Brandon Gamble, Ed.D., ’94, Dean of Student Success and Professor of Psychology at Oakwood University, was recently interviewed by NBC News, about what African Americans experience after encounters with law enforcement. He said anxiety among Black Americans related to policing and racism is so prevalent that a friend’s 17-year-old son did not want a driver’s license ‘because of the way police might treat me.’
“That’s mind-blowing,” Gamble said. “But there are so many cases where we see this ongoing chronic trauma that has been unabated. We’re constantly under threat simply because of the color of our skin — and even those who have not directly experienced it have seen enough to be traumatized.” Gamble said that ultimately, the “suffering will not end until those stricken find a “safe space to be affirmed.”’
“Black people’s dignity has been assailed — that’s not a small thing. It’s a big thing,” he said. “So we have to find spaces and places to talk about these things. The ‘manosphere’ of social media isn’t offering respite from this trauma. It’s offering a vehicle for anger, which is a start, because you’re acknowledging something bad has happened. But it’s not a healing space or the full circle that’s needed.
“We’re challenged by this ongoing trauma. It doesn’t stop unless you actually address it. It impacts your ability to learn, your ability to have quality relationships, your health. We cannot count on law enforcement to change. So we’re dealing with so much that we can’t be politically correct about it. We just have to say what’s on our minds in a safe environment. The shame, of course, is that it’s this way only because we’re Black.”