2024 Presidential Election Ignites Historical Trauma among African American SUD Providers, Clients and Other Communities of Color

The Candidates for the 47th Presidency of the United States featured Republican Donald Trump versus Democrat Kamala Harris. At the start of the campaign Trump was interviewed by a group of Black women and claimed Kamala Harris didn't really view herself as Black until she decided to run for president. He suggested that she viewed herself as Indian, in spite of the fact that she attended an HBCU and was a member of a Black sorority. It was clear that this was an effort to separate her from Black people and the African American vote. This is a trick as old as the Willie Lynch letter.

During the period of Chattel slavery in the U.S., enslaved Africans were revolting and supposedly, White slave holders sought council from Willie Lynch on how to control the enslaved Africans. Willie Lynch advised, Make a list of their differences and then exaggerate those differences. Some are lighter, some are darker, some are old and some are young, some are men and some are women, some work in the house and others in the field....pit them against each other based upon those differences and they will be so busy fighting each other that they will never rebel against you.

Early in the campaign Trump also talked about evidence of cheating which created traumatic flashbacks of the last time he complained of cheating during and after he lost an election. It was January 6th 2020 and his phantom complaint of voter fraud triggered the takeover of the U.S. Capital building where we witnessed a White male walk through the building carrying a Confederate flag, a traumatizing symbol of the time African Americans were enslaved. 

Trump defeated Harris and will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. He will enter office with the republicans controlling both branches of congress and the Supreme Court, with six of the nine justices being republican nominated.

One of the 6 Principles of SAMSHA's dimensions of trauma informed care in behavioral health is Predictability and Transparency. Immediately after Trumps victory, I started hearing from African American behavioral health specialists. Below are some statements I heard from colleagues.

“Trump is so unpredictable. With his control of every branch of the government. I bet he would try to vote us back into slavery if he could.”

“Donald Trump has hated Black people for a long time. As a property owner, years before running for President he discriminated against Blacks in housing. Like a slave master he called for the lynching of the Central Park 5, even when it was clear they were innocent of rape.”

“We can expect to see an increase in police brutality under Trump and mass incarceration. As the 13th amendment said, no man can enslave another, unless he is incarcerated.”

“I have had to put my trauma on the shelf and hold space for my Black clients who are also traumatized by the election results.’

‘Our programs are already underfunded. Trump will assure we lose even more funding.’

It is clear from the above comments, Donald Trump's victory has reignited historical trauma for African Americans. I also started receiving emails and phone calls from Latino/Hispanic, Native American and Asian colleagues who shard fear and similar stories of historical re-traumatization. 

I have been reflecting since election about our post traumatic growth as African Americans having endured slavery, the reconstruction era, Jim Crow Laws, lynchings, riots, mass incarceration, policy brutality and modern discrimination. I concluded that if we thrived in the midst of all of those traumas, we will handle this too! My colleagues from other communities of color expressed a similar sentiment.

Education As Substance Abuse Prevention and a Recovery Tool for African Americans

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In the 1960's activist, religious and civil rights leader Malcolm X stated, “When you live in a poor neighborhood, you are living in an area where you have poor schools. When you have poor schools you have poor teachers. When you have poor teachers, you get a poor education, you can only work in a poor- paying job. And that poor-paying job enables you to again live in a poor neighborhood. It’s a very vicious cycle."

Malcolm echoed the sentiment of African American Elders who made the migration from the Southern States to the Northern states In search of occupational opportunities and to escape Jim Crow Laws and lynchings in the south. It is estimated that between 1916 to 1970, 6 million African Americans migrated north and secured work in the steel mills, railroads, meat packing and auto industries. The message that these elders/pioneers delivered to young African American children and adolescents who were born in the North is that education is the key to freedom. Many of these elders had parents and grandparents who during slavery were not allowed to attend school or learn to read. A slave owner’s wife was teaching Frederick Douglass to read when Douglass was enslaved. The slave owner told his wife, “If you teach him to read, it will be impossible to keep him a slave.” It was common for Black parents of the Great Migration to tell their children, “No matter how sick you are, you have to go to school.”

At the time of this writing most of the jobs African Americans secured during the Great Migration have either disappeared or have been shipped abroad. Studies indicate that African Americans have twice the unemployment rate as Whites and are still lagging behind on standardized test scores, which can determine the quality of your education. Many are also miseducated in elementary schools increasing the risks of dropping out of high school, drug use, drug selling (for income) drug related arrests felony arrests which makes it even more difficult to qualify for financial Aid for college and secure employment. Thus for many, a feeling of hopelessness can set in leading to a return to drug use  and in some instances drug selling (for income) and a return to prison. To quote Malcolm X, “A very vicious cycle.” Education is also important for African Americans seeking addictions recovery. According to Dr. William Cloud, as educational recovery capital increases, recovery rates also increase.

There is good news. Urban Prep High School, located on the South Side of Chicago has a 100% African American Male Graduation rate and 100% of these young men have gone on to college, over the course of the past decade. Nearly 90% of African Americans who attend North Lawndale Prep High school on the West Side of Chicago go on to College. The average income in the communities where these two schools are located are beneath the poverty line. These schools prove that when a school has a great mission, (Urban Prep expects every student to go to college and the students recite a daily pledge that they plan to go to college) and dedicated faculty who are able to motivate students, all things are possible!

During the Great Migration the manufacturing industry was the largest employer of African Americans. Today, the future of employment in America is STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). These jobs require a good education. The elders were right. Education is a key to success. In spite of the struggles described in this blog post, the great majority of African Americans are high school graduates. Many have also graduated from the finest colleges in the nation and the majority are middle class economically.