Angel Jones, a visiting assistant professor in the department of educational leadership at Southern Illinois University, is advocating for universities to provide bereavement leave to allow black faculty time to grieve and process trauma following triggering racist news and experiences.
Jones questions why black educators are expected to return to work and act like nothing is wrong after such events. She believes universities should do more to support faculty of colour beyond sending out a campus-wide email in the wake of tragedies, to retain them. Jones suggests that colleges should offer to counsel guided in race relations and allow time to grieve.
Jones argues that universities should fund counselling for black faculty to work through “racial battle fatigue,” or RBF, which refers to “the psychological and physiological consequences of experiencing racism.”
Racial battle fatigue can cause anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, as well as elevated heart rate, tension headaches, and stomach ulcers. She suggests that culturally competent counsellors familiar with identifying and addressing RBF should always be available.
In addition, Jones believes that black educators should be provided with the space to grieve — whether that means a day off, the option to work from home, and/or an extension on deadlines. “Some may have thought I was joking when I mentioned Black bereavement leave, but I wasn’t. We need space and time to grieve without explaining or defending it,” Jones said.
Since her article garnered attention, Jones has received an influx of hate mail from “racist trolls.” She posted some vulgar, sexist, and racist emails she received on Twitter, noting that the senders only proved her point about the weight of racial trauma.
“Thousands of people are in their feelings because they’ve drawn clickbait conclusions about an article that I doubt they even read,” Jones tweeted. “Black bereavement is a mental health day to deal with the psychological consequences of anti-Black racism. Don’t like it? Then end racism.”
»Illinois University visiting assistant professor makes racist request«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯