“Invisibility is an inner struggle with the feelings that one’s talents, abilities, personality, and worth are not valued or recognized because of prejudice and racism.
– Dr. A.J. Franklin. Professor, Educational Psychology, Boston College
“Dorham testified in 1955 that Emmett grabbed her hand and waist and propositioned her, saying he had been with “White women before”. But years later, when in an interview she stated, “That part’s not true”.
– Dr. Timothy Tyson. Senior Research Scholar, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, author “The Blood of Emmett Till” (2008).
“Sixty-eight years ago, there was the unspeakable murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago. It has confronted America to see this as a story about monsters, her being one of them. But the truth is what was unspeakable was the American social order that did nothing about Emmett Till or thousands more like him.”
– Dr. Timothy Tyson
“After hearing every aspect of the investigation and evidence collected regarding Donham’s involvement, the Grand Jury returned a ‘No Bill’ of both charges Kidnapping and Manslaughter,” the statement said. The murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy in this country and the thoughts and prayers of this nation continues to be with the family of Emmett Till.”
– Federal Grand Jury minutes (2008)
My Dear Readers,
In my most recent blog, “The Unspoken Truth: Lynching’s… No License Required” (03.31.24), I gave an accounting of my visit to the National Lynching Memorial, also known as, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. In doing so, I honored my commitment of “bearing witness” to man’s inhumanity.
In bearing witness, I view this as my commitment to self in walking my landscape.
The landscape is Life. One of the essential realities of Life is death is a certainty. What remains uncertain is:
- How we live our lives.
- What we experience in our lifetimes.
- The memories we leave behind with the individuals we will encounter.
In today’s blog, I am providing an analysis of the traumatic reaction an individual had following an unforeseen and unanticipated experience. The title of his story is: “Caught… Trapped…No Way Out!”
Caught… Trapped…No Way Out!
Dear Dr. Kane,
Recently, I read one of your blogs in which you visited the Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. I found the blog to be alarming, impactful, and at the same time very informative. However, I am writing to relay a personal experience that occurred following reading the blog.
I am a 73-year-old, retired professional living in Seattle, WA. I am originally from the Delta area of Mississippi. My father moved the family to Seattle in the mid 60’s to escape the racial violence and lynchings occurring during those times. My grandfather who was a pastor of a small church was lynched due to his advocacy to achieve black voter registration.
Recently following a store run to Costco, I had an experience that today continues to shake me at my core. While leaving Costco after a long, tiring day, I rolled through the parking lot with my groceries to my car, pulling out my electronic key, I noticed that my automatic key wasn’t unlocking the door. Being somewhat frustrated, I grabbed the door and started pulling on it. To my shock, I saw this young white woman sitting in my car…then I realized that I was standing at the wrong car!
She looked up at me, surprised. In return, I looked at her in shock. I blurted out an apology and quickly left and found my car. What I did next has shocked me to my core. When I found my car, I inexplicably turned around and returned to this white woman explaining through her rolled up window, that my car was “four spaces down”. She puzzlingly, looked up at me and went back to reading on her cellphone. I immediately left the parking lot.
I have been seeking since that incident to make sense of my actions. As a child, I recalled my parents constantly schooling me about the death of Emmett Till and putting the “fear of God” in me to maintain a safe distance from white women.
My parents passed away a long time ago but instilled in me this fear of white women. I have done the same to my sons. My grandsons in this generation are clueless to this concern. In accepting my parents’ fears, in the workplace or public situations I either steer clear or maintain my distance from white women.
I am angry at myself for how I reacted. My children and grandchildren’s childhoods were good without enduring such experiences. As much as I want to talk to them about this, I simply can’t do it.
I should never have gone back to the car. I am angry at myself for doing so. I put myself at risk. And now I doubt myself. Will I lose control again? I feel like I never got over my grandfather’s death. I feel like I am living in the past. Do you have suggestions as to how I can get over these feelings. Hopefully you will answer.
Living in the Past.
Seattle, WA.
My Dear Readers,
As previously mentioned, my goal is to analyze this individual’s actions which can be generalized to the many African American males as well as preceding generations.
The individual’s signature – “Living in the Past” is reminiscent of earlier criticism from a white female viewer suggesting “Don’t live in the past…live in the present”. This statement is a fallacy of White Illusion as to how others not having your experience are lending expertise on how Black people should respond to psychological traumatic expereicnes in their present lives.
Psychological Transference and Transmission of Trauma
The reactions of this individual to this situation bring forth two elements: Psychological Transference and Transmission of Trauma. Both are defined as:
- Psychological transference: is when someone redirects their feelings about one person onto someone else.
- Transmission of trauma: there are two types of transmission, Intergenerational and Transgenerational. In Intergenerational Trauma, the trauma gets passed down from those who directly experienced the traumatic event whereas in Transgenerational Trauma, the descendants of the traumatized individual were not directly exposed to the incident.
Living in Fear…The Internalizing of F.E.A.R
This individual was born and raised in an environment of racial violence whereas at any time his life was at risk. This was also the time in which the black community was reeling from the lynching death of Emmett Till. His parents sought to protect him by reinforcing prenotions of impending harm specifically possible death arising from interactions with white women. Following the lynching of his grandfather, the family relocated from the racial violence of the segregated South in the mid 1960’s to the “safe haven” of the Pacific Northwest, the parentally directed fear of white women relocated as well. During his developmental stages of childhood, adolescence, early, middle, and now latent adulthood, this individual has internalized a self-induced protocol designated to maintain keeping himself safe in a world that is unsafe and as such can erupt violently, instantly at any time.
This protocol that I have designated F.E.A.R is the abbreviation for Frightful Experiences Assuming to Real. This individual has created a boundary/buffer zone suggesting, as long as he maintains the boundary, he can buffer or so, protect himself from the angry external environment that holds racial hatred and therefore his demise and destruction. This zone, is known as A.D.T
- Acceptance of the status quo,
- Distancing from the external threat (white women) and
- Tolerance of the perceived threat
Returning to the Scene of … The Crime
Question: Why? Why? Why? … did this individual return to the scene of the crime? Specifically, after realizing he had attempted to enter the wrong vehicle and had subsequently left the scene, why did he return to tell the white woman his car was four spaces away?
Response: In his conscious mind, while accidentally approaching the wrong car, he had awakened the internalized fear that had held him in check for almost seven decades. At the time he had nonvisual recall of the lynching of Emmett Till. In his actions, he had crossed over the boundary which had been instilled from years of parental direction. He returned to the vehicle out of fear that she was going to alert the police and therefore place him at further risk of injury, arrest, death, or imprisonment. Specifically, and out of desperation he sought to assure the white woman that she was safe and most importantly he was not a threat.
To take note, tolerance in psychological terms is defined “as a fair and objective attitude toward those whose lifestyle differs from yours”. However, in this situation there is not the creation of a “fair and objective attitude”. Instead, this is a desperate attempt of parental intervention being passed down to this individual for one purpose…SURIVIVAL.
Transformation: Living with Fear…The Integration of F.E.A.R
This individual can move toward emotional wellness. This can begin with him wanting to transform the concept from Living in Fear to Living with Fear. The objective is to transform the movement of internalization, or freezing the emotions to integration which is the actions of uplifting and bring fulfilment. The clinical protocol integrating F.E.A.R details the following:
- Facing the turbulence or upsetting emotions
- Embracing the feelings
- Acknowledging the pain and suffering
- Responding by empowering towards emotional wellness
Concluding Comments-Dr. Kane
This blog relates a story of an African American elder who escaped the racial violence of one environment only to live in fear as a survivor of the transmission of trauma in another environment 2500 miles away. In recalling the Federal Grand Jury statement that:
“The murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy in this country and the thoughts and prayers of this nation continues to be with the family of Emmett Till.”
It rings with words of truth that the murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy not just for Emmett Till but for the large numbers of Black males who have been made victims and now survivors of this horrific deed and tragedy. Emmett Till is dead and may he continue resting peacefully. However, there are many who continue to suffer every day silently as they continue to accept, distance, and seek tolerance from unseen abuse.
My Dear Readers,
It has been my privilege to share with you my journey of “bearing witness to man’s inhumanity”. As I continue to walk my landscape, my focus is achieving the following: uncovering… discovering… recovering.
- Uncovering: the truth…exposing the lies.
- Discovering: sharing…educating…understanding
- Recovering: healing the psychological wounds
Please stay tuned for my next walking the landscape and “bearing witness” as I travel to Wereth, Belgium to visit The Wereth 11 Memorial and pay homage to the 11 African American soldiers who during the Battle of The Bulge in WWII were captured, tortured, executed and their bodies mutilated by the Nazis. This information was well known by the American government and was covered up.
To the Black and Brown people seeking to walk their landscapes… be careful and aware of the pitfalls and trapdoors placed by those seeking to impact your journey.
“I am an invisible man. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in the circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorted glass.”
When they approach me, they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination- indeed, everything and anything except me.”
– Ralph Ellison, Author “The Invisible Man” (1947)
Dr. Kane… The Visible Man…Invisible …No longer.
Loving Me More 