Racial conflict, violence and trauma: why race dialogues are critical to healing

Abstract

In this essay, we aim to enrich the racial discourses we engage in with people across various fields and political spheres by focusing on the intersection of institutional violence and trauma. Whereas others view race-based scholarship and discourses as unnecessarily political, divisive and threatening, we contend that centering race in our work can facilitate a shift in our collective consciousness and work to reduce human suffering across multiple geographies and identity spaces. We begin by discussing trauma and racial conflict. By starting here, we hope to attend to the contentious nature of race and whiteness. Then, we share three discursive sites regarding violence, which, for us, are important points of political discourse. Finally, we spur (y)our imaginations by discussing three ways to address sources of human suffering through healing acts of collective, critical resistance.

Keywords:

• Race
• violence
• trauma
• social movement
• healing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adam Alvarez

Dr. Adam Alvarez, a former elementary is an assistant professor of urban education at Rowan University. His research explores how structural racism shapes the social contexts in which people live, learn and experience violence and trauma.

Daniel Tulino

Dr. Daniel Tulino is an assistant professor of education at Stockton University. His work focuses on teaching and scholarship as it relates to critical pedagogy, equity in curriculum and instruction, and teaching Black history K-12.