Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome -Psychologist and Author Dr. Joy DeGruy

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing is a theoretical work by Joy DeGruy Leary that argues that the experience of slavery in the United States and the continued discrimination and oppression endured by African Americans creates intergenerational psychological trauma, leading to a psychological and behavioral syndrome common among present-day African Americans, manifesting as a lack of self-esteem, persistent feelings of anger, and internalized racist beliefs.1 The book lays the groundwork for understanding how the past has influenced the present and discusses how we can use the strengths we have gained to heal. The book is an analytical journey of the horrifying effects of chattel slavery, lynching, Jim Crow laws, racism, and all other oppressive methods used against African Americans for decades upon their psyche.