Half Title Page
From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter
Endorsement Page
Ingrid Waldron has done something truly remarkable: authored a definitive exploration of the effects of racism on Black mental health. From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter is a powerful, systematic and wholly convincing account of racial trauma – and of the mental and physical effects and consequences that Black and other racialized people experience after being exposed to racism. The book represents a brilliant summation of the strengths and limitations of our efforts to intervene to arrest racism’s searing psychological effects. This is required reading for anyone who wants to learn more about how the crimes of past shape the psyches of the future; and about what we can do to start the process of making things right.
—Jonathan M. Metzl, Author of What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms
This book is illuminating and groundbreaking in many ways for its examination of how anti-Black racism and the interstices of identities contribute to the legacy of racial trauma in Black communities in Canada, the US, and the UK. Its comparative edge makes the book a must read for all interested in fighting anti-Blackness in Black health, racial trauma and beyond. By tracing perceptions of the Black body in the field of psychiatry, and how these perceptions have informed diagnosis and treatment from the colonial era to the present, readers get new exposures. The book drives home much-needed considerations to be had and actions to be taken to address racial trauma and mental illness in Black communities in Canada, the US and the UK.
—George J. Sefa Dei, Professor of Social Justice Education & Director Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies, OISE, University of Toronto
Ingrid Waldron has done something truly remarkable: authored a definitive exploration of the effects of racism on Black mental health. From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter is a powerful, systematic and wholly convincing account of racial trauma – and of the mental and physical effects and consequences that Black and other racialized people experience after being exposed to racism. The book represents a brilliant summation of the strengths and limitations of our efforts to intervene to arrest racism’s searing psychological effects. This is required reading for anyone who wants to learn more about how the crimes of past shape the psyches of the future; and about what we can do to start the process of making things right.
—Jonathan M. Metzl, Author of What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms
This book is illuminating and groundbreaking in many ways for its examination of how anti-Black racism and the interstices of identities contribute to the legacy of racial trauma in Black communities in Canada, the US, and the UK. Its comparative edge makes the book a must read for all interested in fighting anti-Blackness in Black health, racial trauma and beyond. By tracing perceptions of the Black body in the field of psychiatry, and how these perceptions have informed diagnosis and treatment from the colonial era to the present, readers get new exposures. The book drives home much-needed considerations to be had and actions to be taken to address racial trauma and mental illness in Black communities in Canada, the US and the UK.
—George J. Sefa Dei, Professor of Social Justice Education & Director Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies, OISE, University of Toronto
Title Page
From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter: Tracing the Impacts of Racial Trauma in Black Communities from the Colonial Era to the Present
BY
INGRID R.G. WALDRON
McMaster University, Canada
United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China
Copyright Page
Emerald Publishing Limited
Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.
First edition 2025
Copyright © 2025 Ingrid R.G. Waldron.
Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.
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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-80382-442-0 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-80382-441-3 (Online)
ISBN: 978-1-80382-443-7 (Epub)
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my family.
Contents
| About the Author | xi |
| Acknowledgements | xiii |
| Abstract | xv |
| Introduction | 1 |
| Racial Trauma: Implications for Mental Illness | 4 |
| Charades and Masquerades: Subsuming Race Within Culture in Psychiatry | 8 |
| Broad Aims and Objectives of the Book | 9 |
| Organisation of the Book | 10 |
| Chapter 1. The Age of Enlightenment: The Roots of Racism in Psychiatry | 13 |
| Interrogating Psychiatric Imperialism | 14 |
| The Black Body in the Psychiatric Imagination | 16 |
| Anti-colonial Theory: A Challenge to Psychiatry’s Colonial Legacy | 19 |
| Chapter 2. How Representations of Race Inform Pathways to Care and Psychiatric Diagnoses | 23 |
| Pathways to Care | 24 |
| The Racialisation of Psychiatric Diagnoses: When the Politics of Race and the Politics of Diagnosis Collide | 25 |
| Chapter 3. Black Lives Matter: The Public Health Crisis of Anti-Black Racism | 31 |
| The Psychology of Oppression | 31 |
| Black Pain, Black Rage: The Mental Health Impacts of Anti-Black Racism | 32 |
| Employment | 33 |
| Income | 34 |
| Education | 34 |
| Immigrant and Refugee Status | 35 |
| Environmental Racism | 36 |
| Criminal Justice and Policing | 37 |
| The Black Lives Matter Movement: The Traumatising Aftereffects of Anti-Black Police Violence | 37 |
| Experiences of Mental Illness in Black Communities | 41 |
| Black Women | 43 |
| Black Men | 50 |
| Chapter 4. Perceptions and Beliefs About Mental Illness in Black Communities and How They Influence Help-seeking and Coping | 53 |
| Perceptions and Beliefs About Mental Illness in Black Communities | 53 |
| Experiences Seeking Help for and Coping with Mental Illness in Black Communities | 63 |
| Chapter 5. Structural Competency: Moving Beyond Cultural Competency in the Mental Health System | 79 |
| Contested Knowledge: Interrogating ‘Common-Sense’ Knowledge in Psychiatry | 80 |
| Structural Competency: Addressing the Politics of Difference in the Clinical Environment | 81 |
| Conclusion: A Multilevel Approach to Addressing Racial Trauma in Black Communities | 87 |
| Health Education and Training | 88 |
| Research | 89 |
| Clinical Practice | 89 |
| Mental Health Services | 92 |
| Health Workforce | 95 |
| Community Outreach and Education | 97 |
| Community-based Approaches | 98 |
| Mental Health Policy | 98 |
| The Mental Health System | 98 |
| References | 101 |
| Index | 113 |
About the Author
Ingrid R.G. Waldron was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Trinidadian parents. She is Professor and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global Peace and Social Justice Program in the Department of History, Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University. She also teaches in the Gender and Social Justice Program in the Faculty of Humanities.
She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Health in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from the Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Department at the University of Toronto, a Master’s degree in Intercultural Education: Race, Ethnicity and Culture from the Institute of Education at the University of London, and a BA in Psychology from McGill University.
She is the Founder and Director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health Project, the Co-founder and Co-director of the Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice, and the Co-founder of Rural Water Watch.
Her research interests include the impacts of anti-Black racism and other forms of discrimination on the health and mental health of Black, Indigenous and racialised communities, racial trauma, racial disparities in health and mental health related to COVID-19, dementia, and other illnesses, and the social, political, and health and mental health effects of environmental racism and climate change inequities in Black, Indigenous, and racialised communities.
She partners with racialised communities, community-based organisations, health agencies, government, and academics to conduct qualitative and mixed methods research, and to develop legislation, policies, services, programmes, and documentary film and other multimedia tools and resources to address health and mental health disparities and promote health equity and environmental and climate justice. For example, her research and advocacy work led to the creation of several services, legislation, and resources. Her research on Black women’s experiences with mental illness in the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada led to the creation of Nova Scotia Health’s Sisterhood Initiative, the first health service exclusively for Black women in Nova Scotia. Her research and advocacy on environmental racism in Black and Indigenous communities in Canada led to her co-developing with former politician Lenore Zann the first federal private members environmental racism/justice bill in Canada An Act Respecting the Development of a National Strategy to Assess, Prevent and Address Environmental Racism and Advance Environmental Justice (Bill C-226). Ms Zann introduced the bill in Parliament in February 2020. It was re-introduced in Parliament by Elizabeth May in February 2022, after Ms Zann lost her seat. The bill then moved through Parliament and then to Senate. On 13 June 2024, the bill was approved at Senate, becoming the first environmental racism/justice law in Canada.
She is the author of the 2018 book There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities (Fernwood Publishing), which was turned into a 2020 Netflix documentary of the same name and was co-produced by Waldron, actor Elliot Page, Ian Daniel, and Julia Sanderson, and directed by Page and Daniel.
She has provided expertise on race and gender discrimination, health, and mental illness in prisons, environmental racism, environmental justice, and climate justice for international and national organisations, including the UN High Commissioner in Geneva; the World Health Organization in Geneva; Environment and Climate Change Canada; David Suzuki Foundation; Canadian Climate Institute; Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change; Ethnocultural Services, Atlantic Region Correctional Service Canada; and Atlantic Region Employment Equity and Diversity Committee, Atlantic Regional Headquarters, Correctional Service Canada. She has also been a board member for several organisations, including Research Canada, Urban Alliance on Race Relations, Across Boundaries – An Ethno-Racial Mental Health Agency, the Health Association of African Canadians, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and Ecology Action Centre.
She is the recipient of several awards, including the Society for Socialist Studies Errol Sharpe Book Prize and the Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing for her book There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities, as well as Research Canada’s Leadership in Advocacy Award (Individual Category), Dalhousie University’s President’s Research Excellence Award – Research Impact, the Dalhousie Faculty of Health Early Career Research Excellence Award, 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women Award, Top 25 Women of Influence Award, the Anne Goodman Award for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Peace Education from Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Environmental Defense’s Green Champion Award, Clean 50’s Clean 50 Award for Education and Thought Leadership, and Springtide Collective’s Advocate of the Year Award.
Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the participation of the study participants who were recruited over the years to share their experiences about their struggles with mental health problems and their experiences seeking help. I would also like to thank the research staff I hired over the years who supported my studies by conducting literature reviews and annotated bibliographies, recruiting study participants, helping to analyse study data, and helping to organise events to share study findings. I am grateful to the many study partners I collaborated with over the years, including community members in Nova Scotia and Ontario, community-based organisations, health services and programmes, faculty, students, volunteers, filmmakers, politicians, and government. As a researcher whose goal is to ensure that study findings inform policy and decision-making, legislation, programmes, and services, I am thankful to you in helping me to achieve these goals. Last but not least, I would like to thank my book editor Candida Hadley, who agreed to copy edit this book on short notice and on a very tight timeline.
Abstract
This book uses anti-colonial theory (Fanon, 1963; Memmi, 1965) to examine the structural inequities that have contributed to the legacy of racial trauma in Black communities in Canada, the USA, and the UK. The book also uses an intersectional analysis to pinpoint how the intersections of race, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, and citizenship status shape experiences of racial trauma, mental illness, and help-seeking in Black communities. Through existing literature in Canada, the UK, and the USA, as well as the voices of Black Canadians who participated in studies the author conducted over the last several years, the book highlights how anti-Black police violence, employment discrimination, environmental racism, and other forms of structural racism contribute to racial trauma in Black communities.
The book provides a historical analysis of how the discourse of scientific racism during the Age of Enlightenment helped shape negative perceptions of Black people and other ‘racial others’ within psychiatry, and how those perceptions have influenced diagnosis and treatment. The book also highlights the beliefs and perceptions Black communities in Canada, the USA, and the UK hold about mental health and help-seeking, the diverse approaches they utilise to manage, cope with, and seek help for mental health problems, and the considerations that need to be made and the actions that need to be taken to address racial trauma and mental health problems in Black communities.
