The Impact of Intergenerational Racial Trauma on High-Achieving African American Women

The historical trauma of chattel slavery in the United States created a system of race-based discrimination, exploitation, and oppression still experienced today. Extensive research is required to comprehensively understand and address the intergenerational effects of trauma. The intergenerational transmission of trauma affects future generations, as traumatic memories affect those who have personally experienced conflict and violence. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to describe how high-achieving African American women who are descendants of enslaved Africans experience intergenerational trauma. Conceptually, it is framed by Critical Race Theory, which this study utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. Qualitative interviews were conducted with twelve high-achieving women who are descendants of enslaved Africans in the United States. An interpretive analysis of the interview data was conducted to develop the relevant themes regarding the salience of intergenerational racial trauma among high-achieving women descendants of the enslaved who suffered gross human rights violations during the slave era. Secondary traumatization, socioeconomic and material impacts, and a sense of powerlessness and helplessness were discussed.