Racial Militancy and Moral Injury: The Battlefield of Blackness in America
Moral injury is a newly developing subsect of PTSD. Defined as a “the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person perpetrates, witnesses, or fails to prevent acts that transgress one’s own moral beliefs, values, or ethical codes of conduct” (1), the novel research of moral injury has primarily revolved around the ethical ambiguity that military service members and war veterans routinely endure. However, the concept of morally taxing combat extends beyond the archetype of national warfare—moral injury may occur on the battlefield of racial justice or be a common casualty during the affront against Black social immobility.
From W.E.B. DuBois’ “double-consciousness” (2) to Nipsey Hussle’s “survival mode” (3), cognitive dissonance has always been a prerequisite of Blackness in America. However, perhaps these continuous attempts to name the internal conflict of Black individual desires versus external realities have been hinting at the novel term, moral injury.
Respectability politics has been theoretically rejected by most Black Americans, and yet is still utilized daily by almost all members of the community. For example, despite valuing the cultural practices and African American Vernacular English within the household, linguistic and physical code-switching is still an expectation of upward mobility in predominantly white spaces. Additionally, while the Black community may reject the racist stereotype of the “angry Black woman,” during unjust police stops, Black women will still adhere to unspoken racial codes if that may increase the chance of survival. Thus, the demands for Black survival in America—both fiscally and physically—directly contradicts any attempts to shift from a mentality of racial shame to racial dignity. And the result of this discord? An all-consuming guilt towards the hypocrisy of one’s beliefs versus one’s actions. In short: Black moral injury.
So what treatments can we provide to avail victims of moral injury? While the obvious answer might be professional therapy, there might be more that ordinary members of society may be able to provide for veterans of racial social warfare. By opening a line of dialogue, we might be able to discuss what gradual change looks like, absolving the expectation for Black people to present themselves as perfect social justice warriors.
References:
1. https://moralinjuryproject.syr.edu/about-moral-injury/
2. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm
4. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/cooccurring/moral_injury.asp
