Core Faculty Affiliate Keisha Bentley-Edwards recently appeared on NPR’s Short Wave podcast, hosted by Emily Kong. The episode focused on KFF Health News’ Silence at Sikeston podcast series, an in-depth look at the impact of racial trauma and its implications on Black communities, as discussed by KFF Health News Midwest Correspondent Cara Anthony.
Dr. Bentley-Edwards, one of the experts featured in the Silence at Sikeston series, shared her insights into the complexities of living in the aftermath of race-based violence.
Oftentimes, people who experience racial trauma are forced to not acknowledge it as such, or they’re forced to question whether or not it happened in the first place,” Bentley-Edwards explained.
She also highlighted the unique challenges faced by individuals in smaller towns, where perpetrators of race-based crimes often remain part of the community fabric, forcing victims to suppress their trauma for survival.
When you’re in a smaller city, there is no way to turn away from the people who were the perpetrators of a race-based crime. And that in and of itself is a trauma, to know that someone has victimized your family member, and you still have to say hello. You still have to say good morning, ma’am. And you have to just swallow your trauma in order to make the person who committed that trauma comfortable so that you don’t put your own family members at risk,” she stated.
