01/12/2023
Racial stress can seriously threaten a person’s well-being.
John M Lund Photography Inc via Getty Images
When William A. Smith, a scholar of education and culture, introduced the term “racial battle fatigue” in 2003, he used it to describe the cumulative effects of racial hostility that Black people – specifically faculty and graduate students – experience at predominantly white colleges and universities. In short, it takes a toll on their psychological, physical and emotional well-being.
Since then, the term has been applied by scholars to Hispanic undergraduates and women of color. Scholars have also applied the term to groups beyond the college campus, such as teachers of color and students of color at the K-12 level. Most of the research on racial battle fatigue deals with the matter within the context of education.
As a concept, racial battle fatigue is rooted in critical race theory, which holds that racism is systemic and embedded in legal systems and policies, not just something that takes place on an interpersonal level.
Smith was not the first to connect race and fatigue in one phrase. For example, in his 1990 book Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America, author Shelby Steele wrote about “a kind of race fatigue, a deep weariness with things racial.”
And the term “battle fatigue” has long been used to describe the symptoms that result from the stress of combat, such as depression and anxiety.
The term “racial battle fatigue,” then, likens the collective experiences of people of color who are subjected to racial hostility to that of soldiers who experience combat stress. Both are believed to result from being placed in a hostile environment filled with regular threats and attacks.
What causes racial battle fatigue? Read article https://theconversation.com/what-is-racial-battle-fatigue-a-school-psychologist-explains-192493