Violence, Race, Racism, African-American Children and Families 

This book contains a summary of the information presented at a 1991 workshop to address the public health issue of violence in African-American communities. Different chapters explore the social, emotional, and behavioral impacts on African-American children of growing up witnessing violence, public health interventions to prevent community violence, the successes and failures of past interventions, how the mental health care system is set up to fail young African-Americans, and what the future of public and mental health care interventions to address violence in African-American communities might look like. It is emphasized that violence in African-American communities is the product of powerlessness, despair, and a lack of cultural identity in the face of a long and continuing history of institutionalized racism, and the recommendations for future interventions highlight the need both for culturally competent mental health providers and for more economic and cultural unity among African-Americans themselves.