Enlightened Racism: Overlooking PTSD in African-American Communities

According to Sut Jhalley, enlightened racism promotes the myth that African-Americans who don’t “make it” in terms of their socio-economic status have only themselves to blame. This idea is reinforced through contemporary television shows that disproportionately display middle-class families that are primarily Caucasian, as the model for the average American family in today’s society. By showing that anyone can make it, a stigma surrounding lower and working class families is created, causing the perception that families that have not transcended into the middle class, haven’t made it based on factors such as not having a taste for the finer things, being too uneducated to make it, being too lazy or careless, or not having any desire to transcend their socio-economic status. 
In the news, several stories exist that shed light on (primarily Caucasian) soldiers that have served in the military and suffer from PTSD as an outcome of their services. Specific instances of PTSD, however, are invisible from the media entirely-namely PTSD suffered in the African-American community. The irony here is that there is a disproportionately excessive portrayal of poverty in African-American households, although the majority of families living in poverty are actually Caucasian. It is very interesting that African-Americans are largely portrayed as living in poverty, but the effects of said poverty do not get mention in the media, leading the audience to believe that these people living in poverty are doing so of their own free will and through the decisions they have made.
In a blog post, it was found that African-American communities with larger amounts of violent crimes have produced an excessive number of members suffering from PTSD. While there are not adequate resources to see and treat all of the citizens that are suffering from this disorder, 43% of all patients that have been screened at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital are in need of treatment. There is a need of $200,000 that are available in the hospital budget of $450 million, but this funding has been turned down as a resource to members of the Black Community suffering from PTSD.
While there are so many American citizens pointing the finger at black communities, a disconnect in reality exists. With poverty in black communities in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and Philadelphia, having high rates of crime and PTSD, the portrayal of African-American families on television sitcoms sheds an inaccurate light on the average lives of African-American communities in the United States, an issue that has a long way to go.
For more information, check out the blog on PTSD in the black community:
http://www.propublica.org/…/the-ptsd-crisis-thats-being-ign…