Coping With Racial Trauma, Discrimination, and Biases

In the spring 2022 term, the Drexel Counseling Center and Center for Black Culture partnered to bring Dr. Nathalie Edmond, Licensed Psychologist and RYT-500 Yoga Teacher, to campus to present "More Than Skin Deep: Recognizing and Responding to the Pain of Racism Held in Our Bodies." We are excited to share a video on that topic, where Dr. Edmond shares how racial trauma affects the nervous system and offers personal and communal pathways to relief.

The United States has a long, painful history of prejudice, systemic racism, sexism, xenophobia, violence, and discrimination against many different cultural, ethnic, religious, and sexual identities and orientations. We are facing a racial pandemic, impacting the physical safety and mental wellbeing of so many communities of color. There have been a number of high-profile events which have resulted in a need for support in managing the effects of hate, discrimination, and trauma. There have also been multiple events which have not received the same level of coverage but have impacted our communities significantly.

Racial Trauma

Racial trauma refers to the mental and emotional injury caused by encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination, racism, and hate crimes. Any individual that has experienced an emotionally painful, sudden, and uncontrollable racist encounter is at risk of suffering from a race-based traumatic stress injury. Experiences of race-based discrimination can have detrimental psychological impacts on individuals and their wider communities. Symptoms can look different across different cultural groups. Racial trauma is not a mental health disorder. It occurs as the result of living within a racist system or experiencing events of racism (Racial Trauma, Mental Health America).

Intersectionality

Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality, which she defines as a “lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality, or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.” Understanding intersectionality is essential in acknowledging that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression.

Being Antiracist

Being antiracist is fighting against racism in its various forms, albeit individual racism, interpersonal racism, institutional racism, and structural racism. It is not only raising consciousness about race and racism but taking action when witnessing acts of racial power inequities in everyday life, according to Dr. Anneliese A. Singh from “The Racial Healing Handbook.” Being antiracist is different for a person of color than it is for a White person. The National Museum of African American History and Culture offers resources to help you explore the different types of racism that exist, how to have conversations when racist behavior occurs, and to read more about becoming antiracist.

Allyship and Education

Talking about race, although hard, is necessary. Allies start by educating themselves and taking action where and when we can. While learning about how American society privileges whiteness, we can see how racist ideas become normal. To work towards creating an equal society, we must commit to being anti-racist, and examining whiteness and white fragility, privilege, bias, social and racial identities, and systems of oppression. The Counseling Center is here to provide you tools and guidance to empower your journey and spark conversation.

The resources on this page are meant to be used as a guide to support our Drexel students who have experienced racial trauma, injustice, and biases and for those who are interested in becoming allies. We recognize this is an ever-changing directory and a non-exhaustive list and may not encompass all the identities and experiences you might be facing. We invite you to provide us with feedback on our resources; please email us at counsel@drexel.edu with comments or questions.

Resources for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

• Tips for Self-Care: When Police Brutality Has You Questioning Humanity and Social Media Is Enough
• Emotionally Restorative Self-Care for People of Color
• Tea Time: An online healing circle you can attend live or watch videos of past sessions whenever you need them.

Resources for Black and African Americans

• Coping While Black: Psychological Impact of Traumatic News
• Teaching about Ferguson, Do’s and Don’ts
• Black Emotional and Mental Health (BEAM) Community

Resources for Asian and Asian Americans

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice: Tell Your Story
• Stop AAPI Hate
• "Model Minority" Stereotype Used as a Racial Wedge

Resources for the Latinx Community

• Latinx/Hispanic: Identity and Cultural Dimensions

Resources for the Muslim Community

• Muslim Wellness Foundation
• Coping in the American Muslim Community
• News Articles/Op Eds: Islamophobia

Resources for Other Communities

LGBTQIA+ Community

• GLADD Resource List
• National LGBTQ Task Force

Jewish Community

• Global Jewish Advocacy
• Confronting Antisemitism
• Six Proactive Strategies to Prevent Anti-Israel Activity...and What to Do if It Happens Anyway
• Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
• Drexel Resource: Hillel at Drexel University

Anti-Racism and Ally Resources

• Advice for White Individuals Following a Shooting of a Black Individual
• How White People can be Allies
• Talking About Race
• Things You Can Do to Help End Racism
• How to Be an Anti-Racism Activist
• Being Anti-Racist by Angela Y. Davis
• Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
• Hollaback! Bystander Intervention Training to Stop Anti-Asian/American Xenophobic Harassment
• Helpful Video for Asian American Parents to Talk With Their Children About Racism and Xenophobia

Books

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

Films and Shows

• 13^th : a Netflix documentary
• Dear White People: a Netflix TV series
• When They See Us: a Netflix TV series
• The Hate U Give: movie, available on multiple streaming sites

Podcasts

• The 1619 Project by the New York Times
• Code Switch by NPR
• Intersectionality Matters by Kimberle Crenshaw on The African American Policy Forum site
• Good Ancestor Podcast by Layla F. Saad

News Articles/Op-Eds

• "Don't understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles Times
• I'm Black. My Mom Is White. This Is The Talk We Had To Have About George Floyd’s Killing by Kimberly J. Miller

Resources at Drexel University

• Anti-Racism Task Force
• Drexel's Office for Institutional Equity and Inclusive Culture (EIC)
  • Discrimination, Harassment, and Bias Incident Prevention Policy
  • Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy
  • Making a Report to EIC

The content provided here is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, nor should it replace the consultation of a trained medical or mental health professional. Please note that outside links are not under our control, and we cannot guarantee the content contained on them.