Unveiling the Roots: Beginning to Understand the Traumatic Stress Response of Colonialism.

First, this article that came with the image above, is a great read - Healing Generational Trauma.

I wanted to continue this conversation, not only as an opportunity to continue contributing to unlearning, healing and understanding, I also noticed how helpful this insight is for those seeking to find language around ways we can restore balance and become one step closer to liberation. Bouncing from my last thoughts shared “Racism as Trauma: A Traumatologist's quick opinion”, I wanted to suggest another deeper reflection.

As a traumatologist, I've come to understand that the wounds of racism run deep—so deep that they're intertwined with the very roots of our collective history. Revealing painful truths that are essential for understanding the injustices embedded in our society.

In my last article, I shared that when we talk about racism, we can't ignore the historical context that shaped it. The arrival of settlers on Turtle Island (what is now known as North America) brought with it a legacy of violence, displacement, and exploitation. Indigenous peoples were forcibly removed from their lands, subjected to genocide, and stripped of their cultural identities. Meanwhile, African peoples were torn from their homelands, enslaved, and treated as commodities.

These traumatic experiences didn't just disappear with time. They lingered, leaving behind deep scars that continue to affect generations of Indigenous and Black communities, we even see today, how history repeats itself in other parts of the world, as much as within our own communities. The trauma of colonization and enslavement seeped into the very foundations of our society, perpetuating systems of oppression and inequities.

While at the heart of racism lies a belief in supremacy—the idea that one group is inherently superior to others. There is another deeper meaning, in my opinion, of what could have happened for a collective to manifest such beliefs. This is where the concept of white body trauma can be introduced. For those of you who may not be familiar with this term, let me try and explain it, but first, I think we need to set the tone:

Over the past three decades, it feels like we've really put our hearts into addressing white body supremacy. We've tried using reason, principles, and all sorts of discussions to make a difference. But, honestly, it hasn't quite worked out as we hoped.

Maybe we've been focusing on the wrong thing. Instead of just trying to change how we think about ethnicity, what if we dig deeper and consider that white body supremacy might be rooted in some really tough experiences?

Think about it—colonialism, slavery, residential schools, segregation, police brutality...the list goes on. These aren't just historical facts; they're deeply traumatic events that have left scars on communities for generations. It's something worth pondering with kindness and understanding.

I know that at the same time, as much as my own community struggles to heal, it isn't really because we aren't ready to heal, it's more because white bodies have yet to start their own healing, collectively.

So I ask you and invite you to sit with the following reflections:

How many of you have heard the narrative of your own past? Have you ever asked yourself, why did your ancestors come to Turtle island?

How did they arrive on this land? By boat, by force of enslavement, or to flee violence? Or maybe they were Indigenous to this land. Most of us have arrived here traumatized and I don’t think it has been fully unpacked, held and healed.

Let’s just hold space for this, notice your body and how it is navigating what you just read…

I invite you to keep reading…

In respect to white body supremacy, and for those of you who may be activated by this term, let’s break it down in definition:

White body supremacy is both personal beliefs and institutional systems that uphold the white body as the benchmark against which the value of all other individuals are judged.

Think about trauma for a moment, trauma can cause us to react to present events in ways that seem wildly inappropriate, overly charged, or otherwise out of proportion. 

In many cases, the body gets stuck in freeze mode, and then develops strategies around this stuckness, including extreme reactions, compulsions, strange likes and dislikes, seemingly irrational fears, and unusual avoidance strategies. Over time, these become second nature, our body's way of trying to keep us safe. When we keep passing these coping methods down the family tree, they become part of who we are, shaping not just us, but our whole crew—from our folks to our neighborhoods, the larger community, and even cultures.

All of this describes trauma in general.

When looking at white-body supremacy, we’ve really been dealing with this as if it’s an attitude, a belief system, or a way of seeing the world- as if it lives in the thinking brain. In my opinion as a traumatologist, I believe that white-body supremacy is a trauma response, I think because it has been decontextualized, it’s not easily seen as a trauma response, but in my opinion, it is one.

We already know that what we’ve been doing to counter white-body supremacy isn’t working. If we are to address this, we must take a different approach. We and by “we” I mean people of all skin tones, but especially folks with white bodies, y'all need to begin with your bodies, and with the healing of your trauma.

So as I invite the community to unpack and talk about this more, talking about white body trauma, I want us to be on the same page; Everyone carries their own burdens, regardless of ethnicity. It's not about pitting one form of trauma against another. Instead, it's about helping us acknowledge, become more educated and be aware of the traumas that both sides have. We know from brain-activity science that even what may seem like simply a minor adverse event for some can show as more traumatic for others. We need compassion for all, and when we can establish that at a human species level, then we can set the tone for accountability, understanding and liberation, at a social, and systemic level.

In the spirit of continued dialogue and understanding, I think I’d like to offer a series of articles that delve into these two traumas, offering insights into how we can all work towards unlearning, healing, and understanding.

By creating safe spaces that help us unpack both racial and white body trauma, I think we can do some good within our communities. Authentic healing can take place and we can actually begin to restore balance in humanity.

Until next time, take care, and keep the conversation going.

Be well.

#blackmindsmatter #collectivehealing #unlearning #understanding #healing #blackhistorymonth #traumahealing #understandingracism #understandwhitebodytrauma #understandingtrauma #ancestralhealing #bewell #crossculturalteachings #generationalhealing