Effects of Repetitive Racial Injustice in America Amongst Black People

     With everything going on in our country lately, I truly believe that many of my Sisters and Brothers are dealing with PTSD, Paranoia, or have become casualties of war.

I'm going to break down what I mean by focusing on one at a time, providing examples.

I'll first start by explaining what all 3 of these ailments are, and NO I do not believe they are mental illnesses. I believe they are consequences or effects of some sort of traumatic incident or event.

     According to the American Psychological Association, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is an anxiety problem that develops in some people after extremely traumatic events, such as combat, crime, an accident, or natural disaster. Visit the website for the behavior or symptoms of people with PTSD, and you will see how some of it matches the behavior or fear that many Black people have developed from being stopped by the police.

     Based on the American Psychological Association's definition of PTSD, wouldn't you say that it's fitting to the recent story of how a Social Worker in Houston responded when she was pulled over by a white police officer and called 9-1-1?

Would you also say that it's fitting to the tragic story of Sister Korryn Gaines? Both of these Black women were very aware of the racial injustices in America when it comes to Blacks, which has caused them to rightly be in fear for their lives.

     These are just 2 examples or stories that have been spread throughout the media lately. I'm sure there are many more, because there have been too many Black men & women killed by police officers, causing many to develop some sort of anxiety whenever they see a police officer.
This reminds me of the Psychology term Classical Conditioning, also called Pavlov's Theory, in which Pavlov thought certain stimuli will elicit specific responses. He conducted an experiment to test his theory. I won't get into all the details of the experiment, but I will say that it's basically cause & effect. If you do one thing, it will yield an effect or response. For more information on Pavlov's Theory, do a quick Google search and you'll see there's a ton of information on his theory.

     Now let's look at the next ailment, paranoia.  Paranoia is an exaggerated distrust of others, sometimes reaching delusional proportions, according to the Free Dictionary. The definition goes on to say: "Paranoid individuals constantly suspect the motives of those around them, and believe that certain individuals, or people in general, are "out to get them".
Visit that website for symptoms, and you'll definitely be able to match them up to the behavior and responses of many Black people in America today.

However, as a Black woman myself, I would say that the many instances or events that have taken place recently should be cause for justifiable paranoia, especially when these instances tremendously affect more Blacks than whites.

     Before I continue on with my own opinions of these ailments and instances of racial injustices in America, I want to provide the definition or explanation of the last ailment that has affected us as Black people; and that is...casualties of war.

     In 1971, a so-called war on drugs had been declared by President Nixon. It had such a devastating impact on the Black community that there were many casualties of war, physically & psychologically. Many Black men were either killed or imprisoned during this war. Sadly, however, it would be later exposed as a covert plan or operation by the C.I.A. to utterly divide, conquer, & destroy the Black community, especially during a time when more Blacks were unified by the Black Panther Party.
For more details on this so-called war on drugs and the exposing of the C.I.A.'s plan, I would encourage you to see the Netflix Documentary titled: "Freeway: Crack in the System". Here's the trailer for the Documentary:

     Now let's fast forward to today and tie in casualties of war from the 70s to casualties of war in today's society...

     If you did not know this fact, I'm going to encourage you to do more research on what I am about to tell you.
     In 1994,  President Clinton signed a bill into law called the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act.
According to Title VII of this bill, there would be a mandatory life sentence for persons convicted of certain felonies put in place. This is where the 3 strikes rule came into play, and vastly affected Black men and their families. I know men who were affected by this bill as well.

With this mass incarceration, along with all the other Black men who were casualties of the 1971 war on drugs, there were tremendous amounts of Black men in prison, thus having many members of law enforcement as well as white citizens to perceive Black men as less than human, criminals, or "thugs", which happens to be the new undercover way for racist, white people to call Blacks the N-word.

     With the 70s and 90s causing such devastation to the Black community and an increased hatred towards the Black man by crooked, racist members of law enforcement, there has now been an increased number of recent casualties of war. 

     Here's why I consider many of my Brothers and Sisters to be modern day casualties of war:

     With the unemployment rate being so high within the Black community, some law enforcement officers perceive Black people to be lazy and/or dumb, which in their minds probably justifies the blatant disrespect towards many Black people they come in contact with.

     Furthermore, too many police officers fail to try and de-escalate situations, instead they bait and/or instigate situations (For instance, Sandra Bland), which leads to more arrests, more felonies, more unemployment, or even worse, death (in this case, a casualty of war).

     There would be less casualties of war if more police officers were to simply use common sense and treat citizens the way they'd want to be treated. However, that would be like asking a leopard to change it's spots, because some people are just rotten or racist to the core.

     Now, in lieu of all the incidents that has happened across the country, there are more and more Black people feeling as if it's Open Season on us. Many feel like targets, which aligns with the 3 ailments I've mentioned previously: PTSD, Paranoia, & Casualties of War.

     Here's something else I've been thinking about lately, especially in the Korryn Gaines' case.
In Psychology, there's a term called Self-fulfilling Prophecy. This is when a person unknowingly causes a prediction to come true, due to them expecting it to come true. For more information on Self-fulfilling prophecies, visit www.study.com and search for the article titled, "Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Psychology: Definition & Examples".

     Let me elaborate on why I think the term self-fulfilling prophecy applies in Korryn Gaines' case. There is a video of her being pulled over by the police with her kids in the car. The words she said in the video pretty much predicted her death. If you haven't seen the video, please click HERE to view it now.

     Here's my opinion on everything that's been happening lately and my views on the effects these incidents have had on us as Black people in America...

     In my honest opinion, I truly believe there is a bigger plan to rid the country of as many so-called minorities as possible. Why do I believe that you ask? Well, consider this for a moment:

Ever since the United States has had a Black President in office, we've had more hate crimes against people of color. With that being said, sadly there are a lot of racist people in this country who feel as though their lives are at stake if too many non-whites populate the country. As far fetched as this may sound, that's really how racist people feel. I also think it's a form of greed & hatred on their part, because this country is big enough for all of us to inhabit, but many just want to hold on to as many benefits, wealth, & resources as they can without sharing. Here is further proof of a bigger plan to rid not only America of minorities, but minorities around the world:

     Because of their selfishness and inability to share, they're causing a hostile environment for their fellow citizens, which can eventually lead to a bigger problem, like a race war. Unfortunately, the population of Black people in the U.S. is supposedly lower than the white population, and a race war would not benefit anyone.

     If anything, I believe that we as Black people should start planning our own exodus. We should start taking the necessary financial steps to leave the country, because there is no sign of things getting better. Also, the effects of these racial injustices on our people as a whole have been and will continue to be detrimental. If we do not plan for our own future, then we will ultimately become an extinct people.

~ K.R.

Be safe out there my peeps!