RCC SPEAKER LINKS EFFECTS OF SLAVERY TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE

RAMAPO - The trauma of slavery remains a contributing factor in
alcohol and drug abuse among blacks, Joy DeGruy Leary, told mental
health providers, social workers, prevention professionals and
students yesterday.

Leary, a researcher and assistant professor at Oregon's Portland
State University Graduate School of Social Work, is noted for her
"Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome" theory. She proposes that some of the
clinical and social problems in the African-American community were
developed as coping mechanisms to survive centuries of racial oppression.

Yesterday, she told those gathered in the Cultural Arts Center of
Rockland Community College that for alcoholics or other substance
abusers who are black to be effectively treated, the root causes of
the pain driving them to drink or use drugs must be understood. "See,
a lot of people think that this stuff can be treated in a clinic. We
have to have social justice in order for people to heal," she said.

Treatment is affected when patients and those caring for them enter
into a relationship that is subtly affected by internalized
historical racial biases and preconceptions, she said.

In her slide presentation, Leary discussed how blacks have learned to
cope by internalizing their uncertainty and hurt.

"Black people have to work twice as hard," just to gain a fair
standing in the community and often wonder whether they're accepted
or merely tolerated, she said.

Added to that, blacks have to make daily decisions about whether to
confront overt or subtle acts of prejudice, or whether to "let it
slide," said Leary, who is black.

People who "let it slide" suffer the damage, she said, adding that
the hurt seeps "through the epidermis, and it breaks their hearts
over and over again."

Because whites know blacks have been unjustly oppressed, they always
expect blacks to be angry, and blacks' presence creates dissonance
for whites, she added.

"You shouldn't be scared of black folk," she said. "We never created
a vigilante group to come after you."

Leary's spirited talk, sponsored by the Rockland Council on
Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependence and VCS Community Change
Project, drew nods of agreement, laughter and applause from the
racially diverse audience.

"I think this was awesome," said Selena Nixon, family connections
coordinator for Rockland Parent Child Center, who is black.

The Rev. George Doering Jr., who was a treatment provider for 30
years, said professionals should apply Leary's theory to their work.

"They should, there's no doubt about that," said Doering, who is white.