Racial Battle Fatigue & Black Educators

Last semester, during a discussion in a pre-service teaching class I instruct, a Black woman asked me a simple and complex question,: “Do all Black teachers experience racism at work?”.  My answer is, “Yes, of course. If we experience racism in our lives outside of the workplace, then, of course, we will experience racism in the workplace.”.  She looked shocked then disappointed. 

 I realized on that day that many pre-service Black educators would move into the world of teaching under the supposition that education was an institution where they would be treated fairly, and their skin color would not matter.  It’s just not true.  Black educators in K-12 and higher education, along with pre-service educators, experience daily racism-related stress in the workplace, which we then internalize and project as racial battle fatigue.  

Racial battle fatigue has been a hot topic in magazines and newspapers lately.  More conversations are starting to surface about how racism-related stress in the workplace is causing racial battle fatigue.  What is racial battle fatigue?   Smith, Allen, and Danley (2007) write that,

Racial battle fatigue addresses the physiological and psychological strain exacted on racially marginalized groups and the amount of energy lost dedicated to coping with racial microaggressions and racism.  The concept of racial battle fatigue synthesizes and builds on the extensive discipline-specific research literature and studies of stress responses to racism and its impact on health and coping (pg. 555).

Black educators experience the same stressors that White and White-passing colleagues experience; fatigue, stress, and anxiousness.  Unfortunately, these effects are a part of teaching.  What needs to be understood is that along with everyday work-related strain comes the impenetrable and ever-present layer of racism with which Black educators must cope.  

 On a podcast I co-host, The Exit Interview, a previous guest Dr. William Smith, the coiner of the term racial battle fatigue, had a few suggestions for Black educators who want to stay in education while trying to heal from their daily inundation with racism.  His suggestions:

1. Leave traditional education spheres in exchange for education spaces that reflect Black love and excellence.
2. Make sure that your home is a place of refuge from racial battle fatigue.
3. Eat healthy foods and exercise. Connect with nature.
4. Develop or reconnect with African consciousness 
5. Pick your battles.  

Finally, I would like to add to the discussion one more thought.  Black educators do not leave their racial battle fatigue in the classroom.  Instead, we bring it home to our families.  How does this affect Black families and Black communities?  What effect does this have on the way Black educators’ children feel about their White teachers?  These questions need to be considered not only by Black educators but by the White-led institutions in which we work.

Elements of Racial Battle Fatigue

• Tension headaches and backaches
• Elevated heartbeat
• Rapid breathing in anticipation of racial conflict
• An upset stomach of “butterflies”
• Extreme fatigue 
• Ulcers
• Loss of appetite 
• Elevated blood pressure
• Constant anxiety and worrying
• Increased swearing and complaining 
• Inability to sleep
• Sleep broken by haunting, conflict-specific dreams
• Intrusive throughs and images
• Loss of self-confidence
• Difficulty in thinking coherently of being able to articulate (confirming stereotype)
• Hypervigilance
• Frustration
• Denial 
• John Henryism, or prolonged, high-effort coping with difficult psychological stressors
• Emotional and social withdrawal 
• Anger, anger suppression, and verbal or non-verbal expressions of anger
• Keeping quiet
• Resentment 

Adapted by Asia Lyons from: “Assume the position…you fit the description: Psychosocial experiences and racial battle fatigue among African American male college students.” by Smith, W.A., W.R, & Danley, L.L., 2007.  American Behavioral Scientist.