On 25 Jan 2022, Klaus Schadenfreude <klaus_schadenfreude@null.net>
posted some news:sspvoi$lsig$54@news.freedyn.de:

> felons should have this right abridged, especially black felons

A visiting professor 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.

Angel Jones, a visiting assistant professor in the department of
educational leadership at the college, questioned why black educators are
expected to return to work and act like nothing is wrong after such
events.

�I am a proud educator who loves what I do,� Jones wrote in a piece
published by Times Higher Education. �But before that, I am a Black woman.
A Black woman who is expected to return to �business as usual� on Monday
after seeing a member of my community murdered on Friday.�

The critical race theory scholar wrote about how she emailed her students
in January following the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-
old black man, to check on them without allowing herself time to process
the horrific news and trauma.

Angel Jones is a visiting professor at Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville who specializes in critical race theory.
Southern Illinois University
�Although it is customary for employees to receive support and
understanding while grieving the loss of a loved one, the same care is
rarely shown to the Black community when we lose someone in horrific and
traumatic ways,� Jones said. �Where�s our Black bereavement leave?�

The professor said she often puts her students� needs before her own, but
that universities should do more to support faculty of color � more than
just sending out a campus-wide email in the wake of tragedies � in order
to retain them.

�History has shown us that Black educators often have to exert additional
emotional energy to pick up the slack the academy leaves behind after it
sends its obligatory, and often performative, statement to the campus
community,� she wrote.

In order to help black faculty members, Jones said colleges should do two
things � offer counseling guided in race relations and allow time to
grieve.

She said universities should fund counseling for black faculty to work
through �racial battle fatigue,� or RBF, a term that 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,
according to Jones.

�Free counseling services, by culturally competent counselors familiar
with identifying and addressing RBF, should be available at all times, not
just when our trauma has been televised,� she wrote.

In addition, black educators should be provided 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 having to
explain or defend it,� Jones said.

Since her article garnered attention, the professor said she has received
an influx of hate mail from �racist trolls.�

She posted some of the vulgar, sexist, and racist emails she received on
Twitter, noting that the senders were only proving 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.�

<https://nypost.com/2023/03/05/illinois-professor-angel-jones-urges-
bereavement-for-black-educators-to-process-racism-trauma/>