'Bereavement leave' recommended by prof for black educators dealing with trauma of racism

Angel Jones, a critical race theory scholar and Southern Illinois University visiting professor, has called for higher education to provide bereavement leave to "black faculty and staff" after "traumatic events" in a February 23 piece published by Times Higher Education titled "Where's our Black bereavement leave?" 

"I am a proud educator who loves what I do. 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," Jones wrote, referring to the Friday, January 27 release of the Tyre Nichols police stop video.

Tyre Nichols was a 29-year-old black man who died after his alleged beating, which was captured on bodycam, at the hands of five black Memphis Police Department officers,

Jones started her piece by saying she views it as part of her job to create environments for students that are "soul-affirming" and that she supports them "holistically, not just academically." She said one way she accomplishes this goal is by affirming to her students "the impact societal events may have on them personally and professionally." She said she sent emails to her students after the Nichols video to inform them about the video and did so with "tears streaming down" her face. 

She also cried when she sent similar emails in the past and cried again because she will have to "send them in the future." 

Jones wrote, "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."

"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. Where’s our Black bereavement leave?" She added.

She suggested the bereavement leave take two forms. First colleges needed to pay for black faculty to process "racial battle fatigue." The term was coined by William A. Smith, the Dean for Diversity, Access, & Equity in the College of Education at the University of Utah. According to Smith's paper on racial battle fatigue, it is the fatigue that black Americans experience produced by existing in "predominantly White environments."

Jones said, "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."  

The second form is time off, extended deadlines, or the option to work from home, chosen at the discretion of the black faculty, whenever they need "space and time to grieve."

"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 wrote.