The Psychological Tax: How Racial Trauma Effects African American Students' Education

• In Event: Psychological Perspectives, Race, and Healing in Black Education

Abstract

Although there is a growing body of research examining the impact of trauma in schools, and trauma-informed care is an increasingly prevalent policy issue, we know little about the link between racial trauma and schooling. The proposed paper fills this gap by examining the ways in which historically inscribed individual, institutional, and cultural racism inflicts psychological violence, and the subsequent effects trauma may have on Black students’ education. The author specifically asks: To what extent do African American students experience race-based traumatic stress? How do African American students make sense of and connect negative race-based experiences to their academic performance?

Author

• Jeremy D. Horne, University of Texas at Austin