Betrayal Trauma

"I propose that the core issue is betrayal -- a betrayal of trust that produces conflict between external reality and a necessary system of social dependence." — Jennifer J. Freyd

According to Dr. Jennifer J. Freyd, author of the terms "Betrayal Trauma" and "Betrayal Trauma Theory," Betrayal Trauma Theory predicts that dissociating information from awareness is mediated by the threat that the information poses to the individual's system of attachment. ¹ By definition, dissociation means "to sever the association of (oneself) or separate." When we dissociate information from our awareness, we sever association or separate ourselves from such knowledge. Corroborating research has found significant correlations between symptoms of dissociation with those experiencing intra-familial trauma (i.e., trauma occurring within a family) versus those experiencing extra-familial trauma (i.e., trauma lying outside the family or its control). ²

What is it about Betrayal Trauma within the family that lends itself so easily to dissociating information from our awareness?

This is part four (4) of a seven (7) part series examining why Black Leadership rejects the Pro-Life movement, is helping to perpetrate the genocide of their own people and what can be done to reverse this horrific reality.

Betrayal Trauma: Familly Inflicted

"Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity." — Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail

Black Church Face | Gilbert & George.³

The Number Three Reason Black leadership rejects the Pro-Life movement is that he or she is: Compromised. Abortion is the #1 issue in America. Abortion, much like slavery, is an issue, that threatens to shut down our entire government. In the Black Church, abortion is no less of a threat to church government. When you learn that 30% of all abortions in the country are Black abortions ⁴ and understand that Black Americans constitute only 12% of the population, you're beginning to get the picture. But you can't stop there. When you realize that about half of us are women, you're now down to 6% of the population responsible for 30% of all abortions in the country. But you can't stop there. When you consider child bearing age (ages 15 to 44), you're now down to 3% of the population responsible for 30% of all abortions in the country. The numbers are shocking, but you can't stop there. Women generally do not get pregnant by themselves. In the abortion debate, men play a vital role. According to the sociological research performed by MenAndAbortion.Com "about 600,000 men (male partners in ill-timed and unwanted pregnancies) accompanied a client to her abortion appointment [in 2005] (about half of all abortion-seeking women generally have a man sitting by in the clinic or doctor's waiting room)." ⁵ Furthermore, research shows that the abortion industry's population control facilities (i.e., abortion clinics) target Black America, so it is no surprise that Black Americans are the abortion industry's #1 customer. ⁶ The economic front for Black America is both dire and desperate. "According to the data, taken from the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, median net worth of white households fell from $134,280 in 2004 to $97,860 in 2009, while over the same period median black household net worth went from $13,450 to $2,170." ⁷ Given the overwhelming data surrounding Black abortions and the Black family in America, it's easy to see a Black Pastor preaching to a severely post-abortive congregation and dissociating him or herself from the threat that this information poses to their church family. With no help on the horizon, a church about to split over this issue and his or her job on the line, many Black leaders have chosen the money over the mission or the treasure over the truth.

Betrayal Trauma: Survival Is At Stake

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." — Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream, 1963.

Samuel Frederick Yette (1929 — 2011)

Samuel Frederick Yette (pronounced "Yet"), Newsweek's First Black D.C. Correspondent, was a journalist, author and educator. Mr. Yette died at 81 on Friday, January 21st, 2011 at the Morningside House Assisted Living facility in Laurel, Maryland. He had Alzheimer's disease. ⁸ May he rest in peace. Samuel was an influential and sometimes incendiary voice on Civil Rights. Yette's book "The Choice: The Issue of Black Survival in America" ⁹ gained him the full attention of major media. In a 1972 press conference, Yette said: "I don't mean to be pejorative or vindictive when I say this, but had I been a nigger instead of Black, a spy instead of a reporter, a tool instead of a man, I could have stayed at Newsweek indefinitely." ¹⁰ In 1996 Yette told the Tennessee Tribune, "there were those well-placed in our government who were determined to have a final solution for the race issue in this country — not unlike Hitler's 'Final Solution' for Jews 50 years earlier in Germany. I wrote this and documented it. It caused the Nixon White House to say to Newsweek in effect, 'Don't come back until you are rid of him.'" ¹¹ Mr. Yette's very public stand is well documented in the Maafa21 DVD (http://maafa21.com) which boldly carries on his message, that there are elite efforts to exterminate the Black race in America. If Betrayal Trauma Theory can indeed predict "that dissociating information from awareness is mediated by the threat that the information poses to the individual's system of attachment" then it should come as no surprise that Black leadership is struggling as he or she faces "The Choice" of life or death.

As I wonder how many of us would be willing to risk losing our financial security and/or our family relationships over the abortion debate, John 8:7 comes to my mind. What comes to yours?