The problem with Black resiliency

By Alicia Banks, Duke University& & Mass media often perpetuate the trope of the “strong Black woman,” someone who perseveres through cycles of hardship and struggle. But new research is showing that celebrating the resiliency of Black women and girls has a cost.& & & The study, co-authored by Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Duke School of Medicine and an affiliate of the Duke Global Health Institute, links the constant demand for Black women and girls to be resilient to lasting adverse effects on health including higher rates of maternal mortality.& & & “There’s a price paid on our health and relationships when we are in constant ‘fight or flight’ mode,” says Bentley-Edwards, the associate director of research for the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke. “If Black women didn’t have to fight for everyday life victories or survival, imagine the even greater level of creativity and innovation that could happen.”& & & As Black girls transition into adulthood, their health outcomes don’t parallel their educational and career successes, writes Bentley-Edwards in an article published this week in The American Psychologist. The study notes that pregnancy-related death rates among college-educated Black women are 5.2...