized racism and an ongoing struggle for equality. The purpose of this study is to explore the manner in which African Americans perceive and make meaning of historical traumas experienced by earlier generations, and how they cope with those realities in the present.

Method: This study employed phenomenological interviews as a means of allowing the target population to speak about their perceptions of historical trauma in their own words.

The 12 participants self-identified as African American millennials, with at least two generations of families having been born in the United States. Interviews were held via

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online video conferencing software and by phone. Interviews were then transcribed and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results: Thematic analysis revealed the presence of eight main themes. This themes included (1) What’s in a name?, (2) Education on African American history: early and inadequate, (3) Slavery was just the beginning, (4) Storytelling as preparation, (5) All- encompassing loss, (6) Pride as a grief response, (7) Restricted expression, and (8)

Navigating an evolving racial climate. These findings will contribute to the ability of clinicians, researchers, and other decision makers to include historical trauma in their conceptualizations of African American millennials. Suggestions for clinical practice as well as future directions for research are provided.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ...... iv

Abstract of Dissertation ...... vii

List of Figures ...... xi

List of Tables ...... xii

Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 Overview ...... 1 Current Racial Climate...... 2 Trauma and loss...... 4 Statement of the Problem ...... 6 Purpose and Research Questions ...... 7 Statement of Potential Significance ...... 8 Theoretical Foundation or Conceptual Framework ...... 10 Historical trauma theory...... 11 Grief and loss...... 11 Summary of the Methodology...... 12 Delimitations ...... 13 Limitations ...... 15

Chapter 2: Review of Literature ...... 17 Ethnic Identity Development ...... 17 African American Ethnic Identity Development...... 22 African American Mental Health...... 26 Racism ...... 28 Trauma ...... 29 Trauma Defined...... 29 Historical Trauma...... 32 Historical Trauma and Ethnic Identity...... 33 Examples of Psychological and Wellness Outcomes for Groups Impacted by Historical Trauma ...... 34 Native American Intergenerational Trauma Literature...... 34

Survivors of the Armenian Genocide...... 36 Ukrainian genocide...... 39 Historical Traumas Impacting African Americans ...... 41 Existing Measures of Historical Trauma ...... 46 Connecting Bereavement, Coping, and Historical Trauma ...... 47 Ethnic Identity and Loss ...... 54 Existing Measures of Grief and Loss ...... 55

Chapter 3: Method ...... 57 Research Paradigm ...... 57 Research Design ...... 61 Sample ...... 62 The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R; Phinney and Ong, 2007)...... 65 The Brief COPE (Carver, 1997)...... 66 Demographic Questionnaire...... 68 Research Questions ...... 68 Data Collection ...... 69 Site of Study...... 72 Research Diary...... 72 Data Analysis...... 72 Descriptive data...... 73 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Qualitative ...... 74 Statement on Reflexivity ...... 76 Limitations ...... 78

Chapter 4: Findings ...... 81

Chapter 5: Conclusions ...... 131

References ...... 163

Appendix A: Interview Guide ...... 187

List of Figures

Figure 1. Research Design Overview………………………………………….……….. 62

List of Tables

Table 1. Brief COPE Subscale Reliabilities…………………………….…………...…. 67

Table 2. Selection Groups..………………………………………………...……….…... 71

Table 3. Participant Table………………………………………………………………. 83

Table 4. Participant Distribution Across Selection Groups……………..………...……. 87

Table 5. Major Themes and Sub-themes...……………...……………………………… 89

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview Trauma may take many forms. From natural disasters to violent crimes to terrorism, people live with the risk of encountering stressful circumstances that may or may not result in a traumatic response. However, the criteria for trauma cannot be limited to firsthand experiences or even events within a person’s lifetime. That conceptualization would ignore the relevance of stressors that, while pre-dating the life of the person in question, still manage to impact the life of that person in the present. Fortunately, researchers have begun to acknowledge the existence and influence of intergenerational trauma, as well as a particular subset: historical trauma. Existing research has found that historical trauma may influence psychological symptoms and overall wellness in current generations. The generalizability of this research is limited by the lack of diversity in the populations studied. The majority of this research has focused on the experiences of the indigenous populations of the United States (Brave Heart, 2003; Myhra, 2011), descendants of Holocaust survivors (Berger, 2014; Shrira, 2015; Sigal & Weinfeld, 1989) and some refugee populations (Mangassarin, 2016). One of the most apparent gaps in this research is a lack of analysis regarding the impact of historical trauma on the functioning and well-being of persons who identify as African American and/or Black. There is also an absence of research addressing the potential influence of the constructs of grief, coping, and ethnic identity on how today’s African Americans process historical trauma.

To this day, African Americans continue to directly experience racism on an institutional level, as well as during one-on-one interactions (Colbert, 2015). Therefore, there is a

need for additional insight into how members of the African American population process historical trauma while also facing present day stressors.

Current Racial Climate. When formulating the direction for this study, it was both critical and unavoidable for the research to be situated within the context of the ongoing challenges faced by society. As the United States has grown and progressed as a nation, it’s citizens have progressed as well. However, this progression has not been at the same rate for all groups, with some segments of the population, including African

Americans, placed at an intentional disadvantage by more dominant groups (Brackett,

2015). Despite many hurdles, African Americans as a group have shown indicators of beginning to make more steps toward equality in some domains. In a country that once openly denied all rights to people of African descent, increasing numbers of African

Americans have become elected politicians, opened thriving businesses, and attained the highest levels of education in their chosen fields. Some have amassed wealth and begun to drive change in their communities. To some, it may appear that all is well for African

Americans. However, focusing on accomplishments alone would be a misleading approach.

News reports throughout the last several years have often included the names and faces of unarmed Black men, women, and sometimes adolescents, who have fallen victim to police brutality. The aftermath often includes the perpetrator walking away without any legal consequences or being charged at a level that seems inconsistent with the value of a human life (Aymer, 2016). Indeed, the simple act of existing has seemingly been criminalized as Black people have been harassed, abused, killed, and/or reported to police for behaviors that are considered commonplace for other groups (Aymer, 2016). There

are troubling statistics which support the need for concern. Black males (both minors and adults) are three times more likely to be killed by a police officer than White boys and men (Bryant-Davis et al., 2017). This is despite the fact that Black males are twice as likely to be unarmed during these deadly encounters (Bryant-Davis et al., 2017). Not even academic settings can be blindly viewed as safe spaces. While African Americans make up an increasing percentage of the student body at colleges and universities around the country, these students have a broad range of experiences navigating these institution’s cultures, particularly at predominantly White institutions. For example,

Black students attending prestigious institutions such as Harvard University and the

University of Oxford, have noted the presence of microaggressions and a general lack of inclusion (George Mwangi, Bettencourt, & Malaney, 2018).

For some, life in the post-Obama years has been something of a disappointment.

His election had been seen by some as a sign of how far the U.S. had come in terms of moving beyond it’s racist past (Harris & Steiner, 2018). Alas these declarations of progress may have been a bit premature or exaggerated. President Obama’s two terms in office actually seemed to uncover and potentially intensify the racist ideology that still clings to this country (Stein & Allcorn, 2018). Since then there has been as resurgence of emboldened White supremacists spewing hate, fear, and division (Stein & Allcorn,

2018). This tension became even more overt with the election of Donald Trump, a person who often presents himself in a divisive and inflammatory manner. The Obama candidacy, presidency, and any legislative interests expressed by his administration became a rallying cry for White supremacy (Stein & Allcorn, 2018). Of course, this is not the first time in American history that such groups have threatened the rights of ethnic

minorities. Older Americans who lived through the Civil Rights Movement as well as others who have studied that time period have spoken about similarities between the past and the present state of race relations (Tynes, Rose, & Markoe, 2013). Once again

African Americans must address the possibility that, as they move through society, they may not be welcome or safe due to their ethnic background and its visibility on their skin.

To some degree, this is the context within which some, if not all, of this study’s participants will exist. This is also why this study is timely and relevant. As the country faces the possibility of new challenges in the future, it is critical that the counseling field become more well-versed in the concerns and traumas of the African American population so as to best serve and advocate for it.

Trauma and loss. The most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical

Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) provides detailed guidance regarding what constitutes a trauma or traumatic event. For diagnostic purposes, trauma is defined as:

Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in one

(or more) of the following ways: 1) directly experiencing the traumatic event(s),

2) witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others, 3) learning that the

traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or close friend (in cases of

actual or threatened death of a family member or friend, the event(s) must have

been violent or accidental), or 4) experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to

aversive details of the traumatic event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human

remains; police officers repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). (APA,

2013, P. 271)

While the DSM-5 conceptualization of trauma addresses multiple scenarios within which a traumatic response may occur, the criteria ignore other possibilities that impact large segments of the population. For instance, there are some occasions when the specific traumatic event cannot be isolated. There are also cases when the traumatic event(s) may be inflicted upon a particular group within the larger population These examples are captured within Sotero’s (2006) conceptualization of historical trauma.

Sotero (2006) describes historical trauma as being intentionally and systematically carried out against a minority group by another segment of the larger population that possesses more power and/or influence. This form of trauma extends beyond a single event and instead endures for a period of time. While individuals may have one-on-one, direct experiences of trauma, the systematic component of historical trauma leads to “a universal experience of trauma” throughout the group with long-term implications. Stated differently, “historical trauma is cumulative emotional and psychological wounding, over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences”

(Brave Heart, 2003, p. 7). A related term, “historical losses,” encompasses both the tangible and intangible elements of daily life that held value to members of the minority group prior to members of the dominant group initiating the systematic destruction of those elements (Whitbeck, Adams, Hoyt, & Chen, 2004). Examples of historical losses include customs, traditions, spiritual practices, language, and land. Historical losses, which are tied to historical trauma, may be felt by individuals and members of the impacted group long after the original trauma occurred. As with bereavement in the traditional sense, each person will cope in some manner. Coping refers to the manner in

which individuals “attempt to manage internal and external demands” that they perceive as stressful (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988, p. 468). Presently, the historical traumas experienced by African Americans, as well as the associated losses and methods of coping are an understudied research area.

Statement of the Problem Sometimes moving forward requires a willingness to look back on the past. It is during those times of reminiscence, reflection, and critical analysis that new insights are born and then used to inform present-day decisions. Legally sanctioned slavery was officially abolished in the United States in 1865 with the passage of the 13th amendment

(U.S. Const. amend. XIII), only to be followed by decades of challenging and potentially traumatizing circumstances for African Americans. Despite the troubling circumstances that have plagued African Americans over the last 400 years, the allied health professions have not yet accumulated sufficient insight into the ongoing effects of these events, thus limiting the ability of researchers, clinicians, and others in academia to develop theories, conceptual models, or interventions that properly account for the specific needs of this population.

The need for this topic area to be further explored has been substantiated by multiple researchers and academics. Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas (2015) in their review of the consequences of racial discrimination for African American emerging adults suggest various future directions including additional research on African American coping and coping interventions for addressing both “short- and long-term psychological and physical effects of racial discrimination” (p. 347). These researchers also noted the importance of clinicians being prepared to explore past and present racism with African

American clients. While the researchers suggest some intervention approaches such as focusing on values and self-affirmations (Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015), it can be argued that the decision to prescribe specific interventions may be premature given the mental health field’s insufficient knowledge of how African Americans attribute meaning to the historical trauma that they have endured. Other researchers have encouraged the view of trauma from an ecological perspective (Harvey, 1996; Sorosoli, 2007). This entails considering the full context within which individuals exist when deciding upon posttraumatic interventions. Context necessarily includes characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, community resources, and membership in a community where racism, institutional neglect, or economic disenfranchisement have been typical (Harvey, 1996).

The current researcher would argue that historical trauma is also a component of the context within which African Americans exist, and thus it should be considered when working with clients who identify with this ethnic group. Lastly, given the counseling field’s current emphasis on social justice (Lichtenberg, 2017; Ratts et al., 2016), it is appropriate that space be provided for the exploration of African American clients’ full identities, including the aspects that have been transmitted to them across generations.

Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this study is to explore an area of research which has been under- acknowledged by mental health professionals and American society at large: the manner in which African Americans perceive and make meaning of historical traumas experienced by earlier generations, and how they cope with those realities in the present.

As much of clinical practice is informed by research, gaps in that research also

undermine the ability of clinicians to properly address the needs of their African

American clients. The specific research questions for the present study are as follows:

Historical Trauma

RQ1: How do African Americans millennials describe and make meaning of

historical trauma?

• RQ1a: What are the themes that emerge related to how the day-to-day

lives of African American millennials are impacted by historical trauma?

• RQ1b: What are the themes that emerge related to how African American

millennials, in light of historical traumas perpetrated against African and

African American people, identify and understand the losses connected to

these traumas?

• RQ1c: How, if at all, do African American millennials experience and

discuss their grief related to historical traumas and associated losses?

Coping with racism

RQ2: How do African Americans millennials cope with racism?

• RQ2a: How are African Americans millennials prepared by their parents

or guardians to encounter and react to racism?

• RQ2b: How do African Americans millennials perceive and navigate the

current racial climate?

Statement of Potential Significance This study has the potential to increase and bolster the counseling field’s knowledge of historical trauma and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Despite being more likely than other ethnic groups in the U.S. to be exposed to trauma, African

Americans are “significantly less likely to seek mental health services” (Stevens-Watkins et al., 2014, p. 328). This suggests that there is a need for improved outreach and interventions for this greatly underserved population. While the study findings will focus upon the experiences, cognitions, and emotions of African Americans, there may also be some applicability to other ethnic groups’ past and ongoing struggles within the United

States. By deepening both clinicians’ and researchers’ understanding of historical trauma, more opportunities may be created for increasing counselor effectiveness and efficiency.

This may lead to improved quality of care for clients through the impact on graduate programs, client case conceptualizations, interventions, and advocacy. Clinicians who are uneducated on the potential long-term effects of racism have the risk of misdiagnosing or misattributing trauma symptoms (Carter, 2007). This can threaten clients’ quality of care.

There is also the possibility of encouraging societal change through the presentation of

African American voices speaking their truth regarding the influence of the past and the ongoing racial discrimination of the present. Additionally, it has been suggested that the process of individuals reflecting on past trauma and expressing their related emotions is critical for healing (Gump, 2010). Perhaps, the most critical relevance of this work is the potential that individual African Americans may feel validated and less alone as they read the accounts of others. Isolation has been connected with poorer mental health (Wang et al., 2017). Therefore, the alleviation of the perception of isolation is likely to contribute to improvements in wellbeing for individuals and the overall African American population.

Theoretical Foundation or Conceptual Framework This study’s theoretical framework will utilize a dual lens of both grief and loss and Historical Trauma Theory. As previously stated, there is currently a lack of empirical research developed toward the aim of elucidating the means through which African

Americans process the traumatic experiences of prior generations and how those traumas may influence present-day experiences and psychological wellbeing. When this topic is addressed in the research literature, it tends to be focused on observable characteristics or behaviors that are possibly linked to adaptive and/or maladaptive behaviors being passed down from parents to offspring. For example, it has been suggested that the rate of

African American utilization of spanking and other physical punishments when disciplining children, which is higher than that of White families, may be related to the group’s history of enslavement and the violence that occurred within that system

(Bradley, 1998; Evans, 2015). While this work has merit, it does not capture nor explain the cumulative effect that large scale, long-term, racially-motivated trauma has on descendants. African Americans are subject to the compounded effects of the “typical” intergenerational trauma transmission as well as the psychological weight of historical trauma and ongoing abuses.

Historical trauma theory. Historical trauma may be viewed as a specific form of intergenerational trauma. While the term “intergenerational trauma” may refer to the transmission of a trauma response(s) to future generations, the initial traumatic event may have been limited to an individual or a family. Historical trauma differs in that the trauma occurs on a larger scale, typically impacting a group or culture. Put differently, historical trauma represents “a psychological harm arising from a wide array of events and experiences that interact with development over time and exist in a cultural context”

(Danzer, Rieger, Schubmehl, & Cort, 2016, p. 352). Much of the existing research on historical trauma focuses upon the indigenous people of North America and descendants of Holocaust survivors (Brave Heart, 1998; Whitbeck et al., 2004; Alford, 2015; Shrira,

2015). This research has outlined the existence of multiple pathways for trauma transmission as well as the potential outcomes. The effects are thought to be both cumulative and collective (Sotero, 2006). Sotero’s (2006) conceptual model of historical trauma will serve as the underlying framework for how the researcher understands the transmission of historical trauma across generations of African Americans. This will be described in greater detail in Chapter 2.

Grief and loss. The impact of historical trauma is not merely a matter of learning about troubling events of the past. The researcher has conceptualized African American historical trauma as also consisting of elements of grief and loss. The perception of what has been lost and the intensity of the associated grief will be subject to individual differences. However, potential perceived losses may include the loss of culture, traditions, language, safety, dignity, and connectedness to their roots (Braveheart, 1998;

Gump, 2010; Graff, 2017; Sotero, 2006). Participants will be free to define their own

views on loss without being limited by the researcher’s perceptions. Stroebe and Schut’s

(2010) Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (DPM) will serve as the theoretical lens for how members of the African American community think about the traumas of the past and potentially integrate them into their present experiences. More details regarding DPM will be provided within Chapter 2.

Summary of the Methodology In pursuit of this study’s purpose, the methodology will entail a phenomenological approach consisting of semi-structured interviews. Potential participants will be asked to complete a screening survey which will serve to confirm the presence of the inclusion criteria, provide descriptive data, and allow the researcher to select individuals who represent unique perspectives. The participants will be selected via purposeful sampling, which allows for the intentional identification and inclusion of “information-rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest” (Palinkas et al., 2015, p. 533). For the current study, descriptive data will be collected via an online screening survey consisting of demographic questions, an ethnic identity scale, and a measure of coping strategies.

Phenomenological, semi-structured interviews will then be conducted with those individuals whom the researcher deems to be most appropriate for the study. These interviews will be designed to explore the manner in which African American millennials experience historical trauma and cope with it in their daily lives. This sequence of data collection was determined based on multiple factors. As a screening tool, the survey must proceed the selection of the sample. It is also possible that the survey results may help the researcher develop a deeper understanding of the study participants and trigger modifications to the planned interview questions, thus maximizing the qualitative

interviews’ usefulness. Given the emphasis of this study on how African Americans cope with historical trauma, it feels appropriate to capture a measurement of how closely each participant identifies with the ethnic group in question as well as a basic indicator of their preferred coping styles. The ethnic identity scores, coping scores, and demographic data will be stored in an SPSS database for organizational purposes and to simplify participant selection. After each interview, the researcher will engage in interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify themes in the participants’ responses. It should be noted that the researcher originally considered a mixed methodological approach.

However, after further reflection on the study’s purpose and the qualitative emphasis of the research questions, it felt more appropriate for this study to focus on phenomenological data. Nevertheless, the screening survey data may inspire the execution of future quantitative or mixed methods research.

During data collection and analysis, the researcher will need to take steps to minimize researcher bias. As a counselor, the researcher is accustomed to gathering information in a manner that does not reveal her personal opinions or values, but instead conveys acceptance and a non-judgmental approach. These skills will be beneficial to the interview process as well as during the identification and analysis of the qualitative themes.

Delimitations In designing this study, the researcher chose to impose certain boundaries to ensure the manageability of the project. The delimitations primarily relate to the inclusion criteria. First, all of the study participants must identify as African American and have both parents and grandparents who were born in the United States. The participants must

also be members of the millennial generation as determined by their year of birth. Given these inclusion criteria, the generalizability of the findings will be limited. However, broad generalizability is not a focus of phenomenological research. Instead the researcher will focus on gaining insight into the lived experiences of the current sample. As a population that has experienced extensive historical trauma but is generally underserved by the mental health field, an emphasis on recruiting African American participants is appropriate. The requirement for participants’ parents and grandparents to be native-born

U.S. citizens enhances the likelihood that the participants will feel a connection to the historical traumas experienced by prior generations of African Americans in the U.S.

Without this requirement, there would be the possibility of including participants who feel more connected to the history of people from other nations besides the U.S. That would then make the interview themes less comparable across participants. Age has been limited to the millennial generation for a few key reasons. Millennials (i.e. those who were born between 1981 and 1996) are still young enough that the lessons transmitted to them by older generations may still be fresh in their minds. At the same time, the millennials generation has lived through significant events and societal shifts, several of which directly relate to race relations in the United States. This generation has seen the

Rodney King beating, the Central Park Five case, and a wave of police brutality accusations bolstered by social media, among so many other events. However, they have also lived through the rise of Black figures widespread popularity and success. They have

Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, Barack Obama, Beyoncé, etc. In short, they have grown up in the presence of dueling truths: African Americans have come a long way but progress can be precarious. Millennials, as a group, have also displayed a commitment to

social justice and advocacy that suggests that many may be willing to share their thoughts and feelings on the current study’s topic (Milkman, 2017).

Another delimitation imposed by the researcher relates to the perspectives that will be sought during the study. It is likely that differences would exist between the perspectives of millennial participants and that of their parents or grandparents, who may have firsthand accounts of past traumatic events. For the purpose of this study, the focus will be on how, if at all, the participants been indirectly impacted by historical trauma.

Perceptions of parents and grandparents may still become apparent as the participants describe their own meaning-making processes. This is to be expected as the nature of historical trauma includes some transmission of that trauma and related variables across generations.

Limitations Although every effort will be made to conduct a strong, impactful study that adheres to best practices in research, there is always the possibility for improvement.

Therefore, while reviewing this study, the following limitations should be taken into account. Due to the nature of phenomenological interviews, the resulting outcomes will depend upon the participants ability to recall and relay their thoughts and feelings in a clear manner to the researcher. The researcher, functioning as the data collection instrument in this process, must then conduct analysis and interpretation. It is possible that a different researcher may identify somewhat different themes and conclusions.

However, this is an accepted aspect of the process. While most members of the sample are unlikely to have any personal relationship with the researcher, others may also originate from convenience sampling. The utilization of a convenience sample introduces

the possibility that a broader group of African Americans might not express the same themes. Although this study is intended to result in a group of representative themes, it will not be appropriate to apply those themes to the broader African American population until a larger study, with random sampling and assignment, can be undertaken. The researcher intends for this dissertation study to serve as a foundation for future research and application.

It is conceivable that the presence of the researcher may indirectly affect the study’s outcomes. After careful consideration, the researcher decided that her presence may serve to comfort participants as they explore these potentially sensitive topics. As a

African American member of the millennial generation, the researcher may be able to provide participants with a feeling of safety and understanding that might require more effort on the part of a researcher from a different ethnic background. However, there is also the possibility that participants may censor their responses for social desirability.

This is an inherent risk in various forms of counseling research. The researcher plans to address and measure the presence of this risk by ensuring confidentiality during the informed consent process and encouraging dialogue regarding any concerns on the part of each participant.

Chapter 2: Review of Literature

Ethnic Identity Development Tajfel (1981, p. 255) defined ethnic identity as the “part of an individual’s self- concept which derives from [his or her] knowledge of [his or her] membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership.” This definition suggests an acknowledgment of the importance of self- defined membership. Ethnic identity development begins in childhood with children recognizing that there are different racial and ethnic categories and developing the ability to sort self and others into those categories (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014; Gonzalez et al.,

2017). Then during adolescence, individuals form a deeper understanding of and connection to their ethnic identity as they become more aware of what it means to be that ethnicity within that specific society or culture (Gonzalez et al., 2017). Before the ethnic identity development process can be completed, the adolescent must explore, accept, and internalize their ethnicity (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). While ethnic identity may become relatively stable by adulthood, exploration of issues relevant to membership in a given ethnic group may be continuous (Phinney, 2006), causing ethnic identity to shift across time and context (Caneva, 2017; Phinney, 1996; Phinney, 2008). However, it is important to note that even within ethnic groups, there will be a fair amount of differences between individual adherence to cultural norms and values due to variations in “acculturation, generation of immigration, social class, and regional influences” (Phinney, 1996, p. 919).

The origins of ethnic identity research may be attributed to the personal identity research of Erikson (1968) and Marcia (1980) as well as work within the social psychology discipline (Phinney & Ong, 2007). Erikson considered identity to be “a

subjective feeling of sameness and continuity that provides individuals with a stable sense of self and serves as a guide to choices in key areas of one’s life” (Phinney & Ong,

2007, p. 274). Erikson also specified that identity development is a gradual process, with the adolescent and young adult years being of particular importance. The combination of observations, experiences, individual qualities, and the context within which the individual functions contribute to the achievement of a personal identity (Phinney & Ong,

2007). Erikson’s research provided a foundation for continued development of identity theory, including that of James Marcia (1980) who may be credited with conceptualizing ego identity development as consisting of both exploration and commitment. Depending on whether an individual is currently engaged in exploration, commitment, both, or neither, that individual may then be categorized as being in one of four stages: identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, or identity achievement. Individuals with identity diffusion lack both exploration or commitment, resulting in the absence of a clear identity. When individuals commit to an identity without any exploration, this is referred to as identity foreclosure. Alternatively, exploration in the absence of commitment is referred to as identity moratorium. After progressing through these stages, individuals may arrive at the achieved identity stage which entails having completed enough exploration to develop a strong understanding of “key identity issues,” which then solidifies the individual’s commitment to the selected identity (Phinney & Ong, 2007, p.

274). While Marcia’s research made important contributions to this area of study, ethnic identity was not addressed.

Within social psychology, one area of focus is group identity, which presents researchers with broad questions such as what are the defining characteristics of groups?

The combined efforts of multiple researchers resulted in the identification of some components of group identity, which exhibit some overlap with Marcia’s findings regarding personal identity. These group identity characteristics include “self- categorization, commitment and attachment, exploration, behavioral involvement, in- group attitudes …, ethnic values and beliefs, importance or salience of group membership, and ethnic identity in relation to national identity,” and can be easily applied to ethnic identity (Phinney & Ong, 2007, p.272). Self-categorization refers to an individual’s decision to identify as a member of one or more specific groups.

Commitment and attachment refer to perceived belongingness and the emotional significance of group membership, respectively. Exploration consists of activities undertaken for the purpose of gathering more insight into the chosen ethnic identity. This can include independent study as well as engagement in cultural practices and events.

The concepts of commitment and exploration were previously addressed in Marcia’s identity development research and will also be relevant in an upcoming review of

Phinney’s (1989) ethnic identity development model. Ethnic behaviors are expressions of ethnic identity. Common examples of ethnic behaviors include “speaking the language, eating the food, and associating with members of one’s group” (Phinney & Ong, 2007, p.

272). The presence of ethnic behaviors is not a prerequisite or concurrent requirement for ethnic identity. Therefore the two constructs may be evaluated separately. In addition to behaviors, certain values and beliefs are common to particular ethnic groups. Due to individual differences, there will often be some variation in the values and beliefs that group members hold, and the intensity of those values and beliefs. As individuals proceed through ethnic identity development, their positive or negative evaluation of that ethnic

group has the potential to support or undermine their ability to attain achieved ethnic identity status. There is some disagreement on this topic with some researchers considering a positive evaluation to be an important aspect of forming an achieved ethnic identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986; Phinney, 1996), and others proposing that one can fully adopt an ethnic identity while also viewing it negatively (Umaña-Taylor, Yazedjian, &

Bamaca-Gomez, 2004). Similarly, the amount of importance that an individual attributes to group membership has relevance to identity development. There have also been efforts to confirm or disconfirm the existence of a correlation between ethnic identity and national identity. There is empirical support for the two constructs functioning, and most likely developing, independently (Berry et al., 2006). In Berry and colleagues’ study, when correlations were identified between national and ethnic identity, they occurred in a fairly wide range, including positive, negative, and near-zero values, across participants.

However, more recent research suggests that national identity has important implications for ethnic identity in the presence of discrimination (Fuller-Rowell, Ong, & Phinney,

2013). Specifically, in a study of Latino college students, Fuller-Rowell, Ong, and

Phinney found that national identity moderates the relationship between ethnic identity commitment and perceived discrimination. The results of the same study also indicated a positive relationship between national identity strength at the start of students’ studies and their ethnic identity commitment level throughout their programs, with higher national identity being correlated with greater increases in ethnic identity.

Phinney (1989) developed one of the most commonly referenced models of ethnic identity development. Her three-stage model differentiates between unexamined ethnic identity, ethnic identity search/moratorium, and ethnic identity achievement. While

Phinney specifically uses the term “stages,” this is not meant to imply a strict requirement that individuals complete each stage or that the stages must occur in a specific order.

However, it makes theoretical sense that most people will start in stage 1 and ideally end in stage 3, with the potential for returning to stage 2 in response to life experiences. Just as her predecessors, Erickson (1968) and Marcia (1980), Phinney considered exploration and commitment to be critical aspects of identity development (Phinney, 1996). Within stage 1: unexamined ethnic identity, ethnic identity is not of much conscious importance.

Instead, young children accept the social norms and values presented by their caretakers and community without conducting any exploration of their own. However, these key influencers as well as the larger society have the ability to impart negative, positive, or mixed views regarding their ethnic group. Stage 2: ethnic identity search entails undergoing a period of exploration which may result in immersion, emersion, or moratorium/crisis. The initiation of stage 2 may be partially credited to adolescents increasing exposure to and awareness of the differences between people and the existence of discrimination. This stage includes amassing knowledge regarding the ethnic group’s

“history, traditions, and current situation of their group” (Phinney, 1996, p. 146). Finally, in stage 3: ethnic identity achievement, individuals internalize a secure sense of group membership which has been informed by their exploration. These three stages may essentially be conceptualized as an individual’s journey of gathering enough insight to confirm their commitment to the ethnic identity of their youth or to support the selection of a new identity. When analyzing Phinney’s model, one of its apparent advantages is that it is designed to apply to ethnic identity formation as a general construct, whereas predecessors had focused upon models of ethnic or racial identity for specific ethnic

groups such as Blacks (Cross, 1991), Latinos (Felix-Ortiz, Newcomb, & Myers, 1994) and Asian-Americans (Suinn, Ahuna, & Khoo, 1992; Ong, Fuller-Rowell, & Phinney,

2010). Another significant contribution from Phinney was the creation of the MEIM and

MEIM-R, which are described in greater detail in Chapter 3: Method.

The presence of a strong sense of ethnic identity has been shown to contribute to various positive outcomes including better psychological wellbeing (Phinney & Ong,

2007; Yip & Fuligni, 2002; Phinney, 1989), day-to-day happiness (Kiang, Yip, Gonzales,

Witkow, & Fuligni, 2006), and academic achievement (Fuligni, Witkow, & Garcia,

2005). Beyond the benefits for the individual, there is also evidence to support a correlation between achieved ethnic identity and more positive intergroup attitudes with regard to other ethnic groups (Phinney, Jacoby, & Silva, 2007). However, when considering the impact of ethnic identity development for individuals, groups, and the larger society, it is important to note that ethnic minorities tend to score higher on ethnic identity measures than White/European American individuals (Phinney, 1996). For example, Phinney and colleagues (2007) found “no significant relationship between ethnic identity and a positive orientation toward other groups” (p. 483). This suggests that ethnic identity may be a more salient construct for ethnic minorities. In the event of widespread oppression, individual members of these groups are also at risk for damage to their ethnic identity. Thus, ethnic minorities may place a higher value on their identity but their ethnic identity strength and any potential benefits may be limited by the presence of oppressive practices (Grant, 2008).

African American Ethnic Identity Development. Since the time of Christopher

Columbus and his voyage to what is now known as the United States of America, cultural

differences between groups have led to both conflict and growth in this country. “Culture can be viewed as a system of shared meanings and ideologies, put into practice as exemplars for lived experience” (Hunter, 2018, p. 13). Two components of culture that have often served as trigger points for intolerance and unrest are race and ethnicity. Race is a socially constructed concept that arises from historically-based, institutionalized beliefs regarding how to sort people based on “perceived physical and behavioral human characteristics” and assign power and privilege based on those perceived characteristics, in an effort to promote the interests of one group and/or justify the denigration, exploitation, and prejudiced views toward others (Markus, 2008, p. 654). Ethnicity carries a different connotation. Ethnic groupings allow people to “identify or be identified with...people on the basis of presumed (and usually claimed) commonalities including language, history, nation or region of origin, customs, ways of being, religion, names, physical appearance, and/or genealogy or ancestry” (p. 654). A key aspect of this definition is that people often claim or endorse the characteristics associated with their ethnicity. It can become an aspect of an individual’s identity that provides meaning, pride, and a sense of belonging (Markus, 2008).

The present study will focus on individuals who identify as African American. As of July 2017, 14.6% of the U.S. population (or 47.4 million people) identifies as Black or

African American, either alone or in combination with another race (United States

Census Bureau, 2018). There has been some debate among researchers regarding whether or not the terms “Black” and “African American” represent “meaningfully distinct” groups (Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015, p. 343). This inclusion criterion was selected due to the researcher’s recognition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the countless

traumas that have been perpetrated against this ethnic group since that time, as critical roots in the foundation of suffering endured by Black people in the U.S. Phinney (1992) considers ethnicity to be a separate concept from one’s self-identified ethnic label

(Phinney, 1992). “While African Americans are all influenced by the legacy of slavery, all may not readily relate to the experiences of the oppressive past that is so centered around slavery” (Branch & Young, 2006, p. 168). The differences between the labels

“Black” and “African American” are sometimes unclear as the terms are frequently used interchangeably throughout American society (Agyemang, Bhopal, & Bruijnzeels, 2005;

Markus, 2008). However, this is done in error as race and ethnicity are distinct, dynamic constructs (Markus, 2008). “Categorization is done to individuals by a second party from the outside in, [while] identity is determined by oneself from the inside out (realizing one’s affinity or attraction to others in a group based on shared feelings, kinship, and feelings about shared experiences” (Branch & Young, 2006, p. 168). “Black” is a racial category based on physically observable features (particularly darker skin color). Within the United States, as well as other parts of the world, race has historically been used as a means of enforcing a hierarchy that subjugates one group while elevating another. The

Black racial category may be problematic at times as it “conceals a remarkable heterogeneity of cultures among diverse African populations, and reinforces racial stereotypes” (Agyemang, Bhopal, & Bruijnzeels, 2005, p. 1016).

Alternatively, “African American” carries a bit more specificity. This label “refers to a person of African ancestral origins who self identifies or is identified by others as

African American” (p. 1016). The term is thought to have emerged as a unique ethnic identifier after the conclusion of the Civil War (Eyerman, 2001, p. 1) and became

commonly used during the 1970s (Agyemang, Bhopal, & Bruijnzeels, 2005, p. 1016). An individual’s belief or perception of possessing African American lineage is an important component to ethnic identity. Unlike many other ethnic groups, it is common for African

Americans to find the process of confirming their ancestry to be difficult, if not impossible. This uncertainty is a byproduct of the transatlantic slave trade (Salas et al.,

2004). Researchers have determined that the majority of African Americans are descendants of enslaved persons taken from sub-Saharan Africa (Agyemang, Bhopal, &

Bruijnzeels, 2005). However, that still leaves uncertainty around specific countries of origin. The enslaved status of their ancestry has been considered by some researchers as an aspect of African American collective memory, which then contributes to collective identity. From a psychoanalytic perspective, researchers have determined that “trauma links past to present through representations and imagination” (Eyerman, 2001, p. 3). The traumatic event does not need to be directly experienced by an individual for it to be impactful (p. 3).

As a component of the self-concept, ethnic identity has the potential to affect multiple aspects of psychological well-being (Tajfel, 1981). In order for an individual to possess an African American ethnic identity, that person must acknowledge membership in this group and attribute some meaning to that membership. For ethnic minority youth, such as African Americans, their deepening understanding of the significance of ethnicity is likely to be partially informed by direct or indirect experiences of discrimination

(Gonzalez et al., 2017). However, researchers (Banks & Kohn-Wood, 2007) in a study of

African American emerging adults found that participants who viewed race as less central to their identity exhibit a significant, positive correlation between how often

discrimination is experienced and the person’s depressive symptoms. With that said, positive ethnic identity has also been identified as a protective factor against racism

(Danzer, Rieger, Schubmehl, & Cort, 2016; Kang & Burton, 2014). Ethnic identity may also contribute to healthy self-esteem in African Americans (Chao et al.,2014), which may then be beneficial to their overall wellbeing. Despite the deleterious effects experienced by some victims of discrimination, there is also research to suggest that there is an association between discrimination and minorities level of group identity

(Branscombe et al., 1999; Fuller-Rowe, Ong, & Phinney, 2013). This is potentially indicative of African Americans clinging more closely to their ethnic identity as a coping mechanism for discrimination.

African American Mental Health. Historically, the African American community has been plagued by health disparities. This pattern persists today in segments of the healthcare system, including mental health. Research has supported the premise that African American mental health may be negatively affected by experiences of racism and discrimination (Anderson, 2013; Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015; Nadal et al., 2014; Sorsoli, 2007). In addition to limited access to healthcare, there are various factors believed to reduce help-seeking behaviors in this population. This is particularly troubling when considered alongside the negative health outcomes that correlate with discrimination such as elevated heart rate and blood pressure, along with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015). Well-known, past abuses committed against Blacks, have also contributed to a reluctance to seek medical care

(Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008). Some examples include the U.S. Public Health Service

(USPHS) Syphilis Study at Tuskegee which withheld treatment from Black men even

after a cure had been identified (Wimberly, 2012; DeGruy, 2005, p. 122) and the unethical collection and replication of Henrietta Lacks’ DNA for biomedical research

(Callaway, 2013). These past occurrences may contribute to the stigma within the Black community, as well as individual reluctance to pursue needed medical and mental health care. There is hope for the stigma against mental healthcare to ease with time as more public figures and influential persons step forward to acknowledge their own struggles and encourage others to embrace mental healthcare. However, stigma can be deeply entrenched and thus take time to resolve.

Another factor exacerbating African American mental health is the ongoing presence of race-specific concerns. It has been suggested that “more than 90% of African

Americans have experienced overtly racist events at some point in their lives” (Chao et al, 2014, p. 260). These events can have lingering mental health effects. For example, consider the Ferguson, Missouri protests of 2014. The protests began after an 18 year old

Black male, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a police officer. In the wake of

Brown’s death it was widely speculated that the officer had utilized unnecessary force and that the Ferguson police department regularly engaged in racial discrimination. The increasing tensions escalated from peaceful protests to riots and militarization of the city.

Data collected after the Ferguson protests, revealed that Black residents had higher levels of PTSD and depressive symptoms than Ferguson residents from other racial backgrounds (Galovski et al, 2016). For those Black residents, it may be hypothesized that their distress and perception of danger in Ferguson was higher than White residents due to being members of the targeted ethnic group. Michael Brown is simply one of the many names that have come across news desks in recent years and under similar

circumstances. There was also Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and so on. The aspects of their situations and deaths that unite them are that they were Black, unarmed, and died at the hands of police under dubious circumstances (Chernega, 2016).

Racism Before further exploring the research topic at a greater depth, it is essential to define racism, as it has both directly and indirectly influenced the traumatic experiences of disenfranchised groups in the United States. Racism may be defined as a “system of advantage and disadvantage based on race” (Heard-Garris et al., 2018, p. 230). This system “promotes the development of prejudice, the formation of negative attitudes or beliefs towards racial outgroups, and discrimination, differential treatment of members of these groups by both individuals and social institutions” (p. 230). An individual’s racist tendencies may be expressed in a multitude of ways. Broadly, racism can be divided between the categories of interpersonal and institutional (Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas,

2015). Institutional racism is a means to “systematically disadvantage” members of a particular race, such as African Americans, in various areas such as housing and policing

(Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015, p. 342). In contrast, interpersonal acts of racism are carried out as one on one interactions between individuals. Both forms have the potential to negatively impact the victims. Racial discrimination consists of actions carried out by a society’s dominant race “that have negative or differential effects on members of non- dominant racial groups” (Hope, Hoggard, & Thomas, 2015, p. 342). Within this definition, a few underlying assumptions are implied. In order for one group to negatively impact some aspect of another group’s existence, the former must possess some power over the latter. While the present study will focus on ethnicity as opposed to race, the

socially constructed aspects of race and ethnicity have provided a means for members of the majority group to identify and discriminate against others in a fairly efficient manner.

Past research has found that most African Americans report experiences of discrimination

(Chao et al., 2014; Kessler, Mickelson, & Williams, 1999), making it likely that counselors will encounter clients who have faced some form of discrimination, ranging from microaggressions to racially-motivated violence. The term microaggression has been defined as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color” (Sue et al., 2007, p. 271).

Broken down into further detail, this definition includes three forms of microaggressions: microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations (Nadal et al., 2014; Sue et al, 2007).

Counselors hoping to work from a culturally-competent, social justice perspective must be receptive to exploring all forms of discrimination that clients present in session.

Trauma

Trauma Defined. Trauma is a term that is difficult to define. One complication in defining trauma arises from the variations in how individuals who have experienced or witnessed the same event respond to that event. Some will experience lingering psychological symptoms while others will seemingly have a full recovery with little to no intervention (Stamm, Stamm, Hudnall, & Higson-Smith, 2004; Degruy, 2005, p. 113).

For the purposes of psychological research and diagnosis, the DSM-5 (APA, 2013, P.

271) criteria for trauma are typically utilized (See Chapter 1 for an excerpt). In general, the DSM-5 describes trauma as direct or indirect “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.” An individual does not have to be the direct recipient

of the traumatic act. Instead, in some cases witnessing or learning of the occurrence may trigger a traumatic response, particularly when close friends or family are involved.

Alternatively, some researchers have developed separate definitions of trauma that may be viewed as less restrictive. DeGruy (p. 13) defined trauma as “an injury caused by an outside, usually violent, force, event or experience.” The injury can be experienced spiritually, emotionally, physically, and/or psychologically. It is also thought of as an

“experience of unbearable affect” (Gump, 2010). Given the accommodating nature of these definitions, the threatening circumstances that generations of African Americans have encountered may be viewed as traumatic. However, that recognition has oftentimes not been apparent. Trauma should not be confused with lesser stressors. Trauma results in differences in neurological functioning and difficulty integrating the various aspects of the experience. In contrast, non-traumatic, day-to-day events are more easily integrated with all aspects of the memory including sensory components into a logical whole

(Gump, 2010). For the purpose of the present study, there is one form of trauma, historical trauma, that will be of particular relevance and will be discussed in greater detail in an upcoming section. For now, it is pertinent to review the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder, a well-known diagnosis sometimes assigned to survivors of trauma. These criteria reveal additional hurdles to the recognition and treatment of individuals for race-related “traumas.”

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. One of the most well-known trauma/stress related disorders is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The DSM-5, describes PTSD as developing after direct or indirect exposure to a traumatic event(s) that involves “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence,” (APA, 2013, p. 271). PTSD may

be diagnosed based on unique combinations of symptoms. However, there are some general guidelines. One or more symptoms are required in each of the following categories: intrusion symptoms, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and/or mood, and significant changes in arousal and reactivity. The symptoms must occur for more than one month and cause “clinically significant distress” and/or functional impairment (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Despite previous research supporting a higher prevalence of PTSD in African Americans than non-Latino Whites

(Perilla, Norris, & Lavizzo, 2002), the DSM-5 does not provide a detailed description of cultural factors. Instead, “minority/racial ethnic status” is included as a pre-traumatic, environmental factor without any elaboration (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

There is a short section describing culture-related diagnostic issues but it does not mention issues related to racial discrimination, injustice, violence, or any similar stressors. This approach to diagnosis fails to capture the differences in symptoms that may occur across cultures. The DSM 5 PTSD criteria also overlooks the manner in which racist instances can recur throughout a person’s lifetime. The events themselves do not need to be life-threatening in order to be traumatic (Sorsoli, 2007), which conflicts with the current PTSD criteria that require “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In fact, some African

Americans who have experienced ongoing racism, even in the absence of danger to their physical selves, may still exhibit symptoms of complex trauma (Sorsoli, 2007). Along those same lines, it has been suggested that “continual fear of race-related stressors and increased paranoia or vigilance may cause traumatization over time or lead to PTSD when accompanied with a more traumatic event” (Williama, Printz, & DeLapp, 2018). In

essence, this means that African Americans who have not been directly harmed by racist or discriminatory acts may still bear a psychological burden that has the potential to result in symptoms of trauma. There is also existing research literature that specifically poses the existence of PTSD symptoms in populations impacted by historical trauma (Sotero,

2006; Danzer et al., 2016). Despite these facts, one should note that some therapists have argued that trauma survivors do not require nor benefit from diagnoses. Instead, it has been stated that “trauma is not a disorder but a reaction to a kind of wound. It is a reaction to profoundly injurious events and situations in the real world” (Burstow, 2003).

Burstow goes on to suggest that all people exist on a trauma continuum and that clients may benefit from having trauma framed in this less-stigmatizing manner.

Historical Trauma. Sotero (2006) suggested the presence of four assumptions that form the foundation for historical trauma theory:

(1) mass trauma is deliberately and systematically inflicted upon a target

population by a subjugating, dominant population; (2) trauma is not limited to a

single catastrophic event, but continues over an extended period of time; (3)

traumatic events reverberate throughout the population, creating a universal

experience of trauma; and (4) the magnitude of the trauma experience derails the

population from its natural, projected historical course resulting in a legacy of

physical, psychological, social and economic disparities that persists across

generations.

These effects can be observed in various aspects of daily life. For example, it has been determined that “populations historically subjected to long-term, mass trauma exhibit a higher prevalence of disease even several generations after the original trauma

occurred” (Sotero, 2006). A defining feature of this form of trauma is that the individuals impacted by it might not have directly encountered or witnessed a traumatizing event

(Burstow, 2003). Instead the trauma and its effects are communicated to them through some indirect means. One of the most detailed models of historical trauma can be found in the public health literature (Sotero, 2006). That model will serve as the basis for the conceptualization of historical trauma in the current study. Sotero (2006) describes a multi-tiered process wherein a dominant group’s subjugation of another segment of the population by way of some significant traumatic experience has various effects that trickle down through subsequent generations. The model accounts for the presence of multiple pathways for trauma transmission from the first generation to the most recent generation. This supports the assertion that trauma is not intergenerationally transmitted in a linear fashion (Sotero, 2006; Grant, 2008). Instead, it is systemic and allows for multiple avenues which may or may not result in individuals presenting with indicators of historical trauma.

Historical Trauma and Ethnic Identity. As previously stated, ethnic identity may serve as a protective factor against the potentially deleterious effects of racism and discrimination (Danzer, Rieger, Schubmehl, & Cort, 2016; Kang & Burton, 2014;

Williams, Printz, & DeLapp, 2018). Given the inherently discriminatory nature of historical trauma, as defined by Sotero (2006), it may be hypothesized that a strong, positive ethnic identity may also insulate individuals from some of the negative effects of historical trauma.

In a study of Native American adolescents’ tobacco use and potential correlates, researchers found evidence to support a significant, positive correlation between ethnic

identity and historical trauma (Soto, Baezconde-Garbanati, Schwartz, & Unger, 2015).

Specifically, as participants’ ethnic identity increased, their reported historical trauma, as measured by their self-reported frequency of thoughts related to historical losses, also increased. Historical loss may be conceptualized as reflection on “the consequences and impact of the loss of land, peoples, and culture” (Tucker, Wingate, & O’Keefe, 2016).

This suggests that as ethnic identity strength increases, individuals become more cognizant of the losses incurred by their ethnic group. For Soto and colleagues’ study participants, historical losses would potentially include the separation of family members, the loss of language, and the seizure of their traditional tribal lands. These youth also exhibited a positive correlation between historical trauma and participation in cultural activities, which, just as the ethnic behaviors mentioned earlier in this paper, serve as an expression of ethnic identity. While the context surrounding the historical traumas of

Native Americans and African Americans differs significantly, there is overlap in the categories of loss that have been experienced, i.e. language, land, familial and tribal connections, traditions, etc. Therefore it is possible that the current study may uncover more similarities, particularly in relation to the general influence of ethnic identity on how historical trauma is experienced.

Examples of Psychological and Wellness Outcomes for Groups Impacted by

Historical Trauma

Native American Intergenerational Trauma Literature. The indigenous people of what is now known as the United States have suffered a multitude of injustices and traumas beginning with the arrival of European settlers. An abbreviated list of these occurrences would include the theft of land and resources, forced assimilation, a ban on

usage of their native languages and religious practices, the separation of children from their families, and large scale murder (Myhra, 2011). A review of the literature reveals a pattern of domination and abuse that has been carried out against multiple populations throughout history whenever one group has sought to subjugate another. Myhra conducted an exploratory study designed to uncover how historical trauma is transmitted across generations of American Indians and Alaskan Natives, particularly as relevant to the development of substance abuse. Alcohol abuse was recognized as particularly prevalent in this population along with a host of other mental and physical health disparities as well as poverty. Other observed responses to Native American historical trauma include “depression, self-destructive behavior, suicidal thoughts and gestures, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, and difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions”

(Brave Heart, 2003).

While some theories have posited that the high rate of substance use seen in

Native Americans is a result of efforts to self-medicate the pain of past wrongs, more recent hypotheses consider the influence of culture on resilience or the lack thereof.

Specifically, the destruction of their culture, which may have been able to serve as a buffer against psychopathology, created a vulnerability that has endured across generations. Some of the losses include their tribal lands, languages, traditional spiritual ways, family ties, and ability to trust the majority culture (Whitbeck, Adams, Hoyt, &

Chen, 2004). Indeed, there is empirical evidence to support reduced rates of suicidality and alcoholism in Native Americans who possess higher levels of cultural pride and/or spirituality (Moghaddam, Momper, & Fong, 2013). Myhra (2011) was able to identify various themes in the interviews conducted with Native American members of a sobriety

group who ranged in age from 23-64 years old. Of particular interest to the present researcher was Myhra’s revelation that the combined weight of remembering their elders’ trauma narratives and their personal experiences contributed to a fear that historical traumas would recur in the present. As the Native American population continues to face some degree of discrimination and racism, this fear cannot be dismissed as irrational. It may be that the ongoing nature of some injustices translates to a perceived absence of closure and a feeling of vulnerability.

Survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Reflecting on a separate, traumatic chapter in human existence, Mangassarian (2016) describes the intergenerational effects of the Armenian genocide. During the Armenian Genocide of 1915, approximately 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, and many others endured horrific abuse, including torture, sexual assault, and other forms of degrading treatment at the hands of the Turkish government (Mangassarian, 2016). The psychological aftershocks of this trauma continue to be felt in the present by later generations. Karenian et al. (2010) found that the primary means of transmitting these traumas of the Armenian Genocide to future generations were “family and societal influences, including via narrative accounts, collective identification, enmeshment, empathy, parenting, and acculturation.” This reinforces the acknowledged belief within the counseling field and the PTSD criteria stated in the field’s preferred diagnostic tool, the DSM 5 (APA, 2013), that it is not necessary for an individual to experience an event firsthand in order to be traumatized by that event.

Similarly, some offspring of the Armenian Genocide survivors have described experiencing nightmares based on the stories passed down by their parents

(Mangassarian, 2016).

There are several interesting overlaps in the experiences of African Americans and Armenians. Armenians have had to cope with a lack of official recognition of the genocide, both by the Turkish government and other nations, including the United States

(Mangassarian, 2016). While the perpetration of African slavery within the U.S. is not denied, the level of official recognition has yet to reach that seen for other occasions of human suffering, such as the Holocaust which has museums and memorials or the provision of reparations to Native Americans. German author, Gabrile Schwab describes the manner in which postwar Germany “acknowledge[d] the historical facts of the

Holocaust yet continue[d] to disavow its existential and experiential impact,” essentially failing to engage on an emotional level with those who were impacted (Schwab, 2010, p.

19; Graff, 2014).

This is reminiscent of the African American experience in the United States.

While slavery, segregation, discrimination, and the failure to provide for the civil rights of Africans and their descendants cannot be denied, there seems to be a lack of emotional engagement in the present day. Researchers have found that many White Americans attribute the Black community’s struggles to its own deficiency instead of the historical and ongoing inequalities imposed upon this group (Graff, 2011). Likewise, “some Whites believe that Blacks have been given unfair advantages, and they are oblivious to any privilege that being born White has given them” (Graff, 2011). This is a clear demonstration of a hesitancy or outright refusal to empathize and take on a reasonable degree of responsibility for the actions of previous generations of White Americans. This stands in conflict with the manner in which descendants of trauma survivors sometimes

take on responsibility for living a quality life in honor of previous generations. The difference may lie in part with the shame that accompanies affiliation with the aggressor instead of the victimized. Graff defined shame as “a feeling which arises when we are convinced that there is something about ourselves that is wrong, inferior, flawed, weak, or dirty.” According to Graff, “it was shameful to practice slavery, shameful to be a slave, and shameful to justify slavery.” Shame is such an uncomfortable experience that denial and concealment are the typical responses to this feeling. However, it can be argued that this shame is easier for some to get past than others. Psychoanalysts would note that “the reaction formation [(an ego defense mechanism)] for shame is personal achievement.” This viewpoint may be applied to African Americans, as their efforts toward achievement as individuals and as a group have been constrained by the discriminatory acts of those in power. The majority group has been able to protect its ability to excel, while claiming the existence of an equal playing field. Achievement protects them from their shame and allows the perpetuation of a society that is lacking in the elements needed to truly heal African American trauma.

During slavery, and for a period of time after its legal conclusion, steps were taken by members of the dominant culture to separate Africans, as well as their descendants, from their native cultures, including their languages, religions, kinfolk, names, traditions, attire, and various other aspects of their former lives. Not only were various cultural practices banned, but the manner in which slaves from various tribes were mixed made it difficult to transmit this knowledge due to an inability to communicate. Similarly, Armenians in certain localities were forbidden to speak in their

native language (Mangassarin, 2016). Their inability to testify in a court of law or legally own weapons is reminiscent of Jim Crow laws which governed the lives of Black persons in the U.S. Descriptions of the Turkish view of Armenian advancement of threatening to their power bring to mind efforts, both overt and covert, aggressive and systemic, to prevent African slaves and, later, African Americans from acquiring knowledge, wealth, or power. Due to the experience of long-term oppression and domination without much significant assistance from others, Armenians grew mistrustful of outsiders, i.e. non-

Armenians (Mangassarin, 2016). Similar patterns can be observed in segments in the

African American population due to past betrayals by the federal and state governments, as well as other public and private institutions.

Ukrainian genocide. While PTSD symptoms and/or diagnosable PTSD is not guaranteed to be transmitted to future generations, parents who have experienced a trauma may be inclined to emphasize the importance of particular cultural values that are viewed as either threatened by or protective against the dominant culture (Lin &

Suyemoto, 2016; Schönpflug, 2001). Sadly, history has no shortage of mass traumas targeted at specific cultures, typically an ethnic, racial, or religious minority group. From

1932-1933, Ukrainians were subjected to a genocide in which starvation was the primary tool of murder (Bezo & Maggi, 2018). As seen in the Armenian genocide, Ukrainian intellectuals and leaders were arrested or killed, resources were confiscated from the public, and individuals were restricted from traveling freely in an effort to undermine

Ukrainians’ desire to become an independent state (Bezo & Maggi, 2018). Ultimately 3-6 million lives are believed to have been lost during this time period. As survivors and their

offspring acknowledge the impact of this event on their lives, an aspect of particular note is that the impact on health and wellness reaches the survivor’s grandchildren (Bezo &

Maggi, 2018). This serves as contributing evidence that the intergenerational transmission of trauma can continue long after the actual trauma occurred.

Although all rational people live with the reality that unpleasant events may occur at any time, relatives of trauma victims may be more acutely aware of this possibility due to the presence of traumatic events in their family history. For example, Shrira (2015) found that offspring of Holocaust survivors were more likely to fear future disasters (in this case the threat of future Iranian nuclear attacks). Both anxiety and general psychological distress were also higher in this population compared to controls. These results were conceptualized as being related to the participants’ adoption and level of engagement with the so-called hostile world scenario, “defined as an image of actual or potential self-perceived threats to one’s life, or, more broadly, to one’s physical or mental integrity.” Similar results have been found in studies of the offspring of veterans, survivors of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and descendants of Japanese citizens exposed to bombings during WWII who exhibited “greater attentional biases toward trauma-relevant information,” a “higher level of posttraumatic symptoms,” and “more rumination” respectively. Interestingly, Shrira goes on to make the observation that offspring of Holocaust survivors exhibit both resilience and vulnerability in that that many are able to be successful in their day-to-day lives but experience elevated distress when they encounter stressors that may have some symbolic significance.

Although some Holocaust survivors and their offspring went on to have amazing achievements, researchers have also found these descendants to be “hyperactive overachievers, or depressed underachievers, [who are] anxious, fearful, and unable to be separate from their parents” (Sigal & Weinfeld, 1989). They may also have low self- esteem and difficulties in controlling their aggression and managing their identities

(Berger, 2014).

Historical Traumas Impacting African Americans For the purpose of the current study, the researcher has conceptualized

African/African American historical trauma as originating with the forced transport of

Africans to the Americas for the purpose of enslavement. “There is little in slavery that was not traumatic...as [ultimately] it sought nothing less than annihilation of that which is uniquely human--the self” (Gump, 2010). Slavery formally ended in 1865 with the

North’s victory over the South in the Civil War (Graff, 2017). The time period immediately following the Civil War, known as Reconstruction, consisted of a variety of actions intended to help newly freed persons settle into “American life.” Most notably, a northern entity, the Freedmen’s Bureau, supported the provision of schooling and resources, as well as helping to negotiate disputes in which one or more parties were free

Blacks. The movement toward developing self-sufficiency within the African American population ended just over a decade later in 1877 when federal troops withdrew from the southern states. In the time leading up to the end of the Reconstruction era, African

Americans saw their legal rights undermined, their physical well-being threatened, and

their newly acquired freedom systematically reclaimed from them via discriminatory, and often unfounded, arrests, incarceration, and conflict leasing. Even for African Americans who managed to maintain their freedom from forced labor and a penal system biased against them, options remained quite limited. State laws known as the Black Codes served to block them from owning land and indirectly force freed persons into resuming plantation work for low wages. In effect this was economic entrapment. Even if African

Americans did not wish to work in the fields any longer (and technically had a choice), in the absence of any other options for gainful employment or income, the plantations that had been the location of their torment became their best option for survival.

Jim Crow was a system of legislative policies designed to severely limit the rights of African Americans in the United States which began in 1896. Created under the guise of creating separate but equal living conditions for African Americans, these policies prohibited African Americans and others of Black racial identity from patronizing certain establishments, banned interracial marriage, and restrictions on voting rights (DeGruy,

2005, p. 86). During this time period of legalized segregation and discrimination, Black people were also terrorized through open racially-motivated hostility, mob violence, lynching, and destruction of homes, businesses, and places of worship (DeGruy, 2005, p.

88). Although the legal basis for Jim Crow was essentially dismantled in 1954 by the

Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education which rejected the proposition that institutions could be separate but equal.

Racially motivated incidents have continued in the U.S. with varying frequency since the time of legalized discrimination. Even as African Americans were, theoretically,

granted legal protections various barriers functioned to keep them largely poverty- stricken, in undesirable jobs, poorly educated, and subject to harassment by the police

(Graff, 2017). When reviewing the existing trauma research, it seems that the inability to escape from the traumatic circumstance is connected with poor psychological outcomes

(Van der Kolk, 2014, P. 54). To some extent, this has been the reality for large portions of the African American from the time they were kidnapped and transported by force to a foreign land. In general, there was no clear escape path available for most enslaved people. Today, instead of the slavery system previously in place, African Americans must still reckon with institutionalized racism that acts to limit their opportunities at success in the U.S. while also holding them indirectly captive. In some aspects, this is a group without a true home to return to.

The intentional separation of Africans from their traditional culture, along with other practices, interrupted the typical dissemination of culture. Many African Americans cannot even identify the African country, let alone tribe, that their ancestors originally called home. Therefore, they are left with the United States, a nation that has historically been hesitant to fully embrace people of color, as their primary option. It is reasonable to hypothesize the creation of a psychological strain on African Americans by this conundrum. The distress is likely intensified by echoes from the past in the form of highly publicized cases of police brutality, the emboldened actions of hate groups, and the election of an administration that is dismissive to the concerns of people of color.

Recent news reports have even pointed toward the existence of a modern-day slave trade occurring in Libya (Asongu & Kodila-Tedika, 2018). As these events unfold it is

necessary to consider the impact on people of similar heritage who have heard the stories of past traumas, had those traumas transmitted to them from older generations, and in many case experienced traumas in their own lifetimes. Also consider that there is no clear exit path for African Americans who are now so distant in both miles and culture from their African origins. African Americans are a people left with unresolved grief, despair, helplessness, anger, and/or shame associated with historical trauma (DeGruy, 2005). It has been proposed that some African Americans may have a constant, underlying anger due in response to “centuries of unbearable shaming.” DeGruy (p. 165) referred to this as

“sensitivity to disrespect.” As in the aftermath of other atrocities, many survivors and their descendants went on to do great things, particularly when the circumstances are taken into account, but for some these symptoms may remain.

Taking into account past traumas along with the enduring presence of institutionalized racism, DeGruy (p. 121) has theorized the existence of Post Traumatic

Slave Syndrome: a pattern of behaviors resulting from a combination of

“multigenerational trauma together with continued oppression” and the “absence of opportunit[ies] to access the benefits available [to others] in the society.” Although numerous groups have fallen victim to traumas that have shaped generations within families, African Americans are one of the few groups in modern times that find themselves so actively and continually oppressed on all levels of society. It’s been stated that “within communities of strong collective identity” traumatic events can impact individual members who were not directly involved in the trauma (Mangassarian, 2016).

It is possible that the ongoing physical, sexual, and emotional traumas exacted against

African Americans through both individualized and institutionalized means, combined with the discrimination experienced in such areas as employment, financial services, housing, and the legal system, has limited opportunities for growth and healing. While the Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome has not yet been embraced by the mental health field, researchers continue to explore the potential existence of trauma-like symptoms arising from historical trauma.

It has been suggested that after many years of social and institutional inequality, including slavery, segregation, racism, and oppression, African Americans have suffered traumatic psychological/emotional injury (DeGruy, 2005; Sotero, 2006; Danzer et al.,

2016). A proposed method for trauma transmission is through parental messages.

Through parental socialization practices and modeling, African American children and teenagers are provided with a framework for interpreting present-day violence as well as historical acts of oppression, abuse, and dehumanizing practices (Bordere & Larsen,

2018; DeGruy, 2005, p. 133). Unhealthy behaviors may also be transmitted between generations via learned behaviors (Ehrensa et al., 2003; Koss et al., 2003). In the absence of resolution, reparations, or opportunities for healing, these traumas become ingrained within the culture’s identity, which is then reinforced through “collective memory, storytelling, and oral traditions of the population” (Ballazhi, 2015; Sotero, 2006).

“Collective memory is not a remembering but a stipulating: that this is important, and this is the story about how it happened” (Hunter, 2018, p. 13). The inclusion of particular historical events in a culture’s collective memory assigns value to those recollections.

Realistically some percentage of history is lost with every generation. The maintenance and transmission of collective memory requires that those who have knowledge of the

true narrative take steps to ensure its dissemination to younger members of the population. It is through these active efforts, as well as indirect experiences, that historical trauma is able to endure across generations as each new group is educated on their ancestors’ hardships. However, it is also important for researchers and clinicians to recognize that the dissemination of knowledge, meaning, and collective memory may be unintentionally limited when some aspects fall outside of the social focus (Grant, 2008).

Existing research also notes the importance of silence between generations, as the older generation avoids discussing distressing experiences with the younger generation. This is potentially done as a form of avoidance and/or to protect the youth from troubling information. In either case, this silence contributes to another effect of historical trauma and loss: decreased sense of group identity, history, and worldview (Grant, 2008). The true weight of such trauma and loss is difficult to quantify, but some researchers are working toward that goal.

Existing Measures of Historical Trauma The Historical Loss Scale and The Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale

(Whitbeck, Adams, Hoyt, & Chen, 2004) are the only available instruments designed for the measurement of historical trauma in a particular ethnic group. These instruments were developed to assess how often Native Americans reflect on the various losses incurred by their people during colonization and the generations that followed, and what psychological and/or physiological symptoms accompany those thoughts. The lack of assessments devoted to historical trauma and it’s associated symptoms and losses creates a potential barrier to research. It also supports the need for more exploratory investigations, such as the current study, that may inform the creation of future measures.

Connecting Bereavement, Coping, and Historical Trauma

While the existing literature on historical trauma includes some mention of unresolved grief accounting for some of the symptoms of historical trauma (Braveheart,

1998; Braveheart, 2003), the populations studied remain limited. The symptoms observed in one ethnic group in relation to specific occurrences cannot be applied to African

Americans without first conducting research to support such assertions. Grief is a social construct that will vary across individuals and cultures (Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008).

Potential sources of grief for African Americans include the loss of culture, loss of familial and tribal bonds, and loss of sense of security/safety (Gump, 2010; Graff, 2017).

African Americans, as a group, are well-acquainted with bereavement, whether it be a result of health disparities, community violence, or acts of racist violence. When tragedy strikes, they tend to rely on support from family, friends, and/or fictive kin who are not blood relatives but are treated as such (Sudarkasa, 1997; Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008).

Fictive kin (also referred to as kinship bonds) are considered a signature feature African

American families/communities (Moseley-Howard & Evans, 2000; Sudarkasa, 1997;

Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008). This interconnectedness within African American communities, which expands beyond true relatives, has the potential to have two key outcomes: increased frequency of grieving periods and increased availability of support during grief. The concept of “continuing bonds” also holds relevance for the current discussion of African American grief and historical trauma. Continuing bonds refers to the experience of maintaining “an ongoing spiritual connection with the deceased” so that death does not represent the end of the relationship (Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008). This sense of ongoing connection does not necessarily subdue the expression of emotional

pain by the bereaved. It is not unusual for funerals and wakes to include outward displays of grief such as crying and/or wailing (Boyd-Franklin, 2010; Hines, 1991; Laurie &

Neimeyer, 2008). This degree of emotional expression stands in stark contrast to proposed cultural norms that dictate moving beyond the grief soon after the funeral

(Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008). Depending on the identity of the deceased and the opinions held by the community or the larger society, the bereaved may not have ever felt supported in their grief. The pain of the loss may also be enhanced by the awareness that the deceased person’s life may have been significantly better if not for the ravages of racism. In the current study, it will be important to determine whether participants identify with the concept of continuing bonds, if those bonds stretch back to earlier generations, and how they understand and cope with the knowledge of the abuses that their ancestors endured.

There are various models of grief and loss, which each conceptualizing the grieving process from different perspectives. While some models address the overall process of grieving, others focus on the coping experience. This paper will emphasize the latter. Coping is defined as the ways in which individuals attempt to manage internal and external demands that have been appraised as taxing (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988). The

Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (DPM; Stroebe & Schut, 1999) specifically focuses on the coping process and how some coping behaviors are predictive of (non)adaptive outcomes (Stroebe & Schut, 2010). This would appear to make DPM particularly appropriate for the examination of losses related to historical trauma. The participants in the present study may or may not endorse first-person traumas or losses but, as descendants of enslaved Africans, the need to cope with that knowledge remains

relevant. DPM, which is based on Cognitive Stress Theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), describes an oscillation between two domains of bereavement: loss-orientation and restoration-orientation (Stroebe & Schut, 2010). Loss-orientation emphasizes the actual loss as the bereaved person faces the corresponding emotional pain (Stroebe & Schut,

2010). It includes grief work, intrusion of grief, letting go or relocating the bonds that once connected the two people, and denial or avoidance of restoration changes. Grief work, a concept attributed to Sigmund Freud, encompasses “the cognitive process of confronting the reality of a loss through death, of going over events that occurred before and at the time of death, and of focusing on memories and working toward detachment from (or relocating) the deceased” (Stroebe, 1992; Stroebe & Schut, 2010).

Restoration-orientation is more focused on adapting to the new reality, which no longer includes the deceased. It includes secondary stressors stemming from the bereavement, such as financial concerns, legal issues, and/or changes in the family structure (Stroebe & Schut, 2010). The movement between loss and orientation is considered necessary for healthy, uncomplicated grief and coping. Neglecting either side of the model jeopardizes the bereaved person’s ability to move forward. While there is no prescribed length of time that must be spent in each orientation, generally there is an expectation that, with time, individuals will spend more time in the restoration- orientation and less time in the loss-orientation (Stroebe & Schut, 2010). A shift from restoration to loss may come about unexpectedly or in reaction to a reminder of the deceased or a special occasion (Wittenberg-Lyles et al., 2015; Stroebe & Schut, 2010).

Indeed, a key motivating factor for the development for DPM was a desire to create a model that acknowledged the active components of grieving. Bereavement is not merely

something that happens to people. It is something that people must do (Stroebe & Schut,

2010). In different words, the oscillation between the loss- and restoration-orientations can be conceptualized as a movement between confrontation and avoidance, both of which are necessary components of grief (Stroebe & Schut, 2010). Within both orientations there also exists an additional layer of oscillation between positive and negative affect and reappraisals of the loss (Stroebe & Schut, 2010). The goal of bereavement is not to eliminate negative emotions. Instead the confrontation of the negative emotions is a healthy component of the loss orientation, and avoidance of these difficult emotions for some interval of time may also be appropriate as individuals seek a temporary reprieve from their grief (Caserta & Lund, 2007; Stroebe & Schut, 2010).

However, it is worth noting that long term avoidance of these emotions can lead to a complicated grieving process (Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008).

While DPM was developed as a conceptualization of how individuals cope with bereavement, Stroebe and Schut (2010) acknowledged that DPM may apply to the other stresses and losses in life. A review of existing research reveals that DPM has been applied to multiple populations such as bereaved spouses and other romantic partners

(Delespaux, Ryckebosch-Dayez, Heeren, & Zech, 2013; Fasse & Zech, 2016), bereaved undergraduate students (Aslanzadeh, 2017), bereaved hospice caregivers (Wittenberg-

Lyles et al., 2015), and survivors of natural disasters (McManus, Walter, & Claridge,

2018). Demographic variables, particularly gender, have also been found to correlate with differences in variations in grieving. For example, past research has identified a tendency for females to be more loss-oriented while males are more restoration-oriented

(Wijngaards et al., 2008). It seems likely that these gender specific tendencies may arise from differences in how males and females are socialized.

When considering the traumas that have plagued African Americans, it is impossible to ignore the accompanying losses as well as the lack of clear resolution. Due to the lack of space for African Americans to express and explore their grief in a manner that is acceptable to the majority culture (Bordere & Larsen, 2018), from a research perspective, it would be interesting to determine if time spent in the loss-orientation is reduced when compared to other populations. The devaluation or pathologizing of expressions of grief is sometimes referred to as suffocated grief (Bordere & Larsen, 2018;

Bordere, 2014, 2016). Others have characterized this phenomenon of denied bereavement as disenfranchised grief (Doka, 1989, 2002). Lingering in one DPM orientation, at the expense of the other orientation, may undermine the grieving process, causing it to become prolonged, complicated, or otherwise unhealthy (Stroebe & Schut, 2010).

Existing bereavement research provides a mixed perspective on how African Americans grieve. For example, Goldsmith, Morrison, Vanderwerker, and Prigerson (2008) found that the surviving African American caregivers of deceased cancer patients were significantly more likely to develop prolonged grief disorder than White caregivers.

When considering possible reasons for this finding, it is both important and relevant to acknowledge the ever-present, numerous triggers that may propel African Americans from restoration to loss-orientation.

There are startling similarities between the abuses of the Jim Crow years and the acts of racism in the present. Therefore, it is possible that as African Americans are exposed to these current events, they may revisit the loss-orientation. Likewise, more

explicit reminders of the past abuses may also serve as catalysts to return to the loss- orientation. One aspect of the African American experience of these traumas that is noteworthy is how the advent of the 24 hour news cycle and social media has changed the way people are exposed to the traumas inflicted upon other members of their cultural group. The DSM-5 explicitly denies that an individual’s witnessing of trauma via the media can result in his/her own traumatization. This is a controversial opinion that stands in contrast to the accounts of many African Americans who are inundated with images of violence against members of their ethnic group, and feel negatively impacted by that exposure.

With regards to Native American populations, researchers have proposed that offsprings’ modern, first-hand encounters with discrimination and inequality may validate historical trauma messages that they have received (Brave Heart, 1999; Sotero,

2006; Williams, Neighbors, & Jackson, 2003). Given some of the similarities in the

Native American and African American experiences, it is conceivable that African

American historical trauma is also reinforced in the minds of offspring by current injustices. The emotional outcome may then include “feelings of unresolved grief, persecution, and distrust” (Sotero, 2006).

While the researcher primarily conceptualizes grief from the DPM perspective, there are certainly other models that may apply. Grief and bereavement are experienced both as individual and group processes. Therefore variances in the observable aspects of bereavement are to be expected. For African Americans, anticipatory grief (grief regarding a loss that has not occurred) may also be present. This derives from the frequently confirmed belief that their loved ones are at risk for harm, both from members

of their own communities and law enforcement (Bordere & Larsen, 2018). Not even children are exempt from these dangers. Goff et al. (2014) found that male African

American children “are viewed as older and less innocent” than similarly aged White male children, which may be used as a rationale for viewing them as a risk to others

(Bordere & Larsen, 2018).

Consider the case of Tamir Rice, a 12-year African American child, who was shot and killed by police while playing with a toy gun. The decision to shoot was made within

2 seconds of arriving at the scene (Mowatt, 2018). It seems that the days of playing “cops and robbers” may be behind us. When considering the plight of children like Tamir and his family, one of the worst aspects is that their stories “have largely been unrecognized or have been framed from deficit, survivor-blaming perspectives … that have not accounted for the roles of privilege or unearned advantages, disenfranchisement … [and withhold] acknowledgement and consideration for grief (Doka,1989) as a normal response to ongoing socially imposed losses” (Bordere & Larsen, 2018). Alternatively, other researchers have conceptualized historical trauma as interconnected with ambiguous loss (Grant, 2008) due to the lack of closure or clarity surrounding the specific losses. Grant suggests that healing from ambiguous loss requires “reducing the amount of ambiguity and [promoting] building [of] more tangible meanings around the loss that one can connect healing actions to.” This may be the central work for counselors of clients who are battling with symptoms of historical trauma: making the ambiguous more tangible while empowering the client to take action for healing. While some researchers caution against the usage of terminology that differentiates an individual’s grief experience from what is considered normal within their social context (Kalich &

Brabant, 2006), this researcher views the differentiation as potentially beneficial for highlighting the absence of societal support for the historical losses experienced by

African Americans.

Ethnic Identity and Loss There are instances when ethnic identity and loss will exhibit a strong relationship. An individual’s degree of identification with their ethnic group can dictate spiritual practices, ceremonies, and conduct during the initial loss and thereafter. While the current study addresses historical losses, it is hypothesized that the manner in which persons traditionally grieve the death of a loved one may be indicative of how historical losses are processed as well. In a study of Native American college students, Tucker and colleagues (2016) determined that participants who indicated higher levels of ethnic identification along with a desire to primarily socialize with members of their ethnic group, thought more frequently about historical losses. That increase in historical loss cognitions was then related to the presence of elevated depressive symptoms. The hypothesized cause for this observed effect is that an individual’s connection with ethnic group members may increase awareness or sensitivity the group’s collective experiences and losses (Tucker, Wingate, & O’Keefe, 2016). The strength of an individual’s ethnic identity has also been correlated with the likelihood of selecting particular methods of coping with loss. For example, past research has indicated a positive correlation between ethnic identity and how often a person uses positive religious coping (Cruz-Ortega,

Gutierrez, & Waite, 2015). Similarly, ethnic group membership may also be predictive of how people experience bereavement. These researchers found that African Americans

“endorse higher levels of religiosity than individuals from other ethnic groups including

Whites and Latinos. This is consistent with studies that have identified spirituality and/or religious observances as an important source of coping for African Americans (Boyd-

Franklin, 2010; Stephens-Watkins et al., 2014). Details such as these are important for clinicians and researchers who may be working with populations who are recently bereaved or potentially grappling with historical losses. Knowledge of typical ways of grieving for a particular culture provides the mental health professional with the necessary context for assessment and intervention.

Existing Measures of Grief and Loss There are numerous existing measures of grief/bereavement. However, these measures are generally geared toward grief resulting from the death of a loved one. Some commonly used instruments include the Inventory of Complicated Grief Revised

(Prigerson et al., 1995), the PG-13 (Prigerson et al., 2009), the Brief Grief Questionnaire

(Ito et al., 2012), and the Persistent Complex Bereavement Inventory (PCBI; Lee, 2015).

Validated measures of grief designed to assess symptoms in the aftermath of non-death losses could not be located for this study. Similarly, validated measures of grief arising from historical events or traumas were also absent from the bereavement literature.

When reviewing the approaches of researchers who have taken to analyzing bereavement through the lens of DPM, a few different approaches could be observed.

Some have relied upon assessments while others have emphasized qualitative methodology. One methodological option is to create a survey instrument that is tailored to the population of interest and designed to capture the oscillation between the two coping orientations: restoration and loss, such as Caserta and Lund’s (2007) Inventory of

Daily Widowed Life. Caserta and Lund also administered additional scales for the

purpose of validating their new instrument. These included measures of depression, loneliness, perceived self-care/daily living skills, and stress-related growth. In a study of bereavement in hospice caregivers, Wittenberg-Lyle et al. (2015) used content analysis to code participants’ posts and comments in a private Facebook group as either loss- or restoration-oriented. Participants also completed assessments of depression and anxiety but these were considered descriptive data that did not represent the participant’s current approach to grief. Another possibility is to conduct qualitative interviews focused on the bereavement process and then analyze the transcripts for indicators of the processes included in DPM (Fasse & Zech, 2016). There is not a validated measure for assessing restoration- and loss-orientation or the oscillation between the two. While the present researcher considers the creation of such measures to be of high importance, this would go beyond the scope of the current study. Overall, the lack of an established, validated measure of bereavement based upon DPM presents an opportunity for researchers to continue gathering rich, qualitative data that can 1) be used to validate the relevance of the construct for specific populations and 2) potentially contribute to the development of validated measures in the future.

Chapter 3: Method

Research Paradigm

The research paradigm refers to the researcher’s philosophical beliefs concerning the world and how research should be conducted within it (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p.

5; Crotty, 1998). The selected paradigm may shift according to the research question.

Components of the research paradigm include the ontology, axiology, and methodology.

While the researcher will implement a phenomenological approach for the current study, quantitative variables will also be collected in a survey format. The purpose of the quantitative data will be purely descriptive as it allows the researcher to engage in purposeful sampling and describe characteristics of the sample. The quantitative responses may also serve to provide additional contextual information regarding constructs related to African Americans perceptions of historical trauma and highlight opportunities for future research.

The researcher adheres to the social constructivist perspective. Unlike in some other philosophical traditions, constructivism does not support the existence of any one, universal truth. Instead, constructivists hold that the truth is subjectively determined by individuals based on their context (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 8). Of particular relevance to the present study is the acknowledgement that meaning construction is impacted by individuals’ social and historical context (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 8).

Given the research questions which address individual African Americans’ experiences and meaning-making processes around issues of historical trauma, constructivism also provides an appropriate foundation for investigating the participants responses to these

constructs. Indeed, it is the individual and other influential people in their lives, such as family, who assign meanings to experiences which then influence how they are impacted by historical trauma (Grant, 2008). Historical trauma cannot be fully understood without consulting the affected individuals and exploring their thoughts and emotions on the matter.

In keeping with the constructivist tradition, the present study will give emphasis to themes arising from phenomenological interviews. Phenomenological research can be described as an inquiry into the lived experiences of individuals which then culminates in the researcher pinpointing “the essence of the experiences for several individuals about a phenomenon as described by participants” (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 13). The typical method employed within phenomenological research is to conduct qualitative interviews (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 13). Interviewing has been identified as a useful means of accessing the “ideas, thoughts, and memories [of people] in their own words rather than in the words of the researcher” (Hesse-Biber, 2017, p. 110). This is particularly important when studying groups who’s authentic voices have traditionally been limited or excluded from research, such as African Americans. Beyond the spoken content, in-person interviews (and perhaps those conducted via video conferencing) allow the researcher to observe body language, tone of voice, pauses in speech, etc. The present study will employ semi-structured interviews which allow the researcher to guide the interview toward topics of interest while also permitting enough flexibility that participants may share a depth of knowledge that goes beyond what the researcher anticipated (p. 112). The researcher will utilize an interview guide composed of discussion topics and questions that will be included in each interview.

Interview content will be captured using an audio recording device. The audio files will be transcribed by the researcher. Although the present study will focus exclusively on African American experiences and perceptions, an ethnographic design was deemed to be inappropriate due to the researchers’ interest in gathering data from a geographically diverse sample (instead of identifying one community that the researcher may observe and immerse within).

In keeping with best practices in qualitative research as well as the tenets of constructivism, the researcher must recognize, explore, and expose the influence that her personal background may have on the research process (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

This will be addressed in greater detail in an upcoming section: Statement on Reflexivity.

Indeed, a hallmark of qualitative research is that the researcher functions as an instrument for data collection (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Ultimately, the researcher hopes to

“make sense of (or interpret) the meanings others have about the world” (Creswell &

Creswell, 2018, p. 8). Therefore, while the researcher must acknowledge how her personal lens may impact data collection and analysis, every effort will be made to remain self-aware and focused on capturing the participants’ views. The end result of this research will be to make contributions to the knowledge base in this topic area, which will one day inform the development of a formal model for the phenomena of interest.

While the qualitative interviews will provide an opportunity for the researcher to collect rich data regarding an under-studied aspect of the human experience-- the manner in which African Americans make sense of, and potentially grieve, historical violations of their human and civil rights—the researcher has opted to utilize quantitative assessments for the purpose of screening potential participants. Given the fact that self-reported ethnic

identity is a key inclusion criterion, collecting data related to the strength of each individual’s ethnic identity provides an opportunity for the researcher to seek participants who represent differing degrees of identity strength. While participants’ ethnic identity scores will not be a focus of the research questions or data analysis, any potential correlations between the ethnic identity variables and the themes resulting from the qualitative interviews may be considered preliminary data and suggest the benefit of conducting future research. The coping data that will be collected will serve a similar purpose. The researcher plans to select a sample that exhibits diversity in both ethnic identity strength and endorsed coping strategies. Beyond selection of participants, the coping data will not be a focus of statistical analyses.

An exhaustive review of the existing grief measures uncovered a lack of validated, non-death bereavement instruments. However, the creators of the DPM have indicated that the intricacies of bereavement are difficult to capture within a questionnaire format (Stroebe, 2010). Instead, it is recommended that researchers employ other methods such as using electronic devices (phones, internet, PDAs, etc.) for participants to log their grief related thoughts, emotions, and experiences through the day, having participants complete diaries, or conducting randomized intervention studies. Due to the researcher’s timeline and available resources, as well as the scarcity of existing research addressing African American historical trauma through the lens of grief and loss, the researcher will rely upon participants’ personal accounts as relayed during the interview process. However, as previously mentioned, this study will include an instrument designed to identify the coping strategies used in response to grief. As a related concept, coping strategies may provide insight into the underlying tendencies that participants

exhibit in response to stressors, including historical trauma. This study will seek to include participants that exhibit differences in their coping strategies.

Research Design

The current study will rely upon phenomenological interviews as a means of collecting real life accounts of African Americans regarding historical trauma. Figure 1 illustrates the overall research design. Prior to scheduling an interview, participants will be asked to complete the screening survey which consists of demographic questions and two measures, which will be detailed more fully in the coming sections of this paper.

Despite the collection of quantitative data prior to the interviews, this study will be considered qualitative, as the screening survey will only be used for descriptive purposes and identifying interview subjects. Additionally, the two measures, one for measuring ethnic identity and the other coping strategies, were not designed specifically for African

Americans or the assessment of historical trauma. This would limit the applicability of any analyses conducted on the results. This lack of measures geared toward African

American historical trauma supports the need for more qualitative data, which may one day contribute to the creation of quantitative measures. Also, due to the qualitative focus, this study’s sample size is not expected to provide the needed power for statistically significant results. The identification of interview themes will provide an opportunity to explore the research questions and potentially identify variables for future study.

Figure 1

Research Design Overview

Recruitment Phenomenological • Advertisement Interpretation of Selection of Sample Interviews & data • Screening survey findings analysis

Sample

The inclusion criteria for this study include self-reported African American ethnic identity, membership in the millennial generation, and self-identification as a descendant of enslaved Africans. Participants must also be fluent in spoken and written English and available to be interviewed, either in person, online, or on the phone. Two of the major inclusion criteria (ethnicity and recognition of enslaved African ancestry) will rely heavily on participants’ perceptions. Many African Americans are unable to definitively trace their family trees. This is a direct byproduct of the ravages of the slave trade which tore families apart, eliminating their ability to maintain any contact or even know the location of relatives. Poor recordkeeping is an additional hinderance to African

Americans who seek to determine their heritage. The researcher anticipates that, while some participants may have indicators that point to their ancestry (documentation, DNA

testing, etc.), others will only have an intangible sense of their ancestry. Evidence of ancestry will not be required for study participation. Indeed, this lack of certainty may be viewed as relevant to the present research questions and the overall African American experience. However, participants must also endorse having both parents and grandparents who were born in the United States. This requirement was developed in recognition of the diversity of individuals who feel a connection to Black and African

American culture in the U.S. That diversity includes individuals whose families may have voluntarily emigrated to the U.S. after the occurrence of noteworthy historical events and traumas. For example, a second-generation Caribbean immigrant whose parents arrived in the early 1980’s might identify most strongly as a Caribbean-American and feel more connected to historical events that occurred in their family’s home nation, than those relevant to African Americans. Participants’ self-endorsed ethnic identity is considered important for this study, as sharing a common history is considered a component of ethnicity (Markus, 2008).

It is implied that in order to recognize historical trauma and/or it associated losses, a person would need to feel a connection to that history. With that said, instead of considering ethnic identity as a categorical variable, the researcher will allow space for participants to define their identity as a spot along a continuum which may allow for more diversity within the perspectives and resulting themes. This is consistent with Jean

Phinney’s (1996) assertion that people greatly vary in how much they identify with their selected ethnic group, how they display their commitment to that group, and the emotional significance given to membership. It is also important to note that although this

study will employ a lens of grief and loss, this will not be a bereaved sample in the traditional sense. The inclusion criteria do not include having experienced bereavement.

The term “millennial” while widely used as a generational identifier, has not been formally recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau (Dimock, 2018). For the purpose of this study, millennials will be defined as persons born between 1981 and 1996 (Dimock,

2018). According to the Nielsen Company (2016), African American millennials account for about 11.5 million people in the U.S. population. This age was selected due to the unique position occupied by this group. Their generation has witnessed great highs and lows in terms of race relations in this country, from the election of the first Black president to the highly publicized issue of police brutality. They also are still at an age where the lessons from prior generations may still linger in their minds. The researcher finds both of these aspects to be important for the discussion of historical trauma. The researcher is interested in the messages participants may have received about historical trauma from older generations as well as how those messages impact them in the present as they navigate ongoing racism and discrimination.

With regards to sample size, qualitative researchers are typically reluctant to specify a necessary sample size prior to the start of data collection. Instead, most adhere to the concept of saturation. Saturation refers to as “the point at which the data collection process no longer offers any new or relevant data” (Dworkin, 2012). Stated differently, saturation is the point when “gathering fresh data no longer sparks new theoretical insights, nor reveals new properties of your core theoretical categories” (Charmaz,

2006, p. 113). Given these non-specific definitions, it is difficult to predict the sample size ahead of time. However, as a general rule, 5-50 participants are considered to be

appropriate for a qualitative study that utilizes interviews (Dworkin, 2012). The current study will aim to recruit at least 12 participants who will be divided amongst 6 selection categories (see Table 2). Data collection will cease when the researcher determines that saturation has been reached.

Measures

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R; Phinney and

Ong, 2007). The multigroup ethnic identity measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992) was originally designed as a means of studying and comparing ethnic identity across ethnic groups. The MEIM was intended to include items that contribute to ethnic identity, regardless of ethnic background. The resulting 14-item questionnaire consisted of multiple scales and was widely utilized in research with diverse populations. Over the years, the original instrument was periodically modified until 2007 when Phinney and

Ong officially released a revised version of the MEIM, which is referred to as the MEIM-

R. The MEIM-R boasts a shorter, 6 item, length due to the removal of original items that were found to be “redundant, conceptually divergent from ethnic identity, or poor indicators of the underlying latent variable they were designed to represent” (Brown et al., 2014). Given the centrality of African American ethnic identity to the study’s research questions and inclusion criteria, the administration of the MEIM-R will allow the researcher to measure how closely each participant identifies with this ethnicity.

Sample items for the instrument include “I have a strong sense of belonging to my own ethnic group” and “I have often done things that will help me understand my ethnic background better” (Phinney & Ong, 2007). For each item, participant select one of five responses ranging from 1-strongly disagree to 5-strongly disagree, with 3 representing a

neutral response (Phinney & Ong, 2007). The measure may be scored based on the two subscales (Commitment and Exploration) or as a total ethnic identity score. The commitment (items 2, 3, and 6) and exploration (items 1, 4, and 5) scales are considered to be related, but distinct constructs. The MEIM-R has been found to possess good validity and reliability. Phinney & Ong (2007) credit the MEIM-R with an internal consistency of 훂 = .81 for the complete scale while the exploration and commitment subscales are 훂 = .76 and 훂 = .78 respectively. A more recent review of reliability coefficients from studies that have used the MEIM-R indicated the average 훂 = .88

(Herrington et al., 2016). For the present study, the researcher has opted to divide the total ethnic identity scores into three categories which will represent scores that are 1, 2, or 3 or more standard deviations from the mean.

The Brief COPE (Carver, 1997). The Brief COPE is a shortened version of the

Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE; Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub,

1989). This measure, like the COPE, was designed for the purpose of assessing the frequency with which various coping strategies are employed in the face of stressful events, while also reducing the time required for questionnaire completion (Carver, 1997;

Monzani et al., 2015). The Brief COPE’s 28 items evaluate respondents on “14 theoretically identified coping responses” (see below). The administration of the Brief

COPE allows the researcher to specify a particular type of stressor or circumstance that participants should bring to mind when indicating their coping strategies. The assessment does not specify a time range during which the stressor must have occurred. Thus, the present study instructs participants to think about how they cope when they have thoughts of historical trauma as relevant to African Americans. Example items include “I’ve been

getting emotional support from others,” “I’ve been refusing to believe that it has happened,” and “I’ve been praying or meditating.” Participants will be presented with a

4-point Likert scale with possible responses ranging from 1=”I haven’t been doing this at all” to 4=”I’ve been doing this a lot.” When scoring, the full measure is not scored together. Instead each scale is assessed separately. The scale reliabilities reported by

Carver (1997) may be reviewed in Table 1.

Table 1

Brief COPE Subscale Reliabilities

Brief COPE Subscale Cronbach’s Alpha (훂)

Active Coping 0.68

Planning 0.73

Positive Reframing 0.64

Acceptance 0.57

Humor 0.73

Religion 0.82

Using emotional support 0.71

Using instrumental support 0.64

Self-distraction 0.71

Denial 0.54

Venting 0.50

Substance use 0.90

Behavioral disengagement 0.65

Self-blame 0.69

Based on existing research (Carver & Conner-Smith, 2010; Papa & Maitoza,

2013; Rogowska & Kuśnierz, 2012), there is evidence to support the categorization of the individual brief COPE items into two subscales: Approach and Avoidance. Rogowska and Kuśnierz (2012) were able further break these scales into “four styles of coping with stress on the approach-avoidance and cognitive-behavioral dimensions.” Specifically, these styles include approach-behavioral (ApB), approach-cognitive (ApCog), avoidance- cognitive (AvCog), and avoidance-behavioral (AvB) coping style. Approach-behavioral coping style (훂= .77) includes using instrumental support, emotional support, planning, and active coping. The approach-cognitive coping style (훂= .78) consists of acceptance, positive reframing, and self-distraction. The avoidance-behavioral coping style (훂= .77) captures religion, behavioral disengagement, and substance use. Lastly, the avoidance- cognitive coping style (훂= .77) covers self-blame, humor, denial, and venting. These coping styles may also be further categorized into Approach (훂= .73), Avoidance (훂=

.73), Cognitive (훂= .72), and Behavioral styles (훂 = .71; Rogowska & Kuśnierz, 2012).

Demographic Questionnaire. Participants will be asked to complete a short questionnaire that will collect data such as age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic level, and education level. These responses will allow the researcher to select interview participants from diverse backgrounds and summarize descriptive data related to those participants.

Research Questions

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore how African American millennials perceive and make meaning of historical trauma, particularly when these

perceptions are viewed through a lens of grief and loss. This will be accomplished through an analysis of themes that occur across the semi-structured interviews. In pursuit of this goal, the following research questions were developed.

Historical Trauma

RQ1: How do African Americans millennials describe and make meaning of

historical trauma?

• RQ1a: What are the themes that emerge related to how the day-to-day

lives of African American millennials are impacted by historical trauma?

• RQ1b: What are the themes that emerge related to how African American

millennials, in light of historical traumas perpetrated against African and

African American people, identify and understand the losses connected to

these traumas?

• RQ1c: How, if at all, do African American millennials experience and

discuss their grief related to historical traumas and associated losses?

Coping with racism

RQ2: How do African Americans millennials cope with racism?

• RQ2a: How are African Americans millennials prepared by their parents

or guardians to encounter and react to racism?

• RQ2b: How do African Americans millennials perceive and navigate the

current racial climate?

Data Collection

Recruitment activities will primarily be conducted via Amazon Mechanical Turk

(MTurk), as well as on ListSERVs and email lists known to possess culturally diverse membership. Amazon describes MTurk as a crowdsourcing platform for the completion of tasks that require human intelligence (www.mturk.com/worker/help; Smedema, 2017).

Essentially it is an online marketplace that, among other purposes, serves as a means of connecting researchers with potential participants in exchange for a financial incentive

(www.mturk.com/worker/help). Since its introduction in 2005, MTurk has become a popular research tool that has been shown to provide data quality equivalent to that observed in other convenience samples (Kees, Berry, Burton, & Sheehan, 2017;

Smedema, 2017).

The researcher will also seek to promote the study through student, professional, and community organizations, cultural affinity groups, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) . In an effort to encourage a geographically diverse sample, advertisements will also be placed on social media. Potential participants will be directed to an online screening survey, which will include demographic questions as well as a measure of ethnic identity and a measure of coping strategies. This survey is designed to

1) confirm that potential participants meet the inclusion criteria and 2) to select diverse participants who fit into the specific selection groups of interest (see Table 2). Prior to the conclusion of the survey, participants will be asked to confirm their interest and availability to participate in a qualitative interview. The survey results, particularly the scores related to ethnic identity and coping strategies, will be used for the selection of interview participants. Ideally, the interview participants will represent diversity of ethnic identity strength and coping strategies. Table 2, displays the six selection categories that

the researcher aims to include in the sample. The researcher’s goal is for at least one participant to be classified into each category based on the results of the measures. These participants will represent three possible ethnic identity strength levels (separated by standard deviation) and two possible dominant coping styles (Approach or Avoidant).

These constructs were chosen due to their relevance to the existing literature on trauma, racism, and coping. The researcher suspects that ethnic identity strength and dominant coping style may affect how individuals process historical trauma. However, due to the small number of participants and the usage of purposeful sampling, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn regarding any relationships between these variables and the themes identified in the coure of this study. Instead this study is exploratory and any findings will be considered preliminary. The recruitment process will result in a non-clinical sample.

All participants will be offered the opportunity to be entered into a raffle for one of five

$20 gift cards as an incentive.

Table 2

Selection Groups: Possible Combinations of ethnic identity strength and dominant coping strategies

Ethnic Identity Approach Avoidance

Strength Dominant Dominant 1 SD EI1-APP EI1-AV 2 SD EI2-APP EI2-AV 3+ SD EI3-APP EI3-AV

At the conclusion of both the screening survey and the qualitative interview, participants will be provided with a resource list that they can refer to in the event that the study has triggered a need or desire for mental health support.

Site of Study. All participants will provide their informed consent, as well as their responses to the screening survey, via Qualtrics web-based survey software.

Qualtrics employs firewalls, encryption procedures, and data protection protocols that are in compliance with the standards imposed on health care records by the Health Insurance

Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). After recruitment and sampling have concluded, in-person interviews will take place in locations that are mutually agreed upon between the researcher and each participant within metropolitan DC, Maryland, or

Virginia. In the event that the participant lives outside of this geographic area or the participant’s schedule does not permit a face-to-face interview, an online or phone interview will be scheduled. This flexibility in interview modality will allow for the selection of participants who have diverse locations and schedules.

Research Diary. The researcher will maintain a research diary (memo) for the purpose of recording her subjective impressions of each interview. This step holds value as it will allow the researcher to later revisit her thought processes, lessons learned, and any noteworthy occurrences from the interviews. The research diary also provides a place to record aspects of each interview’s context that may be forgotten between the interview and data analysis.

Data Analysis Data analysis will consist of two phases. In the first phase, the researcher will score the brief COPE and MEIM-R for the purpose of augmenting the descriptive data

and using that data to select interview participants. Second, after the conclusion of the phenomenological interviews, the researcher will analyze the qualitative data to identify themes.

Descriptive data. The demographic variables, coping strategies, and ethnic identity strength will be analyzed using descriptive statistics for the purpose of summarizing characteristics of the sample. For clarity, I would like to include a short note on the analyses of Likert scales as my perspective will inform the analytical techniques employed. There has been some debate among statisticians regarding whether or not

Likert data should be treated as ordinal or interval data (Joshi, Kale, Chandel, & Pal,

2015). The key deciding factor seems to require making a differentiation between Likert items and Likert scales. Individual Likert items are ordinal in nature. The response categories have a meaningful order but there is not an absolute zero or a uniform distance between the responses categories. For example, the difference between “somewhat agree” and “strongly agree” can vary between participants. However, once the items have been used to compute scores for the overall Likert scale, those scores may be viewed interval in nature. It is also worth noting that the ideal number of response categories is generally thought to be 5 to 7, with the middle option representing a neutral response (Joshi, Kale,

Chandel, & Pal, 2015). In the current study, the Brief COPE does not meet that expectation as it uses a 4-point scale. However, given the acceptable level of reliability and validity for the Brief COPE, as observed in existing research, the 4-point scale is not considered a barrier to including this measure in the current study.

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Qualitative data analysis will be approached as an ongoing process beginning with the completion and transcription of the first interview. As transcripts become available the research will use the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to qualitative data analysis. Just as with phenomenological research, the purpose of IPA is to understand participants’ interpretations of their own lived experiences (King & Horrocks, 2010, p. 205; Noon,

2018). This is accomplished through a multi-step process that includes “familiarization with the data, identifying themes, clustering themes and constructing a summary table,

[and in most cases] integrating themes across all cases” (King & Horrocks, 2010, p. 205).

1. Familiarization with the data: This entails reading the transcript in it’s

entirety, while making note of any key points or sections that may address

the research questions.

2. Identifying themes: Review the transcript along with the notes from step 1.

Identify areas that feel particularly significant and a short phrase that

captures that theme.

3. Clustering themes and producing a summary table: “Compile a list of all

the themes you have defined, and look for meaningful clusters of themes

that address related issues” (p. 208). This step may included the merger of

themes that greatly overlap or removal of themes that for not make a

significant contribution to the research topic. Each theme cluster should be

given an overarching title. The themes are then placed in a table format

that aligns with how the findings will be presented in the write-up. The

table format also allows for the inclusion of page and line numbers for

sections of the transcript that demonstrate each theme.

4. Integrating themes across cases: The final step of the process entails

analyzing each transcript’s summary table and identifying commonalities

between the transcripts. This leads to the creation of the “Master Table,”

which represents the thematic findings for the overall study.

While the steps above may give the impression that IPA is a linear process, this layout was simply chosen for clarity. In reality, IPA is a set of flexible guidelines that may be implemented a bit differently from person to person (Noon, 2018). For example, some researchers may opt to draw upon the themes identified in the previous transcript(s) for analysis of the current transcript, others prefer to start each analysis with a blank slate.

Both of these approaches are permissible within IPA.

Several techniques have been posed for ensuring the validity and reliability

(sometimes referred to as trustworthiness by qualitative researchers) in empirical research. Qualitative validity refers to the accuracy of the data from the perspective of participants, researchers, or reviewers/readers of the study (Creswell & Miller, 2000).

The present study will emphasize the authentic portrayal of participants’ stories based on their interview responses and the surrounding context. Additional strategies that have been included for the purpose of supporting the study’s validity include the researcher’s commitment to providing rich, thick descriptions when relaying the findings, the researcher’s development of a reflexivity statement, and the researcher’s intention to present all findings, including those that may contradict existing themes. Qualitative reliability refers to implementing the study’s procedures in a consistent manner across

participants (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Some suggestions for reliable procedures include creating a detailed list of the research steps (including an interview protocol), reviewing interview transcripts for any obvious errors, and avoiding shifts in the code definitions (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 201). This study will employ each of those strategies to bolster reliability. For the study’s quantitative data, reliability refers to the

“consistency or repeatability of an instrument” (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 154).

Specifically, it is an assessment of how consistently the survey instrument is administered to the sample and the internal consistency of the instrument. The validity and reliability for the Brief COPE and MEIM-R are described within the “Measures” section of this paper.

Statement on Reflexivity

In keeping with the recommendations of Creswell & Creswell (2018) and Hesse-

Biber (2017), the researcher has chosen to briefly summarize relevant aspects of her background and values that have the potential to influence her interpretation of the data.

Two critical components of the reflexivity statement are statements related to the researcher’s past experiences and a discussion of any foreseeable effect that these experiences may have on the researcher’s point of view (Creswell & Cresswell, 2018).

The researcher identifies as an African American female. Born and raised in a predominantly Black city in the northeastern United States, she has had both first- and secondhand experiences with the tremendous strength of the Black community as well as the crippling hurdles that continue to plague it. Recent years have brought increasing media and public attention to the institutional and direct injustices that Black persons in

the U.S. face on a daily basis. Just a few of the cases that come to mind include the Flint,

Michigan water crisis, the increasingly publicized use of deadly force by law enforcement against people of color, and the appearance of an overall increase in tension between races. These events have triggered various emotions, with the most dominant being those of anger, fear, sadness, and outrage. More than anything, there is grief for the reality that so many Black voices have not been heard or validated. The absence of a space for recognition, processing, or healing of these wounds (old and new) led the researcher to the present study. It is indicative of the attitude held by those in positions of power toward those who are not, that after so many years of trauma and systematic oppression, this topic has only be scantily addressed in research and policy. This study should not need to be conducted in 2019, but I am pleased to undertake it.

Given this study’s qualitative design, a degree of transparency on the researcher’s part is necessary as the researcher serves as a lens through which the data is analyzed.

There are a few foreseeable effects that the researcher’s past experiences and worldview may have upon the research process. Due to a tendency to sympathize and join with those who have experienced racial discrimination and trauma, the researcher will need to actively avoid over-identification with the participants. There is also the risk of the researcher presuming similarities between the participants and/or between herself and the participants. As noted by Grant (2008), mistakes may arise from the over- or under- estimation of similarities. However, in both clinical and research work the “art is to understand proximity, how to be close and connected around commonalities and yet retain the element of objectivity and be able to see the uniqueness, despite sharing a

common ethnic background” (p. 125). The researcher is confident that her clinical training and commitment to capturing the participants’ authentic lived experiences, will allow her to accomplish this delicate balance. These issues will also be addressed through exercising presence with each participant and maintaining a research diary to capture the researcher’s reactions to the participants and interview content. In addition to personal reflection, the researcher will continue her personal self-care by way of therapy and spread out the interview schedule to allow adequate time for processing. These approaches are intended to encourage the researcher to be aware of how the research process may be affecting her. This will also ensure that time is taken to work through those affects so that the interviews and thematic analysis are not negatively impacted.

Limitations

Although survey data will be collected during recruitment, the sample size will not provide enough power for the detection of statistically significant results. However, due to the quantitative measures being administered for the purpose of composing participant profiles, and not for the resolution of a research question, the researcher will not consider small sample size to be a weakness of the study. Statistically insignificant results will be evaluated as potentially contributing variables that may require future study. Another possible limitation is the subjective nature of determining when saturation has been reached and data collection may be concluded. The inclusion criteria rely heavily upon the participants perception of their ancestry and knowledge of their parents’ and grandparents’ country of origin. Although the researcher anticipates that participants will provide honest responses to these questions of ethnicity and origin, there is the

possibility that they may be mistaken. It will not be possible for the researcher to confirm or deny these responses.

As the majority of the study’s data will derive from participant interviews, it must be acknowledged that there are some inherent limitations to this form of data collection.

Unlike observation which allows for the researcher to directly witness participants in their natural setting, interviews rely upon the participant’s filtered version of what has transpired (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). The quality of the information collected may also be limited by individual participants’ abilities to recall and clearly express their memories, thoughts, and emotions. Some participants may also withhold or modify their responses based on a fear of judgement from the interviewer. To some degree, these issues may be addressed prior to the interviews. Each individual’s ability to articulate their thoughts can be covertly assessed during scheduling conversations, delivery of the informed consent, and addressing participant questions and concerns. The researcher’s non-judgmental stance, along with the importance of truthful, authentic responses, may also be conveyed during those preliminary conversations and prior to the start of the interview questioning. The development of an interview protocol prior to the start of qualitative data collection will also provide a framework for the interviews and ensure that there are similar topics addressed in each interview. Additionally, there is the possibility that some members of the population may be more likely than others to volunteer for the study. Specifically, African Americans who have experienced racism in recent memory may be more likely than those without recent experiences of racism to opt into the study as the topic may feel more pertinent to them. The researcher does not

consider this to be a significant threat to the study’s validity but it will be explored in greater detail during data analysis and the discussion section of this paper.

Chapter 4: Findings

The current study sought to explore how African American millennials perceive and make meaning of historical trauma through the use of semi-structured, phenomenological interviews. Exploration was specifically geared toward the following research questions:

RQ1: How do African Americans millennials describe and make meaning of

historical trauma?

• RQ1a: What are the themes that emerge related to how the day-to-day

lives of African American millennials are impacted by historical trauma?

• RQ1b: What are the themes that emerge related to how African American

millennials, in light of historical traumas perpetrated against African and

African American people, identify and understand the losses connected to

these traumas?

• RQ1c: How, if at all, do African American millennials experience and

discuss their grief related to historical traumas and associated losses?

RQ2: How do African Americans millennials cope with racism?

• RQ2a: How are African Americans millennials prepared by their parents

or guardians to encounter and react to racism?

• RQ2b: How do African Americans millennials perceive and navigate the

current racial climate?

An interview guide was developed to ensure that the researcher discussed similar topics with each participant, while also retaining the flexibility to add, remove, or change the order of the planned interview questions in response to participants’ statements. Due

to the scheduling needs of the participants, as well as medical concerns impacting the researcher, all interviews were conducting via either phone or Zoom web-based video conferencing software. All interviews were completed in Fall 2019. Interview transcription was conducted by the researcher.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed for qualitative data analysis. The first step of IPA, familiarization with the data, was conducted concurrently with the transcription process. During the development of each transcript, the researcher was able to note sections and quotations that seemed particularly relevant to the research questions. The transcripts were then reviewed again for the purpose of coding. Codes addressing similar concepts were grouped together to form overarching themes, which were organized in a summary table for each transcript. In the final stage of analysis, the summary tables were examined to identify themes that were present across transcripts.

Those repeating themes were then added to a master table and those with the highest prevalence will be reviewed in this chapter.

Participant Profile

In order to maintain participants’ anonymity, each participant was assigned a pseudonym which will be used to differentiate their statements. All 12 participants met the inclusion criteria for the screening questionnaire, i.e. identifying as African

American, having a birth date that falls between the years 1981 and 1996, and exhibiting fluency in English. For the purpose of selecting interview participants an additional inclusion criterion required that participants’ parents, maternal grandparents, and paternal grandparents must have been born in the United States and also identify with the African

American ethnic group. As detailed in Chapter 3, there was also an effort to select

interview participants that would bring diversity to the study by way of their demographic variables, ethnic identity strength, and dominant coping style. A summary of the descriptive details that the researcher has deemed most relevant may be viewed below (see Table 3).

Table 3

Participant Table Ethnic Gender Current Highest Household Identity Coping Pseudonym Age Identity Region Education Income Strength Style Over Janet 35 Female Northeast Doctorate $100,000 4.67 Avoid Master's Over Felicia 33 Female Northeast Degree $100,000 3.17 Approach

Master's Over Tia 26 Female Southeast Degree $100,000 5 Balanced Bachelor's Over Isaiah 35 Male Southeast Degree $100,000 5 Approach Associates $50,000 - Gail 34 Female Southwest Degree 74,999 2.5 Avoid Bachelor's $20,000 - Rhonda 35 Female Northeast Degree 34,999 1 Approach Master's $20,000 - Tierra 25 Female Southwest Degree 34,999 4 Approach Bachelor's Less than Max 25 Male Southeast Degree $20,000 2.83 Approach Master's $50,000 - Serena 29 Female Southeast Degree 74,999 5 Balanced Some College, Over Tyra 34 Female Northeast No degree $100,000 4.17 Approach

Master's Over Darrell 33 Male Southeast Degree $100,000 1 Approach Bachelor's $50,000 - Marlon 35 Male Northeast Degree 74,999 3.67 Approach

Table 3 displays descriptive data for the interview participants. For comparison the reader may find it useful to have the descriptive data for the larger sample of qualified individuals who successfully completed the screening survey. Those individuals ranged in age from 21 – 39 years old, with 74% identifying as female. The mean ethnic identity strength score for qualified survey-completers was 4, with responses ranging from 1- 5.

Each survey-completer also had a score on the Approach and Avoidance subscales.

Approach scores ranged from 2.71 – 7.43, with a mean score of 5.3 Avoidance scores ranged from 2 – 6.71, with a mean score of 4.11.

While the informed consent document and screening questionnaire both conveyed that participants should identify as African American, the researcher provided an opportunity in both the questionnaire and the semi-structured interview for participants define their ethnic identity in their own words. These open-ended questions spurred interesting discussion around what the term “African American” symbolizes and whether there may be other terms that are more accurate or appropriate for this group. Two participants, Darrell and Isaiah, indicated a preference for two somewhat different terms,

Foundational Black and Black American respectively. Despite their preferences for terms that differ from stated inclusion criterion of “African American” ethnic identity, the researcher determined that Darrell and Isaiah would not be disqualified from participation as “Foundational Black” and “Black American,” as described by the participants, have a great deal of overlap with “African American.”

Similarly one participant revealed the presence of a grandparent who did not hold membership as African American or Black, thus indicating a mixed-race parent. The participant was allowed to proceed due to the specific details of her situation.

Specifically, Tia indicated that her father was mixed-race (African American and White) but her family influences and experiences seem to have remained predominantly African

American in nature, as indicated when she stated:

Actually my dad is mixed so his mom is White but she died when he was young

and my mom who is, you know, brown, unmistakably Black has always instilled

in me, and he has to, even him being a biracial man has been like, “I’m Black.

Your mom is Black.” Umm I look just like my mom who is dark brown. Same

nose. Same eyes. Same body type. So it’s always been in me from the beginning

that like, “You’re Black and this means things.”

Prior to conducting any statistical analysis, the researcher reviewed the dataset to identify any cases that needed to be excluded. Prior to removing any cases, the dataset included 230 cases. Upon reviewing the data, the researcher found that several cases needed to be removed due to not meeting the inclusion criteria or having too many missing responses. In the latter instance, several of the individuals who submitted the screening survey did not answer any of the Brief COPE items. It may be that, depending on what device the survey was viewed on, it was unclear that the survey had other items, which may have led to participants exiting the survey early. There is also the possibility that some found the survey to be too long. Although the advertisements, informed consent, and survey directions specified that participants should be African American, it seems that this term has been adopted by Black persons from various ethnic backgrounds.

This could be observed in various ways, including the ethnic backgrounds that potential participants cited for their family members. Several cases were eliminated due to immediate family members being immigrants (not born in the U.S.) or having been

identified with an ethnic group that is not African American, as defined by this study.

The researcher did not remove cases where a grandparent was indicated as being biracial.

Likewise, the researcher did not remove cases due to a family member’s country of birth being reported as unknown by the survey respondent.

After removing cases for the purposes noted above, 110 cases remained.

Improved survey design may have prevented the need for removing cases at this stage, if the survey logic could have blocked their participation from the outset. After narrowing down the survey respondents to those qualified to proceed with an interview, the researcher calculated the scores for the Brief COPE and MEIM-R. These scores were then used to aid in the selection of participants. The researcher originally set out to select participants that fit the study’s selection table (Table 2). After the screening survey results were calculated, the researcher sought to sort the qualified survey-takers into the categories found in the selection table. Beginning with those individuals who most strongly exemplified a given category, the researcher then attempted to schedule interviews. For example, a survey-taker with the highest Approach score and an ethnic identity score within one standard deviation of the mean would be contacted for an interview. This person would serve as a representative for category EI1-APP (see Table

2). If that person declined the interview or could not be contacted, then the person with the next highest Approach score with ethnic identity within one standard deviation of the mean would be contacted to fill that slot, and so on and so forth. Therefore the sample is composed of individuals who were available and most representative of the selection table categories. The researcher intended to interview at least two participants for each

selection table category. Table 4 provides the number of participants who were successfully recruited for each selection group.

Table 4

Participant Distribution Across Selection Groups

Ethnic Approach Avoidance Identity Dominant Dominant Strength 1 SD 4 1

2 SD 2 1

3+ SD 2 -

Note. There were also two participants with Brief COPE scores that represent a balance between approach and avoidance. Both participants’ ethnic identity scores were two SD from the mean.

In seeking to recruit participants who represent both approach-dominant and avoidance-dominant coping styles, the researcher determined that the vast majority of the qualified, potential participants were approach-dominant. Specifically, 87% of qualified survey respondents were approach-dominant based on their survey responses. The researcher also sought to locate participants with a range of ethnic identity scores. Ethnic identity scores were group based on the standard deviation so that 1SD indicates participants who were within 1 standard deviation of the mean, 2SD indicates participants who were within 2 standard deviations of the mean, and 3+SD indicates participants who were 3 or more standard deviations from the mean. The researcher ultimately arrived at a sample size of 12 students due to the achievement of thematic saturation. The

aforementioned preponderance of approach-dominant individuals, along with the shortage of avoidance-dominant individuals, meant that some cells/categories of the selection table could not be fulfilled. Of the two avoidant-dominant participants, one scored within one standard deviation of the mean for ethnic identity while the other scored within two standard deviations of the MEIM-R mean score. As ethnic identity and coping style were only measured to aid in participant selection, the study was able to proceed despite the unequal distribution of participants across the selection table.

Each interview began with a few questions geared toward understanding the participants’ perspectives on their ethnic identity and how it might influence their worldview. While the study’s research questions do not directly address ethnic identity, in a study where ethnic identity is the primary inclusion criterion it is valuable to possess additional contextual data on how connected participants feel to their ethnic identity and how integral a role it plays in their lives.

Themes

The remainder of this chapter will review themes that emerged in relation to each research question. These themes (see Table 5) were selected due to being representative of the majority of the sample or representative of a noteworthy departure from the anticipated findings. The findings will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 5. As participants’ quotes are introduced in support of each theme, each participant will be briefly introduced using some demographic information, including their ethnic identity score and their dominant coping style. In general, ethnic identity scores can range from 1 to 5, with higher numbers indicating higher ethnic identity strength. The dominant coping style reported for each participant reflects whether the brief COPE results were higher for

the Approach or Avoidance subscale. The higher subscale represents the dominant coping style. It is important to remember that conclusions cannot be drawn regarding any relationship between the quantitative screening data and the qualitative themes. Instead, this data is included to remind the reader of the context surrounding each participant, as well as a means of developing preliminary hypotheses regarding how these themes and constructs interact.

Table 5

Major themes and sub-themes Research Major Themes Sub-themes Question RQ 1a, 1b, 2b 1. What’s in a name? 1a. Terminology matters 1b. Redefining “African American” beyond Stereotypes 1c. In-group Isolation RQ 2a 2. Education on African American History: Early and Inadequate RQ 1 3. Slavery was just the 3a. Discriminatory laws and Policies Beginning 3b. Slavery 3c. Reconstruction/Post- reconstruction 3d. Policing RQ 1a, 2a 4. Storytelling as Preparation RQ 1a, 1b 5. All-encompassing Loss RQ 1a, 1c 6. Pride as a Grief Response RQ 1a, 2b 7. Restricted Expression 7a. Appearance 7b. High Bar for Behavior RQ 1a, 2, 2b 8. Navigating an Evolving 8a. Uncertainty Racial Climate 8b.Shared Experience as Comfort and Connection 8c. Representing Others

Theme 1: What’s in a name?

Each interview began with the researcher providing a definition for ethnic identity and then asking participants a series of questions geared toward understanding how they view their ethnic identity and how it (consciously) influences their lives. Although all participants completed the screening survey, which included a statement of the inclusion criteria, e.g. African American ethnicity, matters of identity can be quite complex, particularly when it comes to race and ethnicity. The diversity that can be found within the U.S. and within the Black race required that some time be given to clarifying what

“African American” means for each participant. The interviews revealed that, in general, participants had conveyed a commitment or interest in shaping the narrative of what it means to be African American. This was observable through their interest in endorsing specific language for their ethnic identities that reflected their views on the population and their position within it. When asked to describe their ethnic identity, responses varied from concise statements of the term of choice to more detailed explanations.

Additionally, participants’ efforts to disprove negative stereotypes about African

Americans also reflected their interest in showing the world a different example of what it means to be a member of this group.

Terminology Matters. Participants described their ethnic identities using the terms African American (8), African American descendant of slavery (1), Black (1),

Foundational Black American (1), and Black American (1). In speaking with the participants, it was apparent that these terms were not arbitrarily selected. Instead, they represent the complex history of a group of people who traveled a long way, both literally and figuratively.

Felicia, a 33 year old female (ethnic identity strength = 3.17; Approach coping style) living in a city in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., shared that “African

American” represents a balance between her African ancestry and the fact that she dwells in this country:

I prefer-- a lot of people prefer the term Black but I prefer the term African-

American because dealing with other minorities, they feel that I am not American

enough or not African enough. So I like to say that I'm African-American just to

let people know that I'm proud of my heritage and my current environment being

in-- living in America.

Tia, a 26 year old female, (E.I. = 5; Balanced coping style) originally from the

Midwest but currently residing in the southeastern U.S., expressed a similar sentiment regarding the importance of employing a term that is representative of her American roots. However, she accomplished this through adopting the term, “Black.” Tia also shared, depending on the circumstances, she might identify herself differently:

I define my ethnic identity as Black. Umm, sometimes African American but I

think Black is more –kinda shows more of the culture piece than African

American does. I think that African American, umm, kind of shows that my

ancestry is from Africa but I’m living in America, like for all intents and purposes

I’m American. But I also think, you know, with other—there’s other types of

Black people. There’s Caribbean Americans and, you know, Latino—Afro

Latinas and stuff so I think those different cultural pieces kind of also have some

different-- but I think at the end of the day, walking down the street I would say,

“I’m Black.”

Isaiah is a 35 year old male from Virginia. Based on the screening survey, Isaiah has high ethnic identity strength (E.I. = 5) and a tendency toward the Approach coping style when facing issues related to historical trauma. When selecting a descriptor for his ethnic identity, it was important that it be reflective of the process this population underwent to arrive at its current cultural makeup. For him, “Black American” best expresses that journey:

Black American is very unique. I don’t like the term African American because

African American, to me, denotes people who immigrated, with an “i,” to

America from Africa.

Whereas Black Americans, it’s far more complex in a sense of, one of the

components of that ancestry were the umm the people who came unsolicited, by

force. [AND] dealt with a-- a catastrophic history of, not only servitude uhh and

being seen as less than a person, but also no firm umm tie to that previous

ancestry, so we really created it as we went along.

After expressing his view that the term “African American” has become “watered down,” Darrell, a 33 year old male (E.I. = 1; Approach coping style) from the southeastern U.S. who spent a portion of his youth in the Midwest, explained a similar sentiment to that of the previously quoted participants. He seemed to have a desire to identify himself in a way that acknowledged history, including the fact that the descendants of enslaved persons developed a unique culture in the U.S. This led him to the selection of Foundational Black American (or American descendant of slavery):

…my rationale behind that is the fact that I believe that because my family has

been in America uhh for-- we trace it back over 120 years. I feel as though that we

formed our own tribe. And when I say tribe, it includes the culture behind it.

Umm and we have our own history that's distinct from I would say like a Nigerian

person's family that arrived in the 1960s or just recently. And--but they're still

considered African American. Umm so-- I say African American, but what I

really synthesized it to is those that uhh--Black Americans that have descended

from slavery, umm, as being my ethnicity…

Redefining African American beyond stereotypes. Given African Americans history with systemic racism and subjugation, it is not surprising that there were stereotypes attached to them. Unfortunately, in some circles, these stereotypes live on.

One of the most frequently cited stereotypes in this study was the idea of the angry Black woman (potentially due in part to the majority of the sample identifying as female).

Several participants spoke on their efforts to avoid being assigned that label, especially in the workplace. Other stereotypes addressed by participants included the view of African

Americans as being loud or unprofessional, having dysfunctional or less than ideal family circumstances, and common assumptions about what African Americans look like, sound like, and/or the activities that they enjoy.

In the midst of discussing how his ethnic identity influences his worldview, Isaiah highlighted how he hopes to defy negative views of Black/African American families.

Family, umm, there’s such--there’s a stigma around Black family that, unless

you’ve really experienced it, it can be negative. When I think that’s really a part

of our strength. Umm, so—so understanding that I want to do everything in my

power to--to uphold and strengthen the—my family unit and leverage that to be

the new normal, I guess, for all Black people.

When discussing stereotypes commonly applied to African American women,

Felicia identified the concept of the “baby mama.”

My husband has been told-- he was told not to marry me. Or do anything with me

because I would just take him, get pregnant, and take him down for child support.

He was told that by his African community-- different people in that. So I think

the stereotype is that all black women are just baby mamas.

In addition to highlighting a potentially hurtful stereotype, the above also sheds light on the divisions that are sometimes present between African and African American people. Over times these stereotypes and biases can sometimes seep with a given ethnic identity group. For example, some participants spoke on the judgement they received from other African Americans regarding their manner of speech.

One of the historical injustices that was perpetrated against African Americans in the past was the denial of access to education. The method of denial ranged from making the education of enslaved persons illegal to the post-slavery systemic barriers erected to undercut the education of African American students (e.g., segregated schools, underfunding of predominantly Black schools, etc.). Due to racism and poverty (which is also related to racism) preventing optimal educational attainment, African Americans in some areas developed a manner of speech that did not always align with how the average

White person spoke. Somewhere along the way these differences became viewed as indicative of each group, instead of as being a result of contextual factors. However, as

African Americans achieve higher levels of educational attainment a degree of tension

can develop between those who speak proper, easily understood English and those with a more informal or heavily accented style. Gail, a 34 year old female (E.I. = 2.5; Avoidant coping style) from the southwestern U.S., expressed her confusion regarding this tension and how it impacts how others view her:

I've been told multiple times that I sound White which I don't understand. I-- like

that's something that just really irritates because it is just like OK well I'm not

Black or people don't see me as Black because I don't talk a certain way-- like that

doesn't make sense. Like I went to school to learn how to speak properly… (Gail)

Speaking to the angry Black woman stereotype, Felicia spoke about the lack of understanding she has experienced in moments when she has expressed her displeasure with a situation:

If things aren't right, like I can stay calm. And be calm. But at some point I do feel

like. There might be time for some aggression or some assert-- assertive nature.

And when that has happened people treat me differently, where now I’m the bad

guy. And that's around mixed company whether it be men or other races.

In Gail’s experience, she faced a situation where a coworker causally used a racial slur in her presence, which she found upsetting. However, her desire to avoid being labeled as an angry Black woman ultimately muted her response:

I had to sit down for the sake of maintaining my-- not maintain my

professionalism but maintaining the fact like I am still approachable and I'm not

going to lose my temper be the angry black woman, you know. And it just sucks

because it's like well that didn't really resolve the situation. It didn't do anything

but just make me upset.

Serena is a 29 year old female living in the southeastern U.S., who scored high on ethnic identity strength (E.I. = 5) and reports using a balance of approach- and avoidance- based coping strategies. During her interview, she shared that she also engaged in self- censorship to avoid the negative connotation that goes along with Black women who express their anger.

I used to work in corporate America and umm for a hotel company and I was

always cognizant that I can’t react to things in the same way that other people

react to things because if I do it, then all of a sudden it’s—it’s this thing. It’s this,

[Serena’s] just being umm an angry Black woman or I’m aggressive and I’m

sitting here like, nope, just—just wanted to get my point across, just like

everybody else has the opportunity to in this room. But that’s not always

something that I know I have the option to do.

Sadly, due in part to the hardships that have plagued African Americans, there can be misconceptions about the relationship between ethnicity and hardship. Stated differently, there is sometimes a question of whether struggling is an inherent aspect of what it means to be African American or Black. Tierra, 25 years old (E.I. = 4; Approach coping style), originally from the northeastern U.S. but currently attending school in the southwestern region, articulated this well stating that:

Yes, we have struggled and unfortunately the structural violence will set up a

struggle but I don't think that it has to be, ‘I’m black because I have struggled.’

Umm I think that we can recognize structural violence and the violence done

against my community but also find joy in what I do. And so that's, I guess, in

some imagination, if me escaping and getting more education feels to be White,

like I've been told this. By what it feels like I'm betraying when all I do is study

blackness in political science, you know, like Black politics is what I do. But,

umm, then just kind of this idea that I'm no longer, like-- I'm creating a place to

not struggle. And that changes the way I will be Black.

An interesting point to consider is that the “struggle stereotype” can sometimes be adopted by members of the ethnic group, particularly impressionable youth. For example,

Darrell talked about how stereotypical representations of African Americans in the media juxtaposed against images of White people with wealth and nice environments, contributed to him buying into the “narrative that, like, Black people were poor, in the hood, and, like, shoot at each other.” Not even recreational time is free from stereotypes.

However, the participants exhibited a willingness to go beyond what is expected of them.

This was apparent in Darrell’s commitment to love of the outdoors, hunting, and fishing.

Despite his perception that some might consider these activities to be “a White thing,”

Darrell connects his outdoorsman activities to his ethnic identity because when he was growing up in the south these were activities that his grandfather and others in his community enjoyed. Although, in his youth, Darrell had struggled with some aspects of his identity, such as a thick country/southern accent, in the present he has integrated self- acceptance as a characteristic of his identity.

In-group Isolation. A few of the participants spoke of their experiences of not feeling accepted by other African Americans due to not fitting other people’s expectations or stereotypes. This form of rejection or disconnection has the potential to be especially upsetting, as their differences can further isolate them in a society where they are already considered a minority.

Rhonda, a 35 year old Master’s student (E.I. = 1; Approach coping style) attending school in the northeastern U.S, encountered this from an early age, as members of her family struggled to get beyond their differences:

… my mom is the most successful in her family. And then she married someone

who was very successful so we—my brother and I—we have lived a different life

than my family members did. And you know, you know when you go back to

spend time together you see those differences and so I’ve always been a part of

the family but almost—my brother and I are separate from them in a way. Umm

because our life just looked different and it was never anything I felt like I could

do to make them comfortable with the differences.

Similarly, Felicia also shared the difficulties she experiences when trying to connect with her family. In reference to feeling accepted by African Americans who are not family, it can depend on what they have in common, such as education level:

Sometimes I don't feel accepted by my counterparts because they feel like since

I'm more successful than some of them especially in the African-American

community. Umm I had my education and I have a professional job, so it makes it

where my family teases me, claiming that I'm White or I’m bougie. It makes me

feel less accepted or less-- that I belong less to them. Umm and then there's other

terms-- times where other races will say, “Oh you don't act like a black person,”

just because I may speak proper or I don't curse as much, umm, or I don't do

things that a stereotypical Black or African-American person might do. So around

the more me collegial or collegiate African-Americans, I feel accepted but I don't

always feel accepted by my entire ethnicity. (Felicia)

Gail discussed a variety of interests that might surprise people who hold stereotypical views on what African Americans enjoy. Discussing those differences can be uncomfortable at times:

When it comes to like, oh well, you know, like African-Americans listen to rap or

they have these specific beliefs. Those are things I don't necessarily share. Umm,

this is stuff I'm not usually comfortable talking about just because I know people

are going to judge and it's going to go back to, “well, are you really Black then?”

Gail went on to share that she is a fan of roller derby and comic books. In the past when she has shared her interests with others, they were typically surprised, making statements along the lines of, “there are Black people in roller derby?” However, not only is Gail breaking stereotypes regarding what activities a Black or African American woman can enjoy, but she has also found community with other minorities who share her interests.

Theme 2: Education on African American History: Early and Inadequate

The majority of participants reported that they began to become aware of African

American historical trauma during early childhood, with the source of the knowledge being their schools and/or families. Based on their responses, Janet, Tierra, and Darrell were the youngest when they began receiving education on these topics, or at least they have the earliest recollection, stating that they were about six or seven years old.

However, several participants, with the benefit of hindsight, indicated that these early introductions to historical trauma had been lacking in depth and breadth. Participants indicated that most of their school-based education on African American history, and historical trauma in particular, had been fairly surface level and in some occasions limited

to Black History Month. Therefore, family discussions on these topics were important as they had the potential to fill in the gaps but they too fell short of complete exploration of these topics.

Indeed, Tia’s recollection of her childhood educational experiences revealed that classroom exploration of some aspects of African American history were quite limited:

I don’t remember learning about slavery in elementary school but I remember a

civil rights section. But I just remember it being very, like, glossed over. I

remember knowing that it needed more discussion and more time spent on it and

talking about what this means today then what it was… I don’t remember there

being a conversation about racism. Like, how are we teaching about civil rights

without… Like I don’t remember racism being written in the textbook.

The participants provided a variety of examples of their schools’ instructional techniques. Some of the more noteworthy examples included pretending to travel the underground railroad in gym class, picking cotton in actual fields and reading autobiographical accounts of enslaved persons’ lives, in addition to the more standard options of textbook readings and field trips to historic sites. For some, there was the perception that the racial make-up of their schools may have influenced the African

American History content in their classes. When asked about when and where she began to learn about African American historical trauma, Serena responded:

I definitely didn’t learn it at school. Umm, like I said I went to a predominantly

White—I was—I went to predominantly White schools growing up so our history

books looked a little different. It glossed over some things, you know. It didn’t

say everything. I knew a lot about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks but not a

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whole lot about umm Malcom X, Angela Davis… They kinda got left out umm of

the history.

In the absence of comprehensive academic curricula, in some instances, participants’ families may have discussed historical injustices, but without any direct guidance on how to process the information:

I feel like my awareness and consciousness of it was high but [my family] really

didn’t talk about how people cope with it… I love my community and my race,

umm, but there’s also the exhausting side of kind of always being aware of power

dynamics and racial make-up from a young age. Like, you know, even in

elementary school I remember being able to identify, like, where I am in the class,

like, “Oh, I’m the only Black girl.” (Tia)

In other cases, growing up in a predominantly Black area seems to have delayed parents’ decisions to address these serious topics with their children. Felicia shared that her parents:

… did teach me things here and there about being African American but I think

that the fact that I didn’t have to deal with it in [predominantly Black city] like

that—they didn’t really go thoroughly into what it means to be Black, umm until I

was an adult and I started watching more television and things with them. And

that’s when they really opened up to me about some of the things they had been

through as children.

Silence can come at a cost. It was noted by some participants that having knowledge regarding the presence of racism is valuable as it allows them to feel prepared to face it. In the absence of that preparation, uncomfortable emotions may arise.

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Rhonda, whose family would periodically travel by car into the south for family reunions, shared that her parents “nervousness” was often palpable once they passed

Washington, D.C. but no context was ever given for the tension or the stricter rules the children had to follow during the trip. As she reflected on those times she suggested that having more open communication may have been beneficial to her:

It made me feel, umm, it made me anxious… I think having transparent

conversation would have made it more clear, and I think they didn’t because they

think, “they’re kids,” you know, and “they’re young” and as we got older they

explained more but there’s just this idea that kids don’t know. (Rhonda)

Similarly, another participant laments having a lack of knowledge about not only the hardships African Americans have faced, but the triumphs as well:

I know about slavery and that’s pretty much it. Like I—like when it comes to like

learning a lot of famous black inventors or, you know, Black people that made

impact in history, I can’t really name any of [them]. Like, I kind of feel ashamed

that I don’t know but it makes me want to learn now. (Gail)

Theme 3: Slavery was Just the Beginning

Given the lack of any official recognition from the American Psychiatric

Association of the potential for historical events to have a traumatic effect on current generations, the researcher wanted to give participants an opportunity note what aspects of the past they would consider traumatic, if any. Each participant was presented with a definition of historical trauma (see Appendix A: Interview Guide) and then asked to name occurrences in African American history that they believed to be consistent with that definition. Most of the participants were able to name several events or issues that

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they considered traumatic and there was a good deal of overlap between participants. The most frequently mentioned occurrences were slavery, Reconstruction/Post-

Reconstruction, policing, and discriminatory laws/policies. The researcher found it noteworthy that only five participants referred to slavery directly when listing traumatic events.

Discriminatory Laws and Policies. The most frequently cited form of historical trauma was discriminatory laws and policies. Participants described these laws and/or policies using varying terminology and detail, in some cases identifying a specific document or legal ruling while others described their general feeling that some laws and policies have been detrimental to African Americans. A few of their thoughts on this topic are provided below:

Laws aren’t always a righteous thing. For us to not be considered human since the

beginning of the United States, it only—was it three-fifths or five-eighths? Three-

fifths human, I think. For us not to have rights as every other human being did

because we’re not White or they had even given different races—Asians and

Native Americans, umm and different—other races—minorities—given them

those rights but us not having them… Having to fight for the same rights that

have been placed into law and even after laws were passed, still umm not having

the right to do certain things even though laws were passed. It was ridiculous.

(Felicia)

As alluded to by Felicia, there have been instances where the law has been weaponized against minority populations within the U.S., going so far as to question their humanity. Moving beyond slavery, discriminatory policy continued to impact various

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aspects of daily life for African Americans. When giving examples of the historical traumas that felt most important to him, Isaiah talked about “… red-lining. And--and some of the--some of the federal policies that disenfranchised Blacks and prevented them from accumulating wealth and living the American dream, from getting their just-do.”

Slavery. Although participants shared an assortment of examples of historical, and current, traumas that Black people, and African Americans in particular have suffered through in the United States, slavery is arguably the original offense committed against this population. The nature of this trauma was complex, as it affected every aspect of a person’s existence. Tierra touches on this complexity in her remarks:

[The year] 1619 was definitely a traumatic event, right. So first--first individuals

show up as indentured servants. Umm and then you know, this development of

the slave trade. Umm I mean, slavery, in general-- traumatic event, like family

separation, language barriers, culture denied. I mean even the thought of having to

like physically go to find freedom.

Not only did slavery touch all aspects of a person’s humanity, but for African

Americans, slavery makes up a significant portion of their people’s time in the U.S. As noted by Tyra (E.I. = 4.17; Approach coping style), who is a 34 year old female who has lived her entire life in the northeastern U.S., slavery precipitated the arrival of African people in the U.S. and ended a relatively short time ago. She states that slavery was:

… how we even came to be in this country to begin with and, you know, it wasn’t

that long ago. I mean, it’s just not. It’s a couple of generations back. You know,

my grandparents’ parents, you know, their parents…It’s not that long ago in the

scheme of time and so I think that impacted—not think—that definitely impacted

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us—the culture, the race as a whole, negatively and I think a lot of people thought

it had been some time, which it really hasn’t been a lot of time.

Darrell chose to take a more abbreviated approach to expressing his views, stating

“slavery was just horrible, horrible trauma. I mean, I think everybody knows about it.”

Despite the varying depth and quality of education on African American historical trauma, it seems that it would be unlikely for an adult to be unaware of that piece of

American history. It is possible that the pervasiveness of knowledge regarding slavery contributed to it not having the most mentions for historical trauma. People could have considered it so obvious that it didn’t seem important to mention.

Although most participants spoke of slavery as a thing of the past, Felicia made a bold declaration regarding its ongoing presence. She said:

Slavery never left. Slavery just transformed into something else. We went from

slavery to, now, imprisonment. They get so much money from locking up all of

these people and who do you want to lock up? Ok, let’s lock up the Black people.

Reconstruction/Post-reconstruction. The road to equality did not present itself as a straight path for African Americans. Instead there have been various setbacks and disappointments along the way. Reconstruction can be thought of as one of these instances when African Americans began to make progress, only for much of it to be taken back from them. Isaiah captured a similar sentiment when he provided his reflections on Reconstruction:

[The year] 1875 at the end of reconstruction when they pulled the troops out—

Black people, on their own, were able to start getting ahead—acquiring land,

umm serving their people in government, and then in 1875-ish, when the federal

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troops left the south, then that not only was that heartbreaking to have your

support, your just-do finally umm coming to fruition and then all of a sudden

being taken from under you…

Darrell focused more on a specific aspect of Reconstruction that became an unfulfilled promise. His concerns related to the lack of economic assistance provided to the formerly enslaved. Darrell shared how this occurrence might have been traumatic for the people involved:

… I think… one of the most important [historical traumas] I can think of is the

post reconstruction era where the-- I can’t remember which General Order that

Sherman gave, uhh that wasn't followed through, but it was the “40 acres and a

mule.” And it is kind of-- it's kind of symbolic at this point. The land was the

currency back in-- back in the day, back during slavery days and post-slavery, all

the way up until the Industrial Revolution. And so the trauma of being promised

this 40 acres and a mule, knowing that the only-- the only trades that African-

Americans had at the time were-- were mainly like agricultural or based around

agriculture. And the fact that we could have succeeded, had we been given any

portion of the land. It didn’t have to be 40 acres. It could have been less. Or it

could've been more. A fact that we were denied that land and that opportunity was

like the first trauma that post-slavery--that we experienced. And the rollback of

the reconstruction rules during that time kind of--kind of took the wind out.

Policing. Policing, when conceptualized as a historical trauma, is a multifaceted issue. This is due in part to it’s ongoing significance for African Americans in the present. Although participants were provided with a definition for historical trauma that

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spoke of how past traumas can trickle down to continue to affect the current generation, some participants were still compelled to share their own views on law enforcement.

Potential reasons for this will be explored in Chapter 5. For now, the researcher proposes that the accounts below may be viewed as modern iterations of the negative interactions

African Americans had with the police in the past. One common setting for civilian- police interactions is during a traffic stop. Serena shared her general perspective on the uncertainty and fear that can plague interactions between Black people and the police, as well as her own personal anecdote:

It's always gonna be umm, I gotta turn on my phone to record my interactions

with the police if I get pulled over. But God forbid I get pulled over, umm I now

have to put my everything—my license and registration in a place that’s un—that

does not umm scare the police officer with the gun, the baton, and the taser and

it’s just me and my daughter in the car […] It’s kind of like you just replay it in

that moment. It’s like your life flashes before your eyes in every situation which

you’re potentially going to be harmed in such a way…

Later in the interview, Serena would go on to describe the experience of being the victim of an automotive accident where the offending motorist was White.

The moment that I saw her start crying, I had to adjust myself because I knew that

if I got out and I did anything that scared her, that I could potentially get in

trouble…for something that I didn’t do, but I knew—I knew that I had to change

what—how I reacted even though I was the one who was hurt in the situation to

account for the White tears coming from the White girl who has so many different

infractions going on in her car.

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A similar sentiment was expressed by Gail, who, after discussing her belief that police often “shoot first, ask questions later” due to their stereotypical view of Black males, made the following statement regarding her approach to avoiding such situations:

I always have to kind of keep, just umm, my guard up of knowing my

surroundings and making sure I don't do anything that could bring attention to me,

that could... get me in a situation where I could be just shot or labeled as a danger

or threat or I don't get that fair--I don’t wanna say trial--but fair

umm...examination or a way to prove my innocence first. (Gail)

The participants’ statements regarding their interpretation of historical trauma spanned different aspects of the African American experience. Some of the other responses included mass incarceration, mistreatment of soldiers and returning veterans, and the long history (through the present) of violence against African Americans going without reasonable punishment for perpetrators. Listening to the participants views regarding what occurrences in history have been potentially traumatizing for them as individuals, as well as for their ethnic group, provided important contributions to the foundation of this study. Before attempting to understand how this population processes historical trauma, the researcher needed to determine which events the participants were thinking of and the degree of agreement on these events across participants.

Theme 4: Storytelling as Preparation

One of the most intriguing aspects of the interviews was having the opportunity to hear stories that had been passed down to the participants. Storytelling can be a rich avenue of sharing knowledge and transmitting aspects of culture from one generation to

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the next. Instead of merely reading names and dates in a textbook, family storytelling provides a personal touch that can be more engaging.

Isaiah was the recipient of various stories about his father’s experiences. A couple of accounts that came to mind for him during the interview were related to his father’s time as a high school athlete. His father “talked about going to certain places then and having to roll--you know, ride with your windows up on the way home, umm, on the bus cuz people would throw rocks and stuff.” To add insult to injury, their football team, which was undefeated, was somehow denied the opportunity to compete for their state’s championship, apparently in favor of a predominantly White team. Although hearing about these experiences, caused some sadness for Isaiah, he also endorsed pride and a motivation to work hard and not settle for the “status quo.”

Darrell grew up in close proximity to activism, as his father was a part of a civil rights protest that would lead to him being arrested and imprisoned for “a few years.” The protesters were eventually pardoned and given some compensation for their time served.

However, from Darrell’s perspective the experience had a “profound impact” on his father and his father’s side of the family. Darrell, although not present for the initial events, felt that learning about this situation as he grew up resulted in him holding on to it on some level:

I think he kind of passed down a type of-- I don't know, like a type of struggle to--

to like not equate to--but it was like something on your shoulders that you’re

always-- you’re always gonna have. Umm, and I think because of that

incident, that that kind of reflects on how I view society as a whole and how I

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view of my standing ethnically in America. Uhh the fact that [several] individuals

can-- can go to jail on false pretenses…

Activism, particularly during the civil rights era, holds an important place in

African American history. Each generation finds its own approach to voicing the most pressing concerns of their time. It is possible that the transmission of stories regarding people standing up for themselves, provides motivation and ideas for upcoming generations to carry on that work. There is indeed some evidence to suggest that activism continues to be an area of interest for the millennial generation of African Americans.

One of Isaiah’s earliest memories of beginning to grasp traumatic events of the past coincided with him deciding to stay home from school and watch the Million Man March in solidarity with those who were physically present. In more recent history, Janet, a 35 year old female with an E.I. of 4.67 and a tendency toward avoidant coping, who resides in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., displayed another form of activism. She spoke of

“protesting and then writing letters” in the aftermath of well publicized cases of Black males being shot and killed.

In considering the potential impact of storytelling, it is important to note that parents are not the only members of a family who can share stories that may potentially have a long term impact on younger generations. For Serena, a story that stood out in her memory was of her aunt being treated poorly by another girl who she once considered a friend:

My aunt tells me, she’s like, it killed me when the—one of my best girlfriends

who was White spit on me as I walked into another school—as I walked into her

school. Umm and, but it made me proud when umm my cousin, who also ended

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up going to that high school, beat out this other—this person’s son for the top spot

in that class. So like, she liked—I mean it was her way of being petty—but she

was like, because I dealt with her spitting on me, I was able to watch my son

prove that he was smarter than her son and it was like, “I had to go through that

hurt and that pain to make sure that he was able to fully thrive in that situation.”

Not even pregnant women or newborn babies were exempt from the realities of racial discrimination. Gail could recall the story of her mother, while pregnant, being unable to find transportation due to her race, which resulted in her having to walk home in the snow. Tyra recounted the story of her mother’s birth and how her family attributes chronic medical issues to the treatment she received at that time:

So my mom is severely allergic to everything, right. She’s gotten better over the

years but she gets a shot every week, you know… and she says this is because

back when she was born umm, the night of—my grandfather, her dad, was a

marine and it was the night of the marine corp ball and my grandmother went into

labor… They placed [the baby] on newspaper and just wrapped her up in

newspaper. And I guess—yea pretty much ever since then—this newborn baby

fresh out the womb placed on public, contaminated newspaper that somebody

probably took to the bathroom earlier that day is what she was on cuz they were

like oh she’s Black, its fine. Like they didn’t even bother—like my grandmother

had apparently tried to say can she please have a blanket and they were like no,

the newspaper is fine. And this is largely because they were Black. They were in

the Black part of the hospital and everything (Tyra)

Theme 5: All-encompassing Loss

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The researcher chose to approach the research questions related to loss and grief in an indirect manner. This was done in an effort to minimize the possibility of inadvertently biasing the participants toward endorsing the presence of grief/loss when those terms might not actually be the best fit for them. Instead, participants were asked to imagine how present-day African Americans’ circumstances would be different if the historical traumas that they identified had not occurred. In the event that participants found it difficult to answer that question, it was then reworded to ask them directly if grief seemed like an appropriate word for their feelings about historical trauma, and if so, what are the associated losses. The responses spanned both the tangible and the intangible with examples including the loss of a homeland, of fair opportunities to excel personally and professionally in life, and the countless people that were denied the chance to ever live out their potential in the world.

Janet suggested multiple losses including wealth, resources, beliefs, traditions, and values. To elaborate on the values lost due to historical trauma, she said “if you look at some of the traditional—or traditional cultures that I’ve seen there’s such a sense of community and there wasn’t fighting amongst some of the tribal cultures that I’ve seen…”

This loss of values may be partially responsible for the divisions within the

African American population which were identified by a few different participants. These divisions seem to often fall along the lines of socioeconomic status, how people present themselves, and recreational preferences. Viewed from a different angle it seems that the actual issue creating separation between people is the ongoing struggle for African

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Americans to come to a consensus on what it means to be an African American. This can lead to judgement and infighting.

Tia focused on the experience of individual African Americans and her belief that one of the largest losses has been the loss of a “sense of power and agency.” She further explained that she can remember the common feeling of childhood confidence that leads kids to believe that they can do anything. That confidence waned for her as she aged and she suspects that this happens for other Black people as well and at a rate that is disproportionate to any confidence loss experienced by White Americans.

When pondering what historical trauma has taken from African Americans,

Marlon, 35 years old and a resident of the northeastern U.S. (E.I. 3.67; Approach coping style), described his grief for everything that could have been:

God only knows how many people were killed and –or murdered or—or died as a

result that could have procreated or—there’s probably whole bloodlines that don’t

even exist anymore as a result of these things. Our people could have been

somewhere—you know the population of our people could have been so much

more diverse. The history of our people could have been so much more well-

articulated and passed down. Umm, I really feel like we lost a sense of where we

come from and that all we have left are our ties to slavery.

With so many lives taken, it’s difficult to truly know what life would be like today for Africans and African Americans, if Africans would have even come to the U.S. This gives the feeling of loss an ambiguous quality.

Theme 6: Pride as a Grief Response

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In the course of each interview, a number of emotions were experienced by the participants. The most commonly noted emotions experienced when reflecting on past generations experiences with historical trauma were anger, pride, sadness, and frustration with some overlap as a person can have more than one feeling at a time. Pride will be explored in greater detail due to the unique position it holds amongst the other emotions.

Anger, sadness, and frustration can be viewed as more automatic reactions to hardship.

However, pride, as discussed by the participants has a bit more intentionality behind it.

There are instances of parents and other important people in the participants’ lives encouraging them to be proud as well as participants planning to pass on knowledge and a sense of pride to the next generations. From the researcher’s perspective, there is a sense that many of the participants have taken time to reflect on the history of their ethnic group and have made the decision to find value there and contribute to the maintenances of the culture.

Darrell, when asked to discuss his emotions related to historical trauma shared a strong feeling of pride for everything that African Americans have endured:

Some people think of, like, slavery as a humiliation to-- to our race like, “oh

you're a descendant of slaves and they say it in a way that I should be-- that I

should feel some type of-- feel humiliated by that but I feel it is a source of

inspiration. Like, we made it! Like, you threw everything at us. You killed us.

You castrated us. Took away our babies. You made our women raise someone

else's child and-- but we made it. And I feel as though that's a source of

inspiration for--for me at least. Like you can't do anything to us. We’re Teflon.

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Similarly, Tia recalled that her parents “instill[ed] a lot of pride” and encouraged her to be both aware and proud of her history. Not only has she adopted that feeling but she also perceives it in others:

I think it is amazing that through everything that has happened, Black people are

proud and dignified and...so I think that’s a really bold thing to be in the face of

all that has happened.

For Isaiah, upon review of some of the obstacles that have been placed in the path of

African Americans, he was reminded of an encouraging message from a former dorm resident advisor (RA):

I was having a discussion one time with my RA and he said, “when you’re

running a race, right, if you were to cheat, do you cheat to beat somebody that you

would dog anyway? Or do you cheat the guy who’s faster than you? And that

makes you think, well, shit, Black--anytime we get into anything, we seem to

excel.

Instead of viewing his people’s struggles as reflecting negatively upon them,

Isaiah was able to remember some of the successes experienced by African Americans and consider that the hurdles are reflective of the fears of others.

Theme 7: Restricted Expression

Regardless of the setting or specific context, one of the more pervasive themes was the restriction of expression. Multiple participants talked about the ways in which they have had to curtail or modify their authentic selves, whether it be in terms of appearance or reactions to events.

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Appearance/It’s not “just” hair. Although participants talked about the perceived need to take extra care with how they present themselves in various regards, hair was by far the most commonly discussed element of appearance. Hairstyles, particularly for minority populations, can carry any special significance for them as individuals and members of their ethnic group. However society’s lack of understanding or appreciation of the cultural significance of hair for African Americans can contribute to worries about how they are perceived. These concerns were most frequently associated with the participants’ professional image and the fear of judgement can start long before the first day on the job.

Tyra shared an example related to her preparation for an upcoming job interview:

I was actually disappointed in myself. I had my hair twisted yesterday morning

and literally 20 minutes before I needed to be leaving the house I decided, it

probably would be better for interview purposes if I untwisted my hair and I think

that’s because I am – I—I’m just aware of these—the times we’re living in.

Similarly, Rhonda recalled she and her mom:

having a lot of conversations about “when you first get a job, you have to figure

out what you’re going to do with your hair. And you can’t go in there acting...you

have to be respectful and you can--you can slowly start to show who you are but

you really want to be conscious,” and-- I emulated her in a lot of ways. Umm and

how she got dreads later in her life but only once she reached where she wanted to

in her career and that--by that point it was like, it didn’t matter.

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Although Rhonda’s mom felt more comfortable wearing an ethnic hairstyle after she had progressed in her career, having a leadership position seems to have caused

Serena to give her appearance even more thought:

I was actually very nervous about wanting to cut my hair and then just be

completely natural in a managerial role and my—one of my friends said “that is

absolutely crazy to me that this is something you are fully focused on right now

because it’s your hair. It’s something as mundane as your hair. It’s how you get

up in the morning and your hair.” I said “I know but I’m the only Black woman

who works in this entire hotel…in the entire hotel it’s just me in a manager role

and I have to be cognizant about how I present myself.

Men are not exempt from hair scrutiny. Rhonda shared that, due to concerns about how his hair might have been negatively affected his job hunt, her brother shaved off his hair:

my brother had-- He wanted dreads for a really long time and my mom told him

that he couldn’t have them until he understood the impact and what it would mean

and how people would see him. And he had them for a really long time and they

were almost to the middle of his back before he shaved them off because he

couldn’t find a job. Like he was going on job interviews and he felt like he wasn’t

getting hired because he had, like, hair down his back. That was deemed

aggressive and those are all things that, you know, stick with you and they could

make you angry and, a lot of times, they did make him angry.

Marlon informed the researcher that he views his dreadlocks as “a declaration of

[his] connectedness to [his] ancestry.” He further explained that when he was younger

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and trying to figure out who he wanted to be, choosing to wear locs was a way of embracing himself.

As she reflected on the roots of her haircare habits, Gail talked about how, even in her youth, there was a perception that hair should be modified to meet the standards of the majority culture. She said:

It was always like you also had to make sure your hair was straight because it was

just more socially acceptable then versus now where it's like yeah you can have

your natural hair texture and it's fine. So it was like on top of you know there's

extra maintenance but also you have to modify your hair to be acceptable on top

of that.

One of the underlying threads connecting the experiences of the participants was the implication that their “natural” or ethnic hairstyles were unusual or controversial in some way, while straight/straightened hair was treated as society’s standard for appearance. As previously stated, for many African Americans, hair is not just hair. It can be a statement on how people feel about their culture and their position within it.

Additionally, an individual’s comfort with embracing a hairstyle that does not align with

European/White beauty standards can be an indicator of how comfortable they are with being authentic in a given space. For example, there was a situation in Rhonda’s workplace that helped her view her supervisor, a White female, as a person she could rely upon for support on various matters, including racial concerns. An African American coworker, who had a different supervisor, confided in Rhonda and her supervisor about concerns that he was being managed poorly due to his supervisor’s inexperience in working with African Americans. Rhonda’s supervisor was receptive and supportive,

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leaving Rhonda with positive feelings about the encounter and her work environment.

She stated:

after that--after that conversation, I--I don’t even remember. Oh, I had been

straightening my hair. After that I started wearing whatever I wanted. Like you

feel the--you feel the, “oh this is a place where I can be myself.”

High bar for behavior. Moving beyond appearance, participants also shared that there were high expectations for their behavior. In fact, one of the most frequently noted guidelines or expectations for behavior was the idea that African American people must work twice as hard in order to prove their value or receive recognition for their efforts.

While detailing some of the lessons that he received from his family/parents

Marlon shared:

I was always taught that I have to work twice as hard. That was something that

was really really umm ingrained. You don’t have the luxury of being lax.

Similarly, Gail expressed her belief that, because of the negative stereotypes attributed to African Americans,

…we have to work even harder to prove that we’re meeting or exceeding our job

requirements and meeting like our—our daily expectations for us at work […] I

feel like I always have to overachieve to appear as though I’m on level with

everyone else almost or that I’m just achieving, although I’m overachieving.

Isaiah conveyed a similar message, although with an even lower expectation for the payoff of his efforts:

I just go back to the you gotta be twice as good to get half as much. You have to

go in with the expectation that you’re not—you won’t get your just-do so you

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have to overly prove it and once you overly prove it, then you can be a little bit

more boisterous about it. (Isaiah)

Isaiah and Darrell expressed similar views on the perceived need for African

Americans to put in more effort than people from other backgrounds. In addition to the workplace, the need to conduct oneself in a manner that is beyond reproach is seen in other areas of life too. While discussing the lessons that she gleaned from her family, Tia remembered that:

the biggest message that they gave me directly and non-directly was just the notion

that, you have to be on your P’s and Q’s at all times because they’re going to look

at you a certain way anyway so you need to not give them a reason to, umm,

exclude you or to think that you are not worthy of whatever. So that could just go

from kind of that feeling of, ok we’re out in public…get it together. Yea, be

manner-able, be nice, look nice and approachable, make sure your hair is done,

make sure you’re on your P’s and Q’s. And as I got older it turned into my grades

and how you act in the classroom and, you know, that type of stuff.

During his formative years, Darrell was the recipient of quite a few practical guidelines from his grandmother, both verbally and through observation:

she would tell me, like, one: before we go into the store, “Do not put your hands

in your pockets. Like, do not put your pockets, at all. Always leave your hands

out of your pockets,” and then uhh two was to always get a receipt umm, at the

cashier-- from the cashier because you don't want-- you don't want them coming

and saying that you stole something.

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The prejudice against Black people that leads to them being watched closely for potential theft is fairly common, with many African Americans, including participants in this study noting the phenomenon of being followed in stores. Darrell’s grandmother’s guidance is consistent with the desire to avoid being accused in such situations.

Tierra’s grandmother provided instructions to her that were even more transparent in their efforts to avoid attracting racist attention. Tierra shared that “[her grandmother] would dress [them] up to like go do basic things in town and tell [them] to you know not look the White person in the eye if they didn’t look at you, if they didn’t speak to you.

And all you say is just “yes ma’am or yes sir.” She can recall being given these lessons in the early 2000’s, a time period that most people would probably not associate with the need for this kind of deference.

Delving deeper into the restrictions placed around African American behavior, even Darrell’s southern/country accent became something to modify depending on the audience

And then there is-- there is less spoken-- less spoken lessons that I was taught,

cuz, I mean we’re from the south. We have country accents basically and--but

whenever we would speak with White people, umm, there was like, the accent

was gone!

This was potentially rooted in the perception that some people consider thick country accents to identify a person as “slow,” “dumb,” or “backwards.”

Despite so much focus being placed on striving for perfection in both appearance and actions, there are countless examples historically and presently of instances when doing the right thing was not enough to ward off hardship. Janet’s family reinforced a

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similar message for her through their discussions about historical figures, such as Emmitt

Till. For Janet the takeaway point was that “you can be innocent and still be [unfairly] perceived as something.”

Theme 8: Navigating an Evolving Racial Climate

Although some of the darkest days lie in the past, African Americans continue to face challenges, and sometimes outright dangers, in the present. This was apparent as each participant was able to describe instances of racial discrimination in their lives, ranging from subtle microaggressions that left them unsure of what had actually occurred to aggressive confrontations with flagrant racists. For example, Tyra shared a harrowing account of being confronted by a group of White males who hurled racial slurs and threatened to kidnap her. Marlon while in high school, wanted to take his girlfriend, who was White , to the hospital after a suicide attempt, and her mother demanded that the girl be returned home, as allowing her to die would be better than her be seen at the hospital with him. And then there’s Darrell, who while attending an army school, was the victim of a coordinated effort by another soldier to remove him from a leadership position, with no other motivation than his racist mentality. These are incredibly difficult situations that would in some ways seem to fit better in a history book but instead have occurred in the lifetimes of African American millennials today. Navigating this environment requires awareness and the development of strategies and coping skills.

Uncertainty. One interesting side-effect of modern racism typically being less overt than it was in the past is that individuals can be left with suspicions of discrimination while lacking clear, observable evidence. This complicates the impacted party’s to efforts toward awareness. It can also limit what recourse the person might

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receive for such incidents. While the existence of prejudice and racism is a known fact, it cannot always be easily observed. Janet shared one of her experiences of perceived racism ,which involved receiving unusual scrutiny when making a return to a retailer.

What should have been a simple transaction of an unused product for which she had a receipt, became a drawn out process. Janet described her thought process after the return was eventually completed:

so I get in the car and I’m texting two of my friends who I cope with and I’m like

I think this happened because I’m Black so, you know, so… those instances you

just can’t, you can’t, I think that’s what’s irritating, you can’t pinpoint [if it is

racially motivated]”

Sadly, not even the educational setting can be assumed to be a refuge from the biases or ill-intent of others. In fact, discrimination can sometimes arise from the teachers hired to help educate and shape young minds. Felicia discussed her perception that a high school English teacher unfairly flagged one of her assignments [for plagiarism], potentially due to her own biases around how well a Black student is capable of writing:

I did a paper and the English teacher did not believe that I wrote the paper. So she

wrote a note on there. She didn’t take off credit but she wanted to see me about

my paper…and I went to the dean but nothing happened… It was no real evidence

but just a feeling because I didn’t—for me, I’m used to writing essays. Umm, we

had to write many essays at our high school … so writing a five paragraph essay

was kindergarten work for us and umm…I just didn’t understand why would she

think that I couldn’t write a paper like that so she mentioned the language

[seemed plagiarized].

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Felicia would go on to propose a connection between her experience and the general difficulty of proving racist motivations for a person’s behavior.

That’s what I also wonder, when people try to prosecute crimes as hate crimes, I

wonder umm—a lot of times it doesn’t seem like they are found guilty of a hate

crime and I wonder if it’s that same thing of its hard to prove.

Serena, who previously shared an account of her aunt being betrayed by a former friend, went on to discuss her own difficulty in knowing who to trust, particularly when it comes to White people.

just knowing whether or not this is the enemy that you know or the enemy that

you don’t? And so that I kind of take--unless you’ve been tried, true, [and] I know

that you’re on the side of, umm, this isn’t right then I’m side-eyeing you. I’m not

necessarily comfortable around you or being who I am and I’m on my guard

around you because I’m—as scared as you may be of me, I’m definitely afraid of

you because I’ve been taught that in this country you’re more important than me.

Shared Experiences as Comfort and Connection. Social support also emerged as an important component of participants’ lives. While this alone might not be a unique finding, the more interesting aspect is that several participants felt strongly about having support that resembled themselves. Ethnic or racial identity were taken as indicators of shared experience and shared experience was believed to provide a foundation for genuine empathy and understanding.

Rhonda spoke at length about her belief that race and ethnicity are key aspects of building fulfilling, supportive relationships with others. Despite the fact that she and

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some other participants shared feelings of being somewhat separated from other African

Americans due to socioeconomic status or education, Rhonda states that “at its core level it doesn’t really matter how much money anyone has. Being Black is a shared experience and there are so many things that are similar…” Going further, Rhonda describes how the closest people to her are Black and the role they play in helping her sort through racially- charged experiences:

my two very best friends in the whole world, we talk a lot about race and about

being Black and our experiences, especially since all of the three of us have had

such diverse experiences with being Black. So it’s something that we all

appreciate and like that’s how I deal with it. It’s like I see racist shit and I talk to

them about it. You know what I mean? Because otherwise you, you bottle it up

and you won’t --you won’t really know how to deal with it.

The popularity of the internet and social media has created new opportunities for people to feel connected to like-minded individuals and communities. In a modern twist on social connection, some participants have turned to forms of social media in search of genuine connection and to cope with the stresses of life, including racism. Tia expressed her love of podcasts created by Black women who present “stories and entertainment and media that kind of continue to tell our stories and tell the stories of our lives… She views this as a “coping mechanism.” Providing more detail, Tia shared:

with podcasts by Black women, there’s this unveiling of “ok, here’s what it really

means to try to live up to the stereotype of being a strong Black woman. It’s

actually very hard and I’m very tired. I’m not coping well.” So I appreciate this

new, getting to the root of what hurts us and how to live more healthy mentally,

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like emotionally-wise. But I will say coping with what all this means. I think now

Black women are figuring out a healthy way to cope with these things.

While Tia finds podcast to be supportive of her mental health, Max, a 25 year old male (E.I. 2.83; Approach coping style) from the southeastern U.S., found comfort from diverse communities through another web-based option, Tumblr.com:

I think I learned also through Tumblr.com … like I just graduated—I was gonna

graduate high school 2011/2012 when that’s like the peak of Tumblr for me so

like it was interesting like to have these conversations with, umm, other people

that identified as like, they were from the African diaspora or Black but not in

what I know it as a Black American in the southeast United States.

Along the same lines, Rhonda commented on her enjoyment of connecting other

Black people in the comments section of an online, entertainment news source called The

Shade Room.

… every time I read the Shade Room and I read the comments in the Shade

Room, it’s like, all of us are Black and we all get it. We all have the same

experience, like our mothers all said the same thing to us. Our grandmothers

always all said the same thing to us. Like, you know what I mean, it doesn’t--it

doesn’t matter. That’s a place where being Black, its like, you get it. (Rhonda)

The ability to make connections with people who share or understand their perspective, whether it be in in-person or online, appears to be a central coping strategy for the millennial generation of African Americans. With that said, various other coping strategies were identified as well. The next most popular coping strategy for the study

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participants was religious coping, followed by self-care oriented activities (beauty treatments, therapy, meditation, sleep) and activism/giving back to their communities.

Representing Others. Another prominent theme that occurred repeatedly across the group of participants was the idea that their actions would be considered a representation of their race/ethnicity in it’s entirety. Beyond being a representative for their race, participants also endorsed a belief that they should help pave the way for other

African Americans who might follow in their footsteps someday.

For Serena, as she thought about the messages that she received from her family regarding historical trauma and racism, the bottom line was that:

It’s not gonna be great. It’s gonna hurt. It’s not gonna feel amazing all the time,

especially when you’re fighting for what’s right and to change the status quo, but

it’s necessary to change the experience for the next person.

In essence, it came across that Serena has prepared for significant likelihood of struggles in her life but those difficult moments are given meaning by the potential to help someone else struggle less. Serving as a de facto representative for an entire population requires vigilance and intentionality across situations. Marlon mentioned his ever-present awareness of responsibility he feels for how African Americans are viewed:

I’m very conscious of, you know, when I walk into a room who I am or what

people may perceive of me, so I’m conscious of how I conduct myself, how I

present myself, of what I do, you know, how people view me, because I feel like

I’m representing my whole race every time I go anywhere.

The drive to represent other members of the ethnic group well is especially strong in the workplace. Tyra, feels an especially strong commitment to representing her culture

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well. Not only was she able to rise to a leadership position at a company with little minority representation at that level, but she also was able to do it with a nontraditional educational background. She shared that she now hopes to increase the odds that her company will take a chance on someone else who might not look like the standard employee in person or on paper, but has potential to be successful:

I kind of want to make sure other people have an opportunity because I did so

good, now maybe they will consider someone else that looks like me for a

position that maybe they don’t seem qualified for it on paper but their actions

show that they were, which they actually did.

Tyra shared that another Black woman was recently selected for leadership. While fulfilling to see, she also shared that there is a continual pressure to present herself well in all areas of life to avoid negative judgement. Isaiah seemed to concur with the viewpoint of needing to avoid doing any harm to the image of African Americans, stating that:

from a work lens, knowing that I am Black, umm, it makes me operate in a sense

that I not only have to be umm competitive for myself, but I may be the only

experience with a Black person someone else has so I can taint my entire race by

my actions.

The individual goal of serving as a good representative for the ethnic group is sometimes projected onto others. Gail shared her disappointment regarding a Black coworker who, from Gail’s perspective, presents herself in a manner consistent with stereotypes by:

…being just very loud and outspoken and unprofessional. And I feel that affects a

lot of the other Black people within the office that don't really feed into those

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stereotypes because it's just like, oh well we didn't expect you to be so smart or

we didn't expect you to be-- you know, why are you so quiet?[...] And sometimes

I feel like we're not taken as seriously because of that-- because we have one

person in office that really does feed into those negative stereotypes.

Summary

Chapter 4 included a brief review of the study’s purpose, research questions, and methodology followed by a review of the eight key themes that were identified during thematic analysis. The main themes included: (1) What’s in a name?,(2) Education on

African American history: early and inadequate, (3) Slavery was just the beginning, (4)

Storytelling as preparation, (5) All-encompassing loss, (6) Pride as a grief response, (7)

Restricted expression, and (8) Navigating an evolving racial climate. These themes were accompanied by representative quotes from participants’ interviews. Each of the identified themes addresses at least one of the research questions. These connections will be explored in greater detail in Chapter 5. While similar themes may be observed in the existing literature, these findings represent a new take on African American historical trauma and its ongoing presence in modern racism. Further analysis also suggests the presence of strong emotions in response to historical trauma which then leads to participants employing coping strategies that, in keeping with DPM, can be classified as either loss-oriented or restoration-oriented. As discussed in Chapter 3, the methodology does not support generalizing the findings to a wide audience, but steps were taken to reinforce the study’s trustworthiness. The primary means of building trustworthiness was through the researcher’s journaling. This included the development of a timeline, making notes on any key impressions following interviews, and returning to the journal notes as

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need to update impressions or note significant activities. The researcher also sought to gather thick descriptions in the form of detailed interview responses. These steps added to the credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of the findings. The research implications will be presented in Chapter 5.

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Chapter 5: Conclusions

This study was designed and implemented for the purpose of better understanding how African American millennials perceive and make meaning of historical trauma

(H.T.). Through the use of semi-structured phenomenological interviews, the researcher sought to collect thick descriptions of the phenomenon in question while following an interview guide to ensure some consistency in content across interviews. This chapter will provide interpretations regarding how the key themes and supporting participant statements address the research questions and compare to relevant existing research. The theoretical framework will also be applied throughout. Eight main themes emerged during the phenomenological interviews. These themes address the research questions and contribute to the counseling field’s knowledge base for these topics.

Interpretation of Findings

Dual process model of coping with bereavement

In keeping with the researcher’s chosen theoretical lens, the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (DPM), there was evidence to support participants use of both loss-oriented and restoration-oriented coping to manage historical trauma. However it is important to note that DPM was not created with historical trauma in mind and thus the model is not a perfect fit. The oscillation between loss- and restoration-orientations, while present, seems to best resemble what is experienced by a bereaved person after a significant period of time has passed since the loss. It is typical that as time passes, people spend less time in loss orientation and more in restoration orientation, with temporary oscillations to loss-orientation triggered by environmental stimuli. In the case of the interview participants, the interview itself may hay triggered this oscillation as they

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reported feeling strong emotions, such as anger and sadness, after recounting African

American historical traumas. For example, one participant verbalized that her anger began to manifest physically, including an increased heart rate. In addition to verbally reporting their feelings, the researcher could at times detect the emotion in their voices and pace of speech. However, based on participant responses, there is not any indication that participants are constantly in a state of emotional upset. This is consistent with the assertion that a shift from restoration to loss may come about unexpectedly or in reaction to a reminder of the deceased or a special occasion (Wittenberg-Lyles et al., 2015;

Stroebe & Schut, 2010). However, the more frequent oscillation (or lingering in loss orientation), seen early on in the experiences of bereaved persons was not present in persons discussing historical trauma.

When processing thoughts of historical trauma, participants seem to experience moments of emotional upset (loss-orientation), but then engage in coping behaviors and return the focus to progressing in their lives (restoration-orientation). The participants’ preference for approach coping styles is also interesting when considered through the lens of DPM. Approach coping styles can be considered more consistent with loss-orientation, while avoidant coping styles align more closely with the restoration-orientation.

Therefore, the brief COPE results are somewhat contradictory to the qualitative findings which indicate that participants are predominantly in restoration-orientation. In the following sections, as the themes are applied to the research questions, the researcher will also seek to address the underlying presence of elements of DPM.

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RQ1: How do African Americans millennials describe and make meaning of historical trauma?

After being provided with a definition of historical trauma, 100% of the participants were able to provide examples of events in African American history that they believed to fit the definition. Theme 3: Slavery was Just the Beginning is a nod to the variety of open codes that fall within this major theme. Due to the role that slavery has in the history of African American people in the U.S., the researcher anticipated that it would be the most frequently identified historical trauma. Alternatively, the many examples of violence being carried out against African Americans after the official conclusion of slavery also seemed to be likely candidates for the H.T. that participants would discuss most often. Instead, discriminatory policies and laws emerged as the

H.T./sub-theme that was identified the most, followed by slavery, Reconstruction/Post- reconstruction, and policing. There are various possible explanations for the fact that some participants did not directly mention slavery when naming H.T.s. The researcher suspects that because slavery is so commonly discussed, that participants may have taken for granted the importance of mentioning it. However, there is the possibility that some participants did not consider slavery to be something that continues to affect the African

American population.

In terms of discriminatory policies and laws, the following open codes were created: policies/laws discriminatory to African American/Black people, Jim Crow laws, poverty related to discriminatory policies, Brown v. Board of Education ruling, segregation, Plessy v. Ferguson, Declaration of Independence (disingenuous document),

Emancipation Proclamation, Redlining, separate but equal, denial of education, housing

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denial, reparations, and the war on drugs. It may be that the participants were more bothered by the ongoing, systemic efforts to suppress opportunities for African American to advance in terms of wealth and stability, than by the original implementation of slavery. This idea is supported by the work of Williams and Williams-Morris (2000) which identifies the restriction of economic mobility through the execution of institutionalized discrimination as one of three methods through which racism may influence mental health, among other areas. Indeed, Darrell shared his belief that, if freed slaves had been given the forty acres and a mule that they were promised, it may have been incredibly impactful. At that time, agricultural work made up a large portion of the skillset that African Americans would have possessed. Being in a position to begin building wealth in businesses where they had the background knowledge to be successful could have shifted the socioeconomic standing of African Americans. That is just one example of the ways in which policies and laws, or their unfair execution, can upset the progression of an entire segment of the population. African Americans have been the victim of legally sanctioned discrimination and abuse at countless points throughout history. Although, on the surface, this does not meet the DSM-5 standard for trauma, which requires a serious threat to a person’s physical wellbeing or life (American

Psychiatric Association, 2013), it can be argued that the creation of laws and policies that touch every aspect of a person’s life including that person’s overall freedom, have the potential to cause harm when those policies are maliciously created. As all African

Americans are connected to this history, there is the possibility that this sort of legislation would be viewed as not just reprehensible, but as a traumatic threat to the lives of this ethnic group.

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RQ1a: What are the themes that emerge related to how the day-to-day lives of

African American millennials are impacted by historical trauma?

Much of the historical trauma that has impacted African Americans can be directly tied to racism. Unfortunately, there are still people who continue to maintain racist belief systems, including those who have the power to maintain, to a degree, the systemic racism that began many years ago. African American millennials inhabit a country that is still grappling with racism. For that reason, it becomes difficult to isolate the day-to-day impact of historical trauma from the current racially-motivated traumas. In general, participants expressed a desire to live their lives in a manner that shows respect for the sacrifices of previous generations. Some of that sentiment was observable when participants reflected on stories that older family members had shared with them (Theme

4: Storytelling as preparation). Having knowledge of the dangers and hardships experienced by their parents and others motivated most of the participants to work hard

(Theme 7b: High bar for behavior), defy negative stereotypes (Theme 1b: Redefining

“African American” beyond stereotypes) and conduct themselves in a manner that is reflective of the pride that they feel for the resilience of their ethnic group (Theme 6:

Pride as a grief response). However, there is an acknowledgement of the tremendous, yet unclear, losses this group has experienced (Theme 5: All-encompassing loss). Historical trauma set in motion losses that touch every aspect of African American life, from value systems to the accrual of wealth. Therefore, there remains an ambiguous certainty that various aspects of daily existence are impacted by historical trauma but, at this time, there is not a metric for measuring that impact. A thoughtful review of this study’s themes reveals that they all have the potential to impact the day-to-day experiences of African

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American millennials. It is an identity that the participants carry with them every moment of their lives. The nature of historical trauma indicates that the effects of the initial traumas will trickle down to the present generation in a multitude of ways, some of which may not be apparent. This is consistent with Carl Jung’s theory of personality development which identifies the collective unconscious as one of the layers of the personality/psyche (Jung, 1928, p. 162). The collective unconscious is thought to be an accumulation of “ancestral experience” (p. 162), potentially going back millions of years, which becomes the basis of an individual’s personality and may influence behavior as well as “day-to-day reactions, attitudes, and values” (Gadsden & Howard, 2016, p. 280).

Whether one prefers to the term historical trauma or collective unconscious, both concepts are united by the belief that ancestors’ experiences have the ability to impact present generations. However, attempts to assess the impact of historical trauma on daily life may be confounded by current acts of racism. In fact, the ongoing presence of racism may also be thought of as having been transmitted from previous generations. Thus, just as some African Americans elders may pass down stories of survival, those who hold racist ideologies may pass down those beliefs to successive generations as well. This reality requires African American millennials to continue to engage in coping strategies, perhaps daily, as they work through situations that can range from relatively mild microaggressions to volatile confrontations. This range of intensity of encounters, along with the general uncertainty that participants experience are defining characteristics of the current racial climate (Theme 8: Navigating an evolving racial climate). In addition to the participants’ statements, the ongoing presence of racial discrimination, as well as its detrimental effects, has been corroborated by recent research. For example, English et al.

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(2020) found that, in a sample of 101 Black adolescents, there were a self-reported

“5,606 experiences of racial discrimination” in a 14 day time period with an average of

“5.21 experiences per day” (p. 1). Signaling the evolving nature of the racial climate,

English et al. (2020) also found that their participants encountered more discrimination online than in-person which presents an avenue for both individual and vicarious discrimination. Therefore, when considering how African American millennials’ day-today lives are impacted by historical trauma, it is apparent that there are multiple pathways including the historical losses that permeate many aspects of African American life, the purposeful efforts to exceed the expectations of others and be worthy of their ancestors’ sacrifices, and the presence of ongoing racism that may be rooted in and reminiscent of historical traumas.

RQ1b: What are the themes that emerge related to how African American millennials, in light of historical traumas perpetrated against African and African

American people, identify and understand the losses connected to these traumas?

The losses associated with the H.T.s are best captured in Theme 5: All- encompassing Loss. Participants were able to pinpoint multiple dimensions of the loss experienced by African Americans as a group. An interesting element of how the participants view loss is that, while it may touch all aspects of African American life, there is also an ambiguous quality. While acknowledging that historical traumas have caused losses for African Americans, there is also an inability to precisely pinpoint those losses. It is by matter of deduction and through analyzing what has historically transpired, that most people would be able to determine that certain losses have occurred. However, for the millennial generation, due in part to the passage of time, it is quite difficult to

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know exactly what has been lost. Instead this group is left to wonder what life could have been without H.T. However, it is telling that when given the task of imagining how life would be different for African Americans today, if the identified H.T.s had not happened, the participants’ responses were positive. Participants spoke of lost values, beliefs, family connections, language, unity, as well as a connection to their history and heritage prior to the slave trade. Without that connection, African Americans can sometimes occupy an uncomfortable position as they may not have knowledge of their African roots but might not always feel comfortable or accepted by the mainstream U.S. culture. This aligns with a story Tierra shared about visiting South Africa and being a part of conversations where the validity of “African American” as an ethnicity was questioned and she was told that she did not seem like an African American. To be described as “African” or “American” does not fully capture the journey that African Americans have taken. Theme 1: What’s in a Name captures the significance participants gave to terminology and its role in defining their ethnic identities. Most participants expressed a desire to acknowledge their roots on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This predicament contributes to assertions from both Isaiah and Darrell that African Americans created their own culture which involved taking elements of the U.S. culture and shaping them to our comfort and needs. The institution of slavery sought to systematically dismantle who the captured Africans had been as individuals and as members of their respective cultures, leaving behind only disenfranchised laborers. This effort would be somewhat unsuccessful as the enslaved would slowly begin to rebuild themselves and a new culture. This process would continue after emancipation and throughout the years. Some much was lost but a new culture was created. However, there is the lingering uncertainty around how much better off African

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Americans as a group could be today, if some of those lost elements of who their ancestors were prior to slavery had been retained.

RQ1c: How, if at all, do African American millennials experience and discuss their grief related to historical traumas and associated losses?

After each participant reviewed the historical traumas that came to mind for them, there was an opportunity to reflect on their emotions related to those traumas. The researcher hoped that this line of questioning would provide more insight into how historical trauma continues to affect African American millennials in the present.

Although a few participants specifically endorsed grief as an aspect of their experience, most described various emotions which may coincide with the grieving process. The most commonly endorsed emotions were anger and pride, respectively, with frustration and sadness tied for third place. Anger and pride were only separated by one participant.

While anger and sadness were somewhat expected by the researcher, the emergence of pride as one of the top elements of participants’ emotional experience was more of a surprise. For this reason, pride was identified as a theme (Theme 6: Pride as a grief response) and explored in greater detail.

Participants feelings of pride were largely tied to their views on how African

Americans have to some degree overcome the traumas they have experienced. While none of the study’s participants suggested that African Americans have completely moved beyond the hardships of the past or that they live without complications today, participants were able to express pride in the fact that their people have not, as a whole, given up. Instead, participants reflected on the inspiring and motivational nature of knowing that previous generations were treated horribly but continued to fight for

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themselves and for those who would follow them. The researcher proposes that this mindset can be viewed as a form of cognitive reframing, an adaptive coping strategy that has been found to be protective against stressors for African Americans (Murry, 2019).

There is existing research to support that pride may indirectly influence an individual’s choice of coping strategy. According to Lee and Mason (2013), there is a positive correlation between optimism and the selection of adaptive coping strategies.

Murry (2019) was able to build upon that 2013 study by identifying another variable that may have a role in increasing optimism, which is pride. Specifically, self-pride, which the researchers calculated as a combination of “racial identity and self-image,” was associated with having a “more optimistic worldview” (p. 342). Saleem and Lambert

(2016) found, for African American youth, that ethnic pride can be protective against potential negative effects of racial discrimination such as anger and depressive symptoms. It’s believed that “youth internalize positive messages about their racial group and [ethnic pride] prevents them from internalizing personal encounters with racial discrimination” (p. 1390). Similarly, Harris-Britt et al. (2007) found that “the negative relationship between perceived discrimination and self-esteem [is] mitigated [by more race pride socialization] …and a moderate amount of preparation for bias” (p. 669).

Alternatively, in the absence of cultural pride, African Americans who experience racial discrimination may be vulnerable to negative psychological outcomes. An early catalyst for the development of pride is the socialization messages provided by parents. This will discussed in greater detail in response to RQ2a.

RQ2: How do African Americans millennials cope with racism?

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In the course of the interview, there were questions designed to uncover how participants view the current racial climate and whether or not they have had personal experiences with racism. Given the ongoing presence of racism, participants endorsed an assortment of coping strategies. The strategies identified by the most participants were social support and religion.

With regards to social support, participants expressed the strong preference for that support to come from other African American or Black people. This gave rise to

Sub-theme 8b: Shared Experience as Comfort and Connection. Across participants there was a perception that members of one’s own race or ethnic group would be more capable of understanding the daily stressors and systemic issues that they face. This is consistent with existing data that indicates that “in 2004, only 15% of U.S. adults reported having a friend of another race with whom they discussed important matters” (Kim, Park, & Koo,

2015, p. 59). It would seem natural for a person to seek out someone who they have a close relationship with when needing to process something as sensitive as a potential act of racism. However, prior to college many people live in communities that are essentially segregated, which means that by adulthood their social support system may be lacking in diversity (Kim, Park, & Koo, 2015). Then depending on college, employment, and/or relocation choices, opportunities to engage with potential friends from other cultural backgrounds may or may not organically materialize. This would seem to indicate that, when coping with racism, participants sought out the people whom they had close relationships with and they just happened to be Black or African American. However, this is contradicted by participants’ comments indicating a sense of instant connection upon meeting another Black person. It seems that the visual indicators of race are

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sometimes enough for assumptions to be made with regard to similarities in background or experiences. Although making assumptions based on phenotypic characteristics can be risky, in participants’ life experiences they found race and/or ethnicity to be a more powerful form of connection than other variables such as socioeconomic status or professional interests. The experience of being marginalized or subjected to stereotypes is one that transcends job title, academic major, or bank account balance. This may be why, after only knowing Tia for a few minutes a fellow African American student was comfortable discussing his experience with microaggressions in his classes. In this instance race worked as an indicator of her ability to empathize because as Black students in a predominantly White environment, the odds of her having similar experiences were higher than they would be for someone from a different background. Due to the insidious nature of much of today’s racism, a person from a different ethnic background may not be as sensitive to its presence and thus question an African American person’s experience. The possibility of being doubted or misunderstood can contribute to African

Americans choosing to cope with peers from the same ethnic group. This desire to be supported by people who have shared experiences may partially explain the popularity of

HBCUs. Multiple students identified HBCUs as safe spaces where they could pursue their education somewhat sheltered from the world’s racism. These educational settings were viewed as more comfortable settings for discussing their experiences as African

Americans while feeling protected, instead of judged or relegated to token status. This is supported by existing research into school choice. After conducting qualitative interviews with 20 African American HBCU alumni, Johnson (2019) found various motivations behind their reasons for selecting HBCUs including “racial battle fatigue,” which

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amounts to being worn out from managing the expectations of the majority culture and the discrimination that can accompany an African American person’s experiences in majority White environments. HBCUs can offer a respite from race-based stress.

Existing research has frequently identified religion as an important avenue of coping for Black people in the United States (Dill, 2017; Lee & Mason, 2013; McCleary-

Gaddy & Miller, 2019; Rowles, 2012; Utsey, 2008). This assertion was partially supported as five out of the 12 participants indicated religion as providing some form of coping or comfort in the face of racism that has spanned four centuries in what is now the

United States. It is worth noting that religious coping can take various forms. In a recent study investigating whether religious coping mediated “the relationship between African

Americans’ experiences with prejudice and psychological distress” (p. 257), McCleary-

Gaddy and Miller (2019) sought to differentiate between positive religious coping, such as prayer, and negative religious coping which may include viewing stressors as punishment from God and/or attributing negative circumstances to the devil. Ultimately, the researchers found negative religious coping, but not positive religious coping, to be a significant mediator (McCleary-Gaddy & Miller, 2019). Given those findings, it is important to note that, for the present study, the participants who endorsed religion as a coping strategy, only spoke of positive religious coping. Additionally, this suggests that although some participants rely on religion as a coping strategy, it may be ineffective in terms of reducing psychological distress. The interview responses also indicated that methods of religious coping can go beyond the traditional conceptualization to include prayer/communication to ancestors and the consumption of religious music, even when the individual does not identify with the specific religion. This was the case for Darrell,

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who identifies as Muslim, but believes that the inspirational nature of African American hymnals and spirituals “transcend any type of religion or ethnicity.” Future studies should provide more in-depth examination of how African Americans use religion for coping and what other variables may influence its effectiveness.

However there is evidence to suggest that the selection of adaptive coping strategies may depend on other variables such as an individual’s level of optimism (Lee

& Mason, 2013). Coping strategies may also be correlated with the types of messages imparted by parents (Womack & Sloane, 2018). This will be discussed in greater detail in the section exploring findings related to RQ2a.

RQ2a: How are African Americans millennials prepared by their parents or guardians to encounter and react to racism?

Analysis of the preparation that participants received from the preceding generation fits into the overall purpose of understanding historical trauma as it reveals some of the pathways being used for transmitting H.T. from one generation to the next.

While H.T. and racism are not synonymous, for African Americans there is sizeable overlap of the two concepts as racism drove much of the past traumas and continues to be an issue in the present. Two themes, Theme 2: Education on African American History:

Early & Inadequate and Theme 4: Storytelling as Preparation, directly address RQ2a.

Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that, while parents and other significant adults in the participants’ lives contributed to how participants currently navigate racially-charged situations, the method and depth of presentation varied. Families’ commitment to passing down lessons to the next generation is critical, given the fact that the K-12 school system, in some cases seems to only make half-hearted attempts at

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addressing African American history, and especially the aspects of that history which are most hurtful. This creates an opportunity for African American youth to learn about their history, including survival techniques, directly from the preceding generation(s) in a manner that is likely to be more applicable than a surface-level review of selected historical facts at school.

Sometimes referred to as racial socialization, African American parents’ process of transmitting “information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity and race to their children” (Hughes et al., 2006, p. 747) has been connected to how those children will view themselves and cope with future racism (p. 748). Racial socialization is thought to be divisible into three categories: cultural socialization, mainstream socialization, and minority socialization (Boykin & Toms, 1985). Cultural socialization aims to impart racial pride, provide education regarding the history of the ethnic group, and “promote cultural customs, values, and traditions” (Womack & Sloane, 2018; Boykin & Toms,

1985). Alternatively, mainstream socialization supports the values and goals of the majority culture and minority socialization messages aim to prepare recipient for the realities of racial discrimination while also strategies for coping and survival under those circumstances (Boykin & Toms, 1985; Coard et al., 2004; Womack & Sloane, 2018).

Womack and Sloane (2018) presented support for parent’s messages regarding race having an impact on the coping strategies selected by their children. Specifically, they found that “culturally based racial socialization messages, [were] positively associated with approach-oriented coping strategies and especially for active coping and planning”

(Womack & Sloane, 2018). In general, approach-oriented coping has been found to result in better outcomes. For situations involving racism in particular, approach coping styles

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may help protect individuals from internalizing negative, discriminatory messages

(Pascoe & Richman, 2009). For the present study, the vast majority of individuals who completed the screening instrument as well as those selected to be interviewed were approach-dominant based on their Brief COPE results. Although the participants cannot be viewed as representative of the entire population of African American millennials, it is certainly an interesting finding. Parental preparation in the form of racial socialization has also proven to be effective in other ways including a correlation with offspring having less anxiety (Bannon et al., 2009), less aggressive behaviors (Henry, Lambert, &

Bynum, 2015), and reduced substance use (Grindal & Nieri, 2016).

Viewed through the DPM lens, the preponderance of approach-dominant assessment results is somewhat contradictory to the researcher’s observation that most participants discussed restoration-oriented activities (which can be viewed as more avoidant of grief) in their interviews. For the majority of participants, the grief related to

H.T.s was present but not a focal point during day-to-day life. Instead it appears that most participants focus on the present but may be reminded of H.T. by current events, special occasions (such as Black History Month), conversations with others, or overt racist incidences. This is consistent with the assertion that, for Native Americans, when offspring have first-hand exposure to injustice it may further validate the H.T. messages they received from older generations (Brave Heart, 1999; Sotero, 2006; Williams,

Neighbors, & Jackson, 2003). A specific example of this for African Americans could be policing. Since enslaved Africans were first brought to the U.S. they have been subject to some form of unjust policing, whether it be the slave catchers or officers who aimed fire hoses at protestors during the Civil Rights Movement. Stories of these past experiences

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may be brought to mind and bring about strong emotion when individuals are inundated with news stories related to ongoing questions around police brutality toward Black men, women, and children.

Unfortunately, it seems that the discussions held at home were often inadequate with regard to helping participants feel confident in their preparation to face racism. As participants reviewed the manner in which their parents/guardians prepared them to encounter and react to racism, three methods emerged: lessons, observation/modeling, and storytelling. In reviewing the participant responses regarding parental preparation, it became apparent that the specific content of that preparation depended upon the environmental context. For example, for participants who grew up in predominantly

Black communities and attended racially homogenous schools, some reported being relatively disconnected from racism at that time. Parents did not prioritize addressing these topics while they were young, as it was unlikely to impact their daily lives. There was also some discussion amongst the participants regarding the difficulty of determining at what age to expose children to information regarding racism. While many participants began to have conversations with adults in their lives at an early age, some did report believing their parents delayed such discussions to adolescence or later, potentially due to a desire to protect young children from difficult realities. However, as noted by Rhonda, young children are capable of detecting their parents’ anxiety and concern so it is preferable to provide some context about the issues that they face.

Storytelling telling rose to the level of being a main theme for this study because, even in cases where families did not set out to intentionally convey any lessons to the participants, there were almost always stories shared related to family members’

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experiences with racism. At times, these stories brought about strong emotional responses in the participants, such as anger or sadness. In some cases, an explicit moral was attached to the end of the story, as in the case of Serena’s aunt who endured racially- motivated hostility in high school and believes it to reflect on the general necessity of pushing through difficult times so that others will have opportunities in the future. In other cases, hearing the story alone was enough for participants to draw their own conclusions. This was the case for Darrell who learned of his father’s activism leading to false imprisonment and stated that this knowledge negatively impacted his worldview.

RQ2b: How do African Americans millennials perceive and navigate the current racial climate?

Although a major priority of this study was to understand how African American millennials think about historical trauma, it was important to ascertain the participants perception of the current racial climate. Contextual variables influence how people experience the world around them. Therefore, exploring the perceived racial climate deepened the researcher’s understanding of how participants were thinking about race- related matters and provided a means of analyzing potential connections between historical trauma and participants’ modern experiences with race-related trauma. Theme

8: Navigating an Evolving Racial Climate captures the overarching sense, conveyed by the participants that the racial climate is in a state of ongoing transformation, which requires them to remain aware/vigilant and intentional in their day-to-day lives. Of the several terms used to describe the racial climate, none of them were positive. The closest thing to a positive review came in the form of statements proposing that the racial climate has not changed for the worse, but has instead remained in the negative state that it has

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been in throughout U.S. history. For participants speaking from that point of view, they suggested that the outward appearance of racism has changed over time but it has remained a presence.

Due to the evolving nature of the racial climate, Sub-theme 8a: Uncertainty emerged. Participants spoke about feeling unsure about who to trust and how to interpret the motivations behind the behavior of others. It is not unusual for a Black and/or African

American person to find themselves in a situation where they suspect that they have been discriminated against, but lack the evidence to prove it. Oftentimes the person may just have a “feeling” that discriminatory or racist motivations lie beneath the behavior of another person. This uncertainty is directly connected to the evolution of racism from overt acts to more covert, subtle behaviors (Womack & Sloane, 2018). It is the difference between a person burning a cross on your lawn or quietly finding excuses for not promoting you at work. Both do harm, but the presentation is different. It has been proposed that when racism takes an ambiguous form, it may create additional stress and complicate the selection of coping strategies (Womack & Sloane, 2018; Pascoe &

Richman, 2009). This also complicates the formation of trusting relationships, particularly with people from different ethnic groups. There is the risk that a person who seems to be a friend may not actually be sympathetic to issues impacting Black people in the U.S. and might betray them when the relationship becomes inconvenient.

Amongst the participants there was a common sentiment of believing that they needed to present themselves in a particular manner in order to be accepted in certain environments. This corresponds well with Jung’s concept of the persona-mask. The persona-mask is employed by individuals to give others a particular impression, while

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concealing their true nature from themselves, as well as others (Gadsden & Howard,

2016; Jung, 1947). When applied to African Americans, the persona-mask may serve the function of allowing individuals to craft a public image that is hoped to reduce the likelihood of discrimination, while the person’s authentic self might make different choices. Participants most frequently spoke about the expectations within their places of employment, but also mentioned general societal guidelines and those within educational settings. This perceived need to present themselves in a way that meets societal expectations or defies stereotypes is captured in Theme 7: Restricted Expression, which has two subthemes: Appearance and High Bar for Behavior. Within the realm of appearance, seven out of the 12 participants spoke about their hair. This was an interesting finding given the fact that the researcher never initiated any discussion of appearance or hair. Historically, physical appearance, and hair in particular, has had implications that go far beyond personal preference. Throughout U.S. history,

Eurocentric features have been lauded as the standard of beauty (Ellis-Hervey et al.,

2016; Garrin & Marcketti, 2018; Orey & Zhang, 2019). Often, physical features vary along racial lines, particularly for hair texture, skin color, and size/shape of facial features. Thus, these differences became politicized and “given negative or positive connotations and meanings, which were often internalized socially and psychologically”

(Garrin & Marcketti, 2018, p. 105). For a time, African Americans altered their outward appearance to be closer to the Eurocentric ideal in hopes of reducing the barriers to social acceptance and professional success. However, during the Civil Rights Movement the push for Black Pride led to many African Americans adopting hairstyles that utilized their natural hair texture (Garrin & Marcketti, 2018). The term natural is meant to

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indicate a “lack of chemically treating or permanently altering the curl pattern of the hair”

(Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016, p. 872). More than simply an aesthetic change, the adoption of

Afros and other natural styles represented a shift in mindset. A counterhegemonic process was initiated which redefined the beauty standard and embraced a rejection of the idea that achievement requires adherence to the standards of the majority in favor of features that “physically and metaphorically link African Americans to Africa” (Garrin &

Marcketti, 2018).

For a people who have lost so much, embracing natural hair texture and styles linked to their heritage, such as braids and locs, can serve as a means of reconnection.

Viewed through the DPM framework, the decision of some African Americans to reconnect with their heritage in this way is a restoration-oriented action. Instead of focusing on the grief of being separated from African culture, some millennials are opting to move forward with their lives while integrating elements, such as hair, into today’s

African American/Black culture. This is the historical backdrop for the issue of African

American hair and it must be taken into consideration when exploring this topic. In the last decade, natural hairstyles have undergone another resurgence in the African

American community (Orey & Zhang, 2019). However, as indicated by the current study’s participants, some African Americans still fear discrimination based on the adoption of hairstyles that do not mimic the texture or styling most common from White

Americans. Some of this concern may come from lessons imparted by parents/guardians.

Participants could recall being warned by their parents that it may be necessary to modify their hair in order to secure employment. In the absence direct messages regarding hair, participants working in predominantly White settings may have also felt pressure to

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conform to the majority standard observed in their workplaces. Rhonda noted that upon determining that her supervisor was able to have non-defensive discussions about race

(when it comes up in relation to work), she immediately began wearing her hair in whatever styles felt comfortable to her. This is an example of how hair can connect to authenticity. While the decision to wear natural hairstyles is not one that will feel pertinent or desirable for every African American or Black woman, the ability to do so without fear of judgement is certainly an aspect of feeling accepted and free to be oneself.

In recent history, legislation has been passed to protect against discrimination on the basis of hair. In Garrin and Marcketti’s (2018) qualitative study, “The Impact of Hair on

African American Women’s Collective Identity Formation,” participants, who had all been emerging adults during the Civil Rights Movement, spoke of appreciating the freedom to style their hair in a manner of their choosing while also confronting the perceived need to conform to mainstream beauty standards in order to secure desirable employment.

African Americans who were young adults during the Civil Rights Movement would have gone on to share their insights on appearance, as well as other matters, with future generations including millennials. Support for this form of message transmission may be found in Awad et al. (2015) as the majority of participants identified family members as the source of messages they received about beauty. Questions regarding the professionalism of natural hair continue to be timely in the present as dress codes in settings such as schools, workplaces, and even the military have attempted to ban natural/Afrocentric hairstyles with mixed results (Orey & Zhang, 2019). Indeed young adults continue to report a perception that their appearance must conform with the

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mainstream standard in order for them to secure, maintain, or advance in their employment (Awad et al., 2015).

Beyond matters of appearance and hair, participants conveyed a general need to work harder than others in an effort to receive acceptance or recognition. This was most commonly expressed as a need to work “twice as hard” in order receive half as much benefits as others from other racial backgrounds might receive. McGee, Griffith, and

Houston (2019) uncovered similar perceptions of this need to work twice as hard in their study of “the stress and strain of Black doctoral students in engineering and computing”

(p. 1). Although having a high standard for behavior undoubtedly has the potential to create more pressure on an individual, some participants seem to embrace it. As Tierra noted, being African American does not have to be synonymous with struggle. Working hard academically and professionally can potentially manifest a comfortable lifestyle in the long run. However, even success can have its downside. Multiple participants spoke about how living a life that defies stereotypes can lead to being questioned by other

African Americans about whether or not they can fully claim the ethnicity or race as their own (Theme 1c: In-group isolation). This can originate from being in a higher income bracket, speaking proper English, or engaging in activities that do not fit within society’s expectations for black or African American people. Participants experienced this questioning as particularly upsetting when delivered by another African American person. In general, this may also be reflective of how the loss of traditional African values has had an ongoing negative effect. As Janet noted, traditional cultures often functioned in a collective manner, with less in-fighting than what she observes in the present.

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There is also a pressure to represent the ethnic group well as a whole. Participants spoke about the experience of having to be a representative for their entire race or ethnicity. At times this arose from their own perceptions or desires. In other instances, participants reported feeling that non-Black colleagues would look to them to fulfill that representative role. When taken on voluntarily, being a representative often took the form of participants wanting to pave the way for other African Americans by ensuring that they served as a positive example of a Black person being capable of accomplishing in a particular role. While representing others well (Sub-theme 8c) may be viewed as similar to redefining “African American” beyond stereotypes (Sub-theme 1b), serving as a representative is more intentionally focused on wanting to protect potential opportunities for other members of the ethnic group while defying stereotypes can be a more personal goal. The involuntary assignment of the representative role tends to occur in settings where that person is either the only ethnic minority or one of few. Rhonda, Tierra, and

Tia shared anecdotes related to how this phenomenon unfolds in academic settings, including K-12 and higher education. In a focus group of 22 African American undergraduate students attending predominantly White institutions, Walls and Hall

(2018) found themes similar to those identified in the present study including perceptions of needing to represent the race well and feeling that non-Black students look to them during conversations concerning race.

Limitations

Given the research design, which includes a non-random sample, the findings of this study should not be applied to the African American population as a whole. A review of the participant demographics and backgrounds reveals the overrepresentation of

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certain characteristics. For example, 11 out of the 12 participants have a college education. Several have a graduate degree or higher. Therefore, the themes identified in the current study may not be representative of the views of African Americans with less formal education and/or a lower socioeconomic status. The sample’s predominantly female gender distribution is also likely to impact it’s generalizability due to differences in how parents socialize children based on gender (Hughes et al., 2006) as well as differences in society’s stereotypical views of African Americans based on gender

(Essed, 1991). African American women, in particular, may face additional challenges as they may be discriminated against based on both their gender and their ethnicity. The condensation of data collection into a single interview per participant may have limited the researcher’s ability to gather an exhaustive level of detail. However, saturation was met and all of the researcher questions were addressed. The researcher intends for this dissertation study to serve as a foundation for future research and application.

Clinical Implications of the Study

The present study has several implications for clinicians working with African

American clients. In an effort to build their own self-awareness and to protect clients from unintentional harm, non-Black clinicians should reflect upon their own biases as well as their position on the various issues impacting African Americans today. Early on in the therapeutic relationship, it may be beneficial to address cultural differences, allowing the client an opportunity to discuss any concerns related to the clinician’s ability to support the client. Based on the study findings which indicate that some African

American millennials may have a preference to be supported by people from a similar racial/ethnic background, clinicians may experience some skepticism from clients as they

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embark upon therapy. Clinical judgement should be employed to determine when/how to discuss cultural differences. Additionally, when gathering demographic information regarding African American clients, clinicians should allow space for them to indicate their ethnic identity in their own words. As the findings of the current study show, members of this population sometimes prefer terminology that goes beyond “Black” or

“African American.” Even when the chosen wording appears to be a slight difference from the typical race/ethnicity options, slight modifications can represent important aspects of how clients view themselves. Allowing clients to define their own identities in their own words may prevent misunderstandings and give insight into the context each individual exists within.

Clinicians should also consider including the DPM, or another applicable model of bereavement when working with clients who are coping with potentially race-related stressors in their daily lives. DPM is a useful framework for conceptualizing how clients cope with historical trauma as it illustrates the manner in which daily events can trigger shifts between different styles of coping. Given the ongoing nature of racism, current events have the potential to evoke memories and emotions related to historical traumas.

The researcher recommends that clinicians consider checking in with their clients about how, if at all, current events such as highly publicized cases of police brutality, impact them. African American clinicians should also use care in their work with African

American clients as the findings of this study indicate that when two people appear to be from the same ethnic background, assumptions about shared experiences may be made.

While the researcher initially felt concern regarding the early ages (in some cases

6 or 7 years old) at which some participants reported becoming aware of H.T. as well as

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current racism, the enduring presence of pride suggests that these early conversations may help establish a foundation to protect African American youth against the racist views they may encounter in the world. This conflicts with some researchers assertion that it is not until adolescence that youth begin to think critically about racial or ethnic identity (Masko, 2005). Therefore some questions remain. How are young children processing knowledge of historical trauma and modern racism? How does it impact them in comparison to children from other cultures who do not have to face such difficult realities? While this area of knowledge is evolving, clinicians should consider how racial socialization and pride may influence their clients and how mental health professionals might appropriately intervene to help clients increase pride, given its status as a protective factor.

The researcher also encourages clinicians to be open to ideas of trauma, grief, and loss that go beyond the DSM-5 conceptualization. As noted by the study participants, individuals can feel emotional and cognitive effects related to the historical and ongoing traumas faced by African Americans without being directly involved (e.g. vicarious trauma). The current definition of trauma excludes many events that can have a lingering negative impact on those who experience them. Admittedly, historical trauma is more complex than the current conceptualization of trauma. However, there can be space for the acknowledgement of different forms of trauma. By failing to formally acknowledge the lingering effects of historical trauma on groups that have been (and continue to be) marginalized, mental health professionals ignore the ongoing grief and stress that African

Americans experience. This may be a barrier to treatment and/or an obstacle in the path of positive treatment outcomes. Clinicians should also evaluate client statements for the

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possibility of clients internalizing messages rooted in racism. If such internalization has begun, clinicians can work with their clients to reframe and/or replace these negative cognitions with more positive alternatives. When considering client’s functioning, clinicians should also bear in mind how two themes from this study, Restricted

Expression and Representing Others Well, may influence that assessment. For clients who ascribe to the belief that they have to always work twice as hard as others and serve as positive representatives for their race/ethnicity, they may appear to be high-functioning while still struggling internally with their presenting issue as well as the daily stressors related to life as a person of color.

With that said, any decision to formally recognize historical trauma as a mental illness would need to be done with care. H.T. potentially impacts the majority of the

African American population, many of whom are functioning without difficulty. The end goal should to ensure that a high quality of care is available for those who seek it without pathologizing an entire population, who have already suffered at the hands of discriminatory healthcare in the past.

Implications for Future Research

The current study, while contributing crucial insight into how African Americans process historical trauma, has left some unanswered questions that would be well-suited to additional study in the future. The researcher’s immediate plans include developing an instrument tailored to the assessment of historical trauma in African Americans. This is likely to be preceded by additional qualitative research to further establish a comprehensive list of the traumas. Future researchers should also seek to broaden recruitment to capture a larger, more diverse sample so as to aid in the generalizability of

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the results. This study focused on the millennial age group so a natural next step would be to replicate the study with other age groups. Adopting a mixed methodological approach would allow for conducting more analyses related to how demographic variables or assessment scores for ethnic identity and coping interact with the qualitative themes. For example, in the current study the male participants did not indicate social support as being one of their chosen strategies for coping with racism. The current sample is too small to generalize these results to all male, African American millennials but it does suggest that gender’s influence on coping with racism should be investigated in greater depth. Likewise, the researcher collected information from participants regarding their geographic location. Participants’ areas of residence at the time of the interview were recorded in Table 3. While this information has the potential to inform readers of an aspect of the participants’ current circumstances, future research should consider taking into account participants’ location at different points in life (such as early childhood, adolescence, college, etc. to investigate whether or not a person’s location at a certain point in life has more or less influence over their views on historical trauma.

In the course of this study, a participant suggested that a significant loss for

African Americans has been the loss of the values and beliefs once held by African ancestors. Future research may explore specific details regarding the values and beliefs that were potentially lost and what, if anything, has been the long-term outcome of those losses. There are additional questions remaining with regards to historical trauma. How frequently do African Americans think about historical trauma? When they do think about historical trauma, how long do they actively think about it? Additionally, there should be more research conducted to understand how young African American children

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are psychologically impacted by learning about historical trauma. As more clarity is gained on these issues, not only will clinicians be better equipped to work with African

American clients but the field may be able to develop suggestions for families and community members on how to best approach these conversations. Given the role of media as a potential means of disseminating news that may trigger a historical trauma response, as well as a platform for collective coping (i.e. social media), it will be important for researchers to explore in greater detail in the future. In a world characterized by 24 hour connectivity, researchers and clinicians alike would benefit from understanding how this impacts how trauma and coping are experienced.

Researchers should also use care when deciding what terminology to use when recruiting for studies and interacting with participants. It became clear in this study that racial and ethnic identifiers hold complex meanings for those who adopt them and the terminology continues to evolve. Depending on what terms are employed, recruitment could be negatively impacted or there may be misunderstandings regarding who is qualified to participate in a given study. While DPM was applicable to the current study, there are also other models of coping with stress that may give a different perspective on how African Americans are coping with historical trauma and current racism. For example, there is Ensel and Lin’s (1991) distress-deterring theory which proposes the ability of certain psychosocial resources to decrease the likelihood of experiencing distress. Within that theory are three models that propose ways in which resources and stressors interact (Utsey et al., 2008). Meanwhile Lazarus and Folkman (1984) emphasized the importance of individuals’ appraisals in determining if something is experienced as stressful. Depending on the model that is selected for conceptualizing

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stressors, such as racism or historical trauma, researchers may modify their approaches to the present research questions. While the focus of this study has been on African

American millennials, the methodology may serve as a template for future research into historical trauma for other ethnic groups. The specific themes resulting from that sort of study would be different than the current findings, but it would be interesting to determine if there are any underlying similarities in how the historical trauma (and associated losses) is experienced and how the task of healing is undertaken.

In addition to research within the counseling field, there is also an opportunity for interdisciplinary efforts for better understanding this topic. Discussions related to historical trauma would benefit from collaboration or consultation with historians who are well-versed in the events, both large and small, that have impacted a particular group.

Working together may add value for each field by reminding current generations of the relevance of the past, while identifying ways to potentially heal some of its lingering effects.

Summary

This study resulted in the identification of eight themes related to how African

American millennials perceive and make-meaning of historical trauma. These findings confirm that this population considers historical trauma to be an applicable construct. The researcher was able to identify pathways through which historical trauma was transmitted to the interview participants as well as how older generations prepared them to live as racial minorities in the United States. Although the previous and ongoing hardships and traumas carried out against this group are extensive, the participants exhibited a pride in

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their history and drive to push for success in the future, for themselves and for the next generation of African Americans who will follow them. Despite feeling pride, the study’s findings also support the presence of an ongoing coping process in relation to historical trauma, with the participants primarily engaging in restoration-oriented coping and oscillating to loss-oriented coping when triggered by current events.

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Appendix A: Interview Guide

Main Topic Area Sample Probe Questions Ethnic Identity Researcher gives brief definition of E.I. How would you describe your ethnic identity? How connected do you feel to your ethnic identity? Ethnic identity refers to an individual’s What do you do to feel connected to connection to a group of people who your ethnic identity? share commonalities such as language, history, nation or region of origin, customs, ways of being, religion, names, physical appearance, and/or genealogy or ancestry. The individual must be aware of their membership in the group and that membership should carry meaning to the individual. What are key factors in continuing to maintain that feeling of connection? How relevant do you think ethnic identity is to the way that you view the world around you?

Historical Trauma Researcher gives brief definition of H.T. Historical trauma may be defined as a When you think about the history of major trauma carried out by one group African American people in the U.S., against another target group. Instead of what kind of major events/historical one traumatic event, historical trauma traumas come to mind? can extend over a longer period of time and be composed of multiple occurrences. Historical trauma influences the overall targeted group and potentially traumatizes or at least negatively impacts all members. Historical trauma is thought to derail the progression that the target group would have had in a manner that lasts across generations. What emotions come up for you when you reflect on African American history? How do you cope with those emotions? At about what age do you remember beginning to become aware of the

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historical trauma that African Americans have experienced? What was the source of that knowledge? How did your family or other important people in your life help you to make sense of African American historical trauma?

Can you remember any stories shared by family members about experiences of racism? Please tell me more about that. Do you think that there are significant ways in which your life (or the lives of African Americans in general) could be different today, if those past historical traumas had not occurred? Please describe. Sometimes trauma can impact the way that people navigate the world around them. Do you believe that your knowledge of African American historical trauma has any influence on how you approach your life? Why or why not? Coping with Modern Racism In general, how do you cope with stressful situations?

How did you learn about these coping strategies (trial and error, family, friends, teachers, therapist, research, etc.)? How would you describe the current racial climate in the United States? How have you been able to navigate the current climate? Are there any lessons or preparation that you received from your parents or grandparents regarding the presence of racism and/or how to respond to it? What are they? How were those lessons transmitted to you? Please describe 2-3 experiences that you have had with racism. These experiences can be direct (such as one-on-one racist

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encounters) or indirect (such as learning of racism committed against others or facing institutionalized racism). How did you cope? Are these coping strategies in line with how you would normally deal with racism? Wrapping Up Researcher will briefly recap the Is there anything else that feels interview. important to share at this time regarding your thoughts/feelings on African American historical trauma or modern racism? May I contact you again in the future if I have in follow-up questions? How do you feel about this interview experience? This interview brought up some difficult topics. How are you feeling about your ability to manage the thoughts and emotions that this interview may have triggered for you? Researcher will distribute mental health Would you be interested in taking a copy resource list. of some mental health resources, in the event that you would like to speak with a counselor in the future?

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