“I can’t breathe”: A case study—Helping Black men cope with race-related trauma stemming from police killing and brutality

It is impossible for individuals to survive without the ability to breathe. Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man, uttered "I can't breathe" during an arrest by the police, who placed him a chokehold and caused his death (Goldstein & Schweber, 2014). Seeing this inhuman image on videotape pierced the consciousness of the nation. The grand jury failed to indict the police officer who killed Mr. Garner, and this sparked civil protests, which birthed the notion "Black Lives Matter" (Owens, 2015). Protestors chanted "I can't breathe" to decry this injustice. This underscored literally and metaphorically how difficult it is for Black men to thrive in a hostile environment where their civil rights are denied. This article addresses the killings of unarmed Black men by the police, arguing that such killings are motivated by factors including how race, racism, and gender contribute to the "othering" of their humanity. Ideas from Critical Race Theory, the nexus among policing, criminality and racial profiling, critical consciousness, relational theory, and narrative therapy will provide a foundation for understanding the racialized experiences of Black men in America—where multiple forms of injustices exist—and where police killings are viewed as lawful. Highlighting practice themes from a case vignette involving an adolescent Black male engaged in psychotherapy will explicate how racial profiling by the police triggered race-based traumatic stress. The vignette will illuminate the implications for psychotherapeutic work with Black men who have been affected by race-based traumatic stress stemming from "living while Black."