Can Racial Trauma/Racism Be Inherited?

A Child’s Story

Around 6 years old, I was in a new school in Florida. We had moved from New York to “start over”. The only thing that stood out about my first day, was loneliness. I was a new student who looked different. During recess I tried to play with the other kids, but it was clear none of them wanted to play with me. I was told to sit on the bench and wait for them to call me over. And no one did. I sat on a bench the entire recess and cried as children played around me. The teacher never approached nor did my classmates. I, for this group, essentially did not exist.

The majority of students in this school, as well as the teacher, were white with a few black and Hispanic students. Could some of these students have been mixed? Yes. However, I was the only student who “looked mixed”. I had lightly tanned skin and very thick, frizzy hair and students were unsure which group I belonged in so I was not allowed in any. Over time I was dubbed a “mutt” by all the students in my class.

That day, while crying on the bench I realized they didn’t care. It didn’t matter to them that I was crying and alone. I knew it was because of how I looked. I also decided that would be the last time that I cried in front of them. I’d cry when I got home, but not in front of them again. I didn’t know the word for what I was experiencing, but I knew what it was.

Inherited Trauma