White America is an entire society suffering from self-induced trauma. One could call it an expanded form of White guilt. The problem is, we don’t fully recognize or understand the symptoms we are experiencing – nor do we even know that what we are experiencing as individuals is linked to a common thread in our country’s history. Brutality, oppression, subjugation, as well as both cultural and literal genocide, are a part of our heritage, as well as our inheritance. We are victims of our own self-inflicted PTSD.
As a collective, Whites exhibit many of the common symptoms listed on the Mayoclinic website, including “negative thoughts about [ourselves], other people or the world, hopelessness about the future, self-destructive behavior, irritability – angry outbursts or aggressive behavior, and overwhelming guilt or shame.”[i] But we are also suffering from another more destructive symptom of PTSD – avoidance. As a result, instead of confronting the trauma, we try and suppress, deny, and simply “tough it out” – hoping it will just go away.
We are currently experiencing an intergenerational collective PTSD from a racial war that our ancestors instigated from the moment that they stepped foot onto North American soil. Since that time, White men have spent centuries fighting a brutal war against a self-selected enemy – only to discover that we were the enemy all along. Yet only in the last few decades have we painfully begun to acknowledge that our ancestors, and even many of us, have been on the wrong side of American history.
When we really begin to look at our role in American history, the grim reality is that we were not the heroes – but the villains. We were the invaders; we were the oppressors; we were the terrorists from a foreign land. And while individual White people have tried to stand up against the cruelty carried out by our own people – this is the exception, rather than the norm.
The White-washed version of history, in which we dub ourselves the brave founders of a “new” world and the crusaders of justice and democracy, simply perpetuates our denial. We have had to face the reality that our version of American history is a mere fabrication. And we have to acknowledge the fact that White men have undeniably been one of – if not – the most brutal forces in shaping world history.
More frightening yet, if our history were revised to this more accurate version, we would discover that we were not the heroes – but the villains all along. Rather than our victory being a glorious rise to power, it is more akin to the brutal invasions and subsequent tyrannies of Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and even Adolf Hitler. As a result, we have to grapple with the fact that while we unmistakably “won” this war – most of us didn’t recognize that we were the “bad guys” until after we had already killed the real heroes and taken over.
What makes this so troubling is that so many of us are the decedents of these antiheroes and as a result, we are now living in a society that is still reaping the ill-begotten spoils of our ruthless take-over. As a result, we are haunted by the means in which we achieved this so-called victory. Even those of us who may have only recently immigrated to America often come from countries with similar histories of hostility and invasion. And regardless of how long our ancestors have been here, every single one of us has benefited from the plunders of White tyranny. The oppression, subjugation, and outright genocide that allow us to live in such comfort and privilege are often too much for us to face.
Undeniably, the trauma and PTSD experienced by other communities in this country far outweighs our own – especially Native Americans and African Americans with lineage going back to the days of chattel slavery. Despite the fact that they are the true victims, many of them have taken it upon themselves to try and heal the damage that was inflicted upon their ancestors. In fact, many of them don’t have a choice about whether or not they want to confront their trauma – because they are still living in its shadow and facing oppression. Despite this, so many of us White folks still try and seduce these marginalized communities into a perverse form of Stockholm Syndrome – expecting them fall in love with, respect, and pledge loyalty to a country that was not created for them – but rather, created upon them.
So many of us progressive Whites are quick to see the problem “out there” – but often times fail to recognize the problem within us as individuals. We consider ourselves crusaders of justice, and an ally to all. Yet, we are often completely blind to our own racism and complicity in the way that America is structured. We tend to assume that we are a part of the solution, and therefore that it is our job to fix other people and mend the broken system. Many of us feel like we are doing our part by simply putting a rainbow sign in our front yard, attending a protest, or donating to the ACLU. The reality is that in order for us to really start addressing the problem – we have to turn the lens inward.
It is time for us to start facing the intergenerational trauma that afflicts us all. It’s not just about empowering communities of color – it’s about focusing on how our Whiteness comes at a heavy price. And until we are willing to begin looking within and addressing the nightmares of our past – we will continue to repeat patterns of trauma. We will continue to see the murder of innocent black men; we will continue to see surges in White nationalism; and we will continue to live in a world steeped in fear and denial – a world that we created for ourselves.
[i] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967
