"I Think About It All The Time": A 12-Year-Old Girl's Internal Crisis With Racism and the Effects on her Mental Health

• Published in: The Urban review Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 329 - 350
• Main Author: Masko, Amy L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01-11-2005; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: African Americans; After School Programs; Anger; Children; Critical Theory; Ethnography; Females; Girls; Mental Health; Psychological Patterns; Race; Racial Bias; Racism; Storytelling; Trauma; Urban Areas; Well Being
• ISSN: 0042-0972; 1573-1960
• DOI: 10.1007/s11256-005-0014-2

I conducted an ethnographic study, situated within the conceptual framework of Critical Race Theory, which illustrates one child's experiences with racism. The study was conducted in an urban after-school program, and explores issues of racism in both the school and community settings. Utilizing the storytelling aspect of Critical Race Theory, I explore the racial experiences of a 12-year-old African-American girl, and the dichotomous emotions of sadness and anger that emerge. I describe the risk to this child's emotional well-being, and suggest a need within the mental health field to create a framework to deal with the trauma caused by racism.