Resharing videos of violence against Black people can spark more trauma

Friday, July 3, 2020 - 11:30 in Psychology & Sociology

A mural in Minneapolis, Minnesota, made by community artists, commemorates George Floyd, who was killed while being restrained by city police officers in May. Video of his death, taken primarily by a teenager, has since flooded the internet. (munshots/Unsplash/)The next time you decide to hit the retweet button, think again. That video of Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes could have deleterious mental health impacts on the Black community. From abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ essays on the horrors of slavery to ad hoc social media footage of police brutality, the documentation of brutality against Black people is nothing new. But in this era, in which the power of a camera lies at nearly everyone’s fingertips, the stories have taken a visceral, viral turn. On March 3, 1991, George Holliday stood on a balcony across from Hansen Dam Park in Los Angeles, filming four officers as they...

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