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'It's freaking scary.' Being Black in Fresno takes a toll on mental health

The Fresno Bee - 8/30/2020

Aug. 30--This is the third in a series of stories for the Fresno Voices project.

Being Black and living in Fresno takes a mental and physical toll for people of color trying to make it in a city that has privileged its white residents, people interviewed for the Fresno Voices project say.

The weight from constantly facing dismissive, demeaning or otherwise hostile environments or people in historically white spaces has been called "Racial Battle Fatigue," a term coined in 2008 by critical race theorist William Smith.

"Being a Black man and having a Black family is scary. It's freaking scary," said the Rev. DJ Criner, a pastor at Saint Rest Baptist Church. "Because you are told -- from birth almost -- rules on how to survive and how to live."

It's a reality for many Black families, who have to have conversations about race that white families may not ever think about, conversations about how shopkeepers or police may treat Black people, for example.

Criner said trying to play by the rules of society is never enough.

"And so you suffer from this mindset of never being accepted for who you are until you get to a position that they want you to be in," he said. "But you still have something on you that you can never take off at night, and that's the color of your skin."

Constant concerns about racism and discrimination are common for Black people. About one in four Blacks will experience an anxiety disorder, compared to about one in five of people of any race, according to a 2017 study. But Blacks are also less likely than the general population to seek help, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

The anxiety is not new. Bob Mitchell has been in Fresno for more than five decades.

The retired police officer said worry about providing for one's family in a community that doesn't necessarily see a Black person past their skin color can be mentally taxing.

"As a head of a family, as an African American male, you are always concerned about the quality of life you are providing for your family," he said. "You're constantly under a certain form of stress trying to make sure that you are doing everything right for your family."

A historical disinvestment in Fresno's Black community only makes it harder. Residents in the southwest part of town have long complained about a lack of parks space and retail services. That part of town abounds with liquor stores and crumbling roads, they say.

"Our community has not truly developed in a manner that the other areas of the city of Fresno has," Mitchell said. "That is a result of neglect by those who sit in the positions to provide infrastructure, positive development, sustainable development, and all of the other amenities within a community that make a community healthy, wholesome, and an enjoyable place to live."

Clinical psychologists

On top of that, Black Americans face a difficult task if they want a clinical psychologist who looks like them or is culturally competent, according to the American Psychological Association. An association tally from 2017 showed just 2% of its membership is Black.

Dr. Reshale Thomas, who owns Allay Psychological Services, said she's seen an influx of new clients as yet another daily stress -- COVID-19 -- has crept into the lives of Fresno's Black community.

"I think that they're really just reaching the tipping point, this boiling point, because each of them -- a lot of them -- come to me, saying, 'I've always had this anxiety; I've always felt depressed; I've always had this anger about what's going on around me, but I've never been able to talk to someone who would understand', " she said.

Some 21% of Black Americans fall under the poverty line, and less than 12% have some kind of health insurance that would cover visits for mental health services, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Suicide rate rises

A Centers for Disease Control report from Aug. 14 said that 15% of Black people surveyed in June said they had seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days, compared to 8% of the white people questioned.

Black people often see violence carried out on people who look like them. In recent memory, there was the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery who was unarmed when he was pursued by white men in a truck, and Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police as she slept.

Fresno's southwest side is home to largely people of color, and some of the neighborhoods with the most Black families. It's also a part of town that sees high rates of gun violence. In the past two years, more than 20 people living in southwest Fresno have died from gun violence, according to advocates.

The violence has been particularly bad during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to figures provided by the Fresno Police Department, 47 confirmed shootings took place citywide between March 16 to April 19. That's compared to 28 shootings during that same time later.

That traumatic imagery and deadly violence is compounded by the daily struggles of discrimination.

Windell Pascascio employs 18 people in his business, Imperial Electric Service Inc. He said running a successful business leaves little room for error, because he always has to prove himself.

"At times, for us to have to work harder ... It can definitely be a little bit overwhelming, always thinking, am I gonna be able to make this happen?" he said.

Microaggressions

Children feel the effects, too, and the rate of suicide among Black children younger than 19 has doubled in the past decade, according to a Congressional Black Caucus report. Black children younger than 13 are twice as likely to die by suicide than their white counterparts.

Angie Barfield, an educator herself, said she's experienced disparaging remarks through the microaggressions of teachers. Her honor roll student son had to change schools recently.

"My first interaction with his teacher -- who was a white female -- my first interaction with her, she says to me, 'Don't be surprised if he doesn't do well in my class. It's expected. It's OK, he'll come around,'" she said.

Barfield "popped right back" at the teacher, assuring her the student would do fine.

"And she just kind of looked at me like, 'Oh, no, I didn't mean it that way,' " Barfield said. "Yeah, you did. Microagressions don't fly over well with me."

Microagressions are indirect, subtle or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group -- the kind of things people say that are hurtful to a person of color whether they are saying it flippantly or ignorantly.

The Association of American Medical Colleges wrote this year about the stereotypes its students still believe about Black people, which commonly ends with doctors not believing their Black patients' reports of pain as readily as their white patients.

A staggering 40% of first- and second-year medical students believe Black people's skin is thicker than white people's, the association said. Another common misconception among the students in the 2016 study was that Black people's nerve endings were less sensitive to pain than their white counterparts.

Black people also deal with the gaslighting that comes from white people who do not recognize the age-old disparities that Black people face, according to Thomas.

"People will tell them, 'Systemic racism doesn't exist anymore. You have opportunities. Don't you have a job? Don't you have a 401k?'" Thomas said about her clients, "A lot of them are working Black people, just the working conditions in their work places, the microagressions.

"The issues in the community not being heard. Issues going to the doctor's offices and their pain reports not being taken seriously."

Read more about this project at fresnobee.com/fresno-voices

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