Traumas of the Afro-American Race

Trauma is an incident that leads to a great suffering of body or mind. It is a severe torture to the body and breaks the body’s natural equilibrium. It is defined as an emotional wound causing a psychological injury. American Psychological Association, defined trauma as an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks and strained relationships. J. Laplanche and J. B. Pontalis assert, “Trauma is an event in the subject life defined by its intensity by the subject’s incapacity to respond adequately to it, and by the upheaval and long lasting effects that it brings about in the psychical organization” (qtd. by Hwangbo 1).

Trauma is a dreadful situation which causes turmoil in one’s life. Sometimes, its effect is catastrophic in which both one’s self as well as the social identity get damaged. It creates rupture in one’s body and mind as a result sometimes the mind is not able to function normally. It blocks senses of a victim and demolishes the “fundamental assumptions” or “the bedrock of our conceptual system” (Hwangbo 1). One’s loss of his/her true self is the “hallmark of being traumatized” (Hwangbo 1).

Furthermore, trauma is a “breach” in the “protective barrier” (Hwangbo 2) which leads to jolt and break-down. The conditions like genocide, objectification of others, death, atrocities, and haunting have a strong impact on the senses. The outcome of these incidents causes trauma. This is not static to one generation only. It can also have post-traumatic effects. Various evidences of ...

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