From Jim Crow to COVID-19: Exploring Historical Black Trauma and “Weathering” Across the Lifespan

Conference Strand

Research and Theory

Abstract

This presentation will examine how the trauma of historical and structural racism, or “weathering” (Villarosa, 2022), across the lifespan impacts one’s health and wellbeing, specifically Black persons identified as Descendants of Africans Enslaved in the United States (DAEUS). As part of a qualitative research study, narratives of nineteen DAEUS participants are shared to provide counselors with anti-racist strategies to support the intersection of identities among DAEUS citizens in late adulthood disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Description

At the height of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized vulnerable populations susceptible to dying from COVID-19 due to increased health vulnerabilities, focusing specifically on persons over sixty-five years of age (CDC, 2020). The CDC also recognized Black and Latinx persons as another vulnerable racial demographic population susceptible to dying from COVID-19 at disproportionate rates compared to White Americans in the United States (U.S.), specifically as a result of “social determinants of health” (CDC, 2020). Therefore, Black and Latinx persons in late adulthood, over sixty-five years of age, could be considered most vulnerable and least able to survive COVID-19. On April 10, 2020, in the White House briefing room, the U.S. Surgeon General named Black and Latinx persons as being “socially predisposed” to health disparities, and, therefore, much more susceptible to dying from the virus as a result of pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension (Summers, 2020). In response to the Surgeon General’s report, a qualitative research study was designed to complete the half-narrative put forth by the CDC in 2020 by acknowledging how “weathering”, the ways in which Black bodies survived after a lifetime of racism and microaggressions on a daily basis, can also impact one’s health overtime. Themes from the narratives of nineteen DAEUS participants are shared to provide counselors with anti-racist strategies to support the intersection of identities among DAEUS citizens in late adulthood disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.Those in the helping professions are called upon to bear witness in this presentation to the long-term impact of racism on the health and well-being of DAEUS citizens in late adulthood, and to understand the insurmountable weight placed on this population to “repair” themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Highlight the lifelong, traumatic impact of legalized racism and “weathering” on the physical and mental wellbeing of DAEUS citizens.

2. Examine the mental health and medical professions’ history of upholding standards of white supremacy, including anti-Black healthcare practices.

3. Provide counselors with anti-racist counseling strategies that incorporate the intersection of identities for DAEUS clients in late adulthood challenged by the national impact of COVID-19.

Evidence

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, November 30). COVID-19 hospitalization and death by race/ethnicity. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, July 24).

Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html

Mingo, T.M. (2021). When surviving jim crow is a pre-existing condition: The impact of COVID-19 on african-americans in late adulthood and how their intersectional experiences shape perceptions of the medical field. Adultspan Journal, 20(2), 85-96. doi: 10.1002/adsp.12112

Summers, J. (2020, April 10). US Surgeon General: People of Color “Socially Predisposed” To Coronavirus Exposure. NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/10/832026070/u-s-surgeon-general-people-of-color-socially-predisposed-to-coronavirus-exposure

Villarosa, L. (2022). Under the skin: The hidden toll of racism on american lives and on the health of our nation. Doubleday: New York

Format

Individual Presentations

Biographical Sketch

Kiauhna Haynes, MS, LCMHCA, NCC is currently pursuing her doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a researcher she is interested in better supporting the mental health of Black women in higher education and better supporting students of color seeking recovery support. She has spent the majority of her counseling career in college counseling and prevention settings. She currently works in a private practice in Charlotte. She enjoys working with adults, especially individuals of color, on issues concerning wellness, mental health, substance use, and multicultural identities. While working in previous college counseling settings, she has served as a coordinator for collegiate recovery, a substance and addictions counselor, a clinical liaison for multicultural organizations, and a generalist counselor supporting various mental health concerns in both individual and group therapy format.

Location

Room 147

Start Date

3-7-2024 9:00 AM

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Mar 7th, 9:00 AM

From Jim Crow to COVID-19: Exploring Historical Black Trauma and “Weathering” Across the Lifespan

Room 147

This presentation will examine how the trauma of historical and structural racism, or “weathering” (Villarosa, 2022), across the lifespan impacts one’s health and wellbeing, specifically Black persons identified as Descendants of Africans Enslaved in the United States (DAEUS). As part of a qualitative research study, narratives of nineteen DAEUS participants are shared to provide counselors with anti-racist strategies to support the intersection of identities among DAEUS citizens in late adulthood disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.