The colorist-historical trauma framework: Implications for culturally responsive practice with African Americans
Abstract
Summary: An evolution of thought and practice regarding the relationship of racism to well-being, healing, and trauma continues within social work and the helping professions. Additionally, empirical research on colorism as a key dimension of racism suggests that colorism negatively impacts the psychological and physical well-being of African Americans. However, few studies have examined well-being among African Americans in the context of historical trauma, through the lens of colorism. In this paper, the intersectionality of colorism and historical trauma is explored to inform culturally responsive social work education, practice, and research regarding African American well-being. It is the first step toward developing a colorist-historical trauma framework. The impact of colorism as a function of historical trauma response transmission among African Americans is presented. Findings: Advances in culturally responsive practice in social work address the impact of social determinants of health, such as racism. However, the impact of colorism within systemic racism is often unacknowledged. The authors assert that social work practice must attune to the differentiated socioemotional, political, and economic needs that exist among African Americans due to the impact of colorism and historical trauma. An intersectional lens, such as the colorist-historical trauma framework, is essential for culturally responsive practice. Applications: The colorist-historical trauma framework contributes to the professional social work discourse aimed at strengthening effective micro-, meso-, and macro-level practice with African Americans for well-being. Implications for social work practice, research, and education are presented.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Social Justice Race work scholars call for justice frameworks to respond to historical traumas and colorist microaggressions.
“Social Justice Race work scholars (i.e., Fisher et al., 2017;Hall & Crutchfield, 2018;Ortega-Williams et al., 2019) call for justice frameworks to respond to historical traumas and colorist microaggressions.”
From Next Wave of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Survivors (2021) · cites this paper as Ortega-Williams et al., 2019
Cites
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color
Crenshaw, K. (1991) · Stanford Law Review · doi:10.2307/1229039 · Cited by 29,585 · see citing works
Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment
Kao, G., & Thompson, J. S. (2003) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100019 · Cited by 1,386 · see citing works
Brave Heart, M. Y. H., Chase, J., Elkins, J., & Altschul, D. B. (2011) · Journal of Psychoactive Drugs · doi:10.1080/02791072.2011.628913 · Cited by 825 · see citing works
The persistent problem of colorism: skin tone, status, and inequality
Hunter, M. (2007) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00006.x · Cited by 763 · see citing works
Conceptualizing and measuring historical trauma among American Indian people
Whitbeck, L. B., Adams, G. W., Hoyt, D. R., & Chen, X. (2004) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1023/b:ajcp.0000027000.77357.31 · Cited by 751 · see citing works
The Impact of Racial Microaggressions on Mental Health: Counseling Implications for Clients of Color
Nadal, K. L. Y., Griffin, K. E., Wong, Y., Hamit, S. A., & Rasmus, M. (2014) · Journal of Counseling & Development · doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00130.x · Cited by 535 · see citing works
Hobfoll, S. E., Hall, B. J., Canetti‐Nisim, D., Galea, S., Johnson, R. J., & Palmieri, P. A. (2007) · Applied Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00292.x · Cited by 493 · see citing works
Reconceptualizing Native Women's Health: An “Indigenist” Stress-Coping Model
Walters, K. L., & Simoni, J. M. (2002) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.92.4.520 · Cited by 466 · see citing works
Heart, M. Y. H. B. (1998) · Smith College Studies in Social Work · doi:10.1080/00377319809517532 · Cited by 453 · see citing works
Unequal City: Race, Schools, and Perceptions of Injustice
Shedd, C. (2015) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 450 · see citing works
Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone
Hunter, M. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203620342 · Cited by 448 · see citing works
Understanding race, ethnicity, and power : the key to efficacy in clinical practice
Pinderhughes, E. (1989) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 404 · see citing works
Hill, M. E. (2002) · Social Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3090169 · Cited by 372 · see citing works
Brown, T. N. (2003) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/1519780 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
A People's History of the United States
Morra, S., & Zinn, H. (1991) · TESOL Quarterly · doi:10.2307/3587040 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Huynh, V. W. (2012) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9756-9 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
From Dark to Light: Skin Color and Wages Among African-Americans
Goldsmith, A. H., Hamilton, D., & Darity, W. (2007) · The Journal of human resources · doi:10.3368/jhr.xlii.4.701 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Hope and Healing in Urban Education
Ginwright, S. (2015) · doi:10.4324/9781315757025 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Perreira, K. M., & Telles, E. (2014) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.054 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Meaning and measurement: an inclusive model of evidence in health care
Upshur, R. E. G., VanDenKerkhof, E. G., & Goel, V. (2001) · Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2753.2001.00279.x · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Carter, R. T., Mazzula, S. L., Victoria, R., Vázquez, R., Hall, S. P., Smith, S. C., Jr., Sant-Barket, S., Forsyth, J. M., Bazelais, K., & Williams, B. (2011) · Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy · doi:10.1037/a0025911 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Murry, V. M., Heflinger, C. A., Suiter, S. V., & Brody, G. H. (2011) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-010-9627-1 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
The impact of light skin on prison time for black female offenders
Viglione, J., Hannon, L., & DeFina, R. H. (2011) · The Social Science Journal · doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2010.08.003 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
The Relationship Between Skin Tone and School Suspension for African Americans
Hannon, L., DeFina, R. H., & Bruch, S. K. (2013) · Race and Social Problems · doi:10.1007/s12552-013-9104-z · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Skin-Tone Effects among African Americans: Perceptions and Reality
Hersch, J. (2006) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/000282806777212071 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
The Hidden Prejudice in Selection: A Research Investigation on Skin Color Bias
Harrison, M. S., & Thomas, K. M. (2009) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00433.x · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Dlova, N. C., Hamed, S. H., Tsoka-Gwegweni, J., & Grobler, A. (2015) · British Journal of Dermatology · doi:10.1111/bjd.13556 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Key roles of community connectedness in healing from trauma.
Schultz, K., Cattaneo, L. B., Sabina, C., Brunner, L. M., Jackson, S., & Serrata, J. V. (2016) · Psychology of Violence · doi:10.1037/vio0000025 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
African American Historical Trauma: Creating an Inclusive Measure
Williams-Washington, K. N., & Mills, C. P. (2018) · Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development · doi:10.1002/jmcd.12113 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Shedding “light” on marriage: The influence of skin shade on marriage for black females
Hamilton, D., Goldsmith, A. H., & Darity, W. A. J. (2009) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2009.05.024 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Chae, D. H., & Walters, K. L. (2009) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2007.126003 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Colorism in the Classroom: How Skin Tone Stratifies African American and Latina/o Students
Hunter, M. (2015) · Theory Into Practice · doi:10.1080/00405841.2016.1119019 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
The role of colorism in explaining African American females’ suspension risk.
Blake, J. J., Keith, V. M., Luo, W., Le, H., & Salter, P. S. (2016) · School Psychology Quarterly · doi:10.1037/spq0000173 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Bias Among African-Americans Regarding Skin Color: Implications for Social Work Practice
Hall, R. E. (1992) · Research on Social Work Practice · doi:10.1177/104973159200200404 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Revisiting “Color Names and Color Notions”
Wilder, J. (2009) · Journal of Black Studies · doi:10.1177/0021934709337986 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
“I'm stronger than I thought”: Native women reconnecting to body, health, and place
Schultz, K., Walters, K. L., Beltran, R., Stroud, S., & Johnson-Jennings, M. (2016) · Health & Place · doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.05.001 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Private Regard, Identity Protection and Perceived Racism among African American Males
Bynum, M. S., Best, C., Barnes, S. L., & Burton, E. T. (2008) · Journal of African American Studies · doi:10.1007/s12111-008-9038-5 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Advantages of Stress Process Approaches for Measuring Historical Trauma
Walls, M. L., & Whitbeck, L. B. (2012) · The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse · doi:10.3109/00952990.2012.694524 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself
Battle, M. (2001) · Anglican Theological Review · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Jemal, A. (2018) · Journal of Human Rights and Social Work · doi:10.1007/s41134-018-0061-8 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
The Community Loss Index: A New Social Indicator
Abramovitz, M., & Albrecht, J. (2013) · Social Service Review · doi:10.1086/674112 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
The colour line and the colour scale in the twentieth century
Banton, M. (2011) · Ethnic and Racial Studies · doi:10.1080/01419870.2011.605902 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Gone, J. P. (2013) · Spirituality in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1037/2326-4500.1.s.78 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Ortega‐Williams, A., Wernick, L. J., DeBower, J., & Brathwaite, B. (2018) · Youth & Society · doi:10.1177/0044118x18758542 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Self-citationHistories of Colorism and Implications for Education
Keith, V. M., & Monroe, C. R. (2016) · Theory Into Practice · doi:10.1080/00405841.2016.1116847 · Cited by 57 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Research demonstrates that skin complexion is linked to socioeconomic status which enables lighter-skinned parents to ensure their lighterskinned children are attending schools that are more resourced (Kao & Thompson, 2003; Keith & Monroe, 2016).”
BackgroundBlack Youth Rising: Activism and Radical Healing in Urban America
́N, T. H. (2011) · Harvard Educational Review · doi:10.17763/1943-5045-81.2.384 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Wallace, S. A., Townsend, T. G., Glasgow, Y. M., & Ojie, M. J. (2011) · Journal of Women s Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2223 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States
Reece, R. L. (2018) · Journal of Black Studies · doi:10.1177/0021934718803735 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Colorism and School-to-Work and School-to-College Transitions of African American Adolescents
Ryabov, I. (2012) · Race and Social Problems · doi:10.1007/s12552-012-9081-7 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Racial/Ethnic Identity, Religious Commitment, and Well-Being in African Americans
Ajibade, A., Hook, J. N., Utsey, S. O., Davis, D. E., & Tongeren, D. R. V. (2015) · Journal of Black Psychology · doi:10.1177/0095798414568115 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Racial Purity Laws in the United States and Nazi Germany: The Targeting Process
Scales-Trent, J. (2001) · Human Rights Quarterly · doi:10.1353/hrq.2001.0023 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Colorizing Educational Research
Monroe, C. R. (2013) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x12469998 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Aslakson, K. R. (2011) · Journal of Social History · doi:10.1093/jsh/shr059 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Crossing the danger water : three hundred years of African-American writing
Mullane, D. (1993) · Anchor Books · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Levers, L. L., & Hyatt‐Burkhart, D. (2011) · Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy · doi:10.1111/j.1530-2415.2011.01254.x · Cited by 32 · see citing works
5 Critical Advocacy Research: An Approach Whose Time Has Come
Hinchey, P. H. (2016) · Peter Lang eBooks · doi:10.3726/978-1-4539-1621-6/18 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
In Their Own Words: How Black Teens Define Trauma
Henderson, Z. (2017) · Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma · doi:10.1007/s40653-017-0168-6 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Black women’s experience of colorist microaggressions
Hall, J. C., & Crutchfield, J. (2018) · Social Work in Mental Health · doi:10.1080/15332985.2018.1430092 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Self-citationFranklin, S. M. (2016) · New York University Press eBooks · doi:10.18574/nyu/9780814789384.001.0001 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Breland‐Noble, A. M. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4608-4_14 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Womanism and Afrocentricity: Understanding the intersection
Rodgers, S. T. (2016) · Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment · doi:10.1080/10911359.2016.1259927 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Crutchfield, J. M., Fisher, A. E., & Webb, S. L. (2017) · The Western journal of black studies · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationRobinson, L. (2001) · Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1177/146801730100100204 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Implications of Eurocentrism for Social Work Education: Trivialization vis‐à‐vis Skin Color
Hall, R. E. (2009) · Asian Social Work and Policy Review · doi:10.1111/j.1753-1411.2009.00032.x · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Racial- and ethnic-sensitive practice: From the practitioners’ perspective
Hall, E. L., & Rammell, K. (2016) · Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1177/1468017316651993 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
An Integrated Historical Trauma and Posttraumatic Growth Framework: a Cross-Cultural Exploration
Ortega‐Williams, A., Beltrán, R., Schultz, K., Henderson, Z., Colón, L., & Teyra, C. (2021) · Journal of Trauma & Dissociation · doi:10.1080/15299732.2020.1869106 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Self-citationConceptualizing healing through the African American experience of historical trauma.
Henderson, Z., Stephens, T. N., Ortega‐Williams, A., & Walton, Q. L. (2021) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/ort0000578 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-citationOrtega‐Williams, A., Booth, J. M., Fussell‐Ware, D. J., Lawrence, Y. J., Pearl, D., Chapman, N., Allen, W. R., Reid‐Moore, A., & Overby, Z. (2022) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/jora.12733 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Self-citationAnti-Black Racism and Historical Trauma: Pushing the Positive Youth Development Paradigm
Ortega‐Williams, A., & Harden, T. D. (2021) · Youth & Society · doi:10.1177/0044118x211007883 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationIntergenerational Transmission of Ethnoracial Historical Trauma in the United States
Nagata, D. K., Kim, J. H. J., & Gone, J. P. (2024) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-080822-044522 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
An Intersectional Approach to Equity, Inequity, and Archaeology
Prince, J. A. R., Blackwood, E. M., Brough, J. A., Landázuri, H. A., Leclerc, E. L., Barnes, M., Douglass, K., Gutiérrez, M. A., Herr, S., Maasch, K. A., et al. (2022) · Advances in Archaeological Practice · doi:10.1017/aap.2022.26 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Childhood Experiences of Racial Acceptance and Rejection
Lewis, M. L. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-83726-6_1 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Ortega‐Williams, A., & McLane-Davison, D. R. (2021) · Advances in Social Work · doi:10.18060/24475 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationOrganizing as “Collective-Self” Care Among African American Youth in Precarious Times
Ortega‐Williams, A. (2020) · Journal of African American Studies · doi:10.1007/s12111-020-09506-2 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationRisser, L. R. (2020) · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The Influence of Colorism on the Hair Experiences of African American Female Adolescents
Dove, L. M. (2021) · Genealogy · doi:10.3390/genealogy5010005 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Race-based trauma and post-traumatic growth through identity transformation
Chin, D., Smith-Clapham, A. M., & Wyatt, G. E. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1031602 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Teach Like a Black Woman: A Trauma-Informed Black Feminist Praxis
Farinde‐Wu, A., Alvarez, A. J., & Kunimoto, N. M. (2023) · Urban Education · doi:10.1177/00420859231175669 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Mueller, D. J., Bacalso, E., Ortega‐Williams, A., Pate, D. J., & Topitzes, J. (2021) · Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcop.22530 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationSpratt, T. J. R. (2024) · Ethnic and Racial Studies · doi:10.1080/01419870.2023.2252880 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Crutchfield, J. M., Hall, J. C., Ortega‐Williams, A., & Webb, S. L. (2020) · Journal of Black Studies · doi:10.1177/0021934720935849 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationSteenkamp, U. (2021) · European Journal of Education · doi:10.26417/790dun39d · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Next Wave of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Survivors
Rodgers, S. T. (2021) · Advances in Social Work · doi:10.18060/24159 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Social Justice Race work scholars (i.e., Fisher et al., 2017; Hall & Crutchfield, 2018; Ortega-Williams et al., 2019) call for justice frameworks to respond to historical traumas and colorist microaggressions.”
BackgroundMabrouk, F. A., Connaught, G. K., Allen, C. A., & Israel, K. (2024) · Social Work in Public Health · doi:10.1080/19371918.2024.2373428 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Hong, S. H. (2023) · Social Work · doi:10.1093/sw/swad045 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Greene, A. C., Ortega‐Williams, A., Page, C., & General, A. A. D. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12852-4_84-1 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationOrtega‐Williams, A., Crutchfield, J. M., Hall, J. C., & Brown, A. (2023) · Smith College Studies in Social Work · doi:10.1080/00377317.2023.2240402 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychoanalytic Perspectives on Psychosocial Dimensions of Adversity among Black Youth
Adams, C. J. (2022) · Journal of Infant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/15289168.2022.2069452 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Global perceptions on social work: A scoping review
Modderman, C., Schiller, U., Staniforth, B., Trappenburg, M. J., Hickson, H., & Long, N. (2026) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcag131 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Stolbach, B. C., Anam, S., Allen, K. A., Bart-Plange, E.-L. B., Lee, R., Daru, A., Boulware, A., & Dinizulu, S. M. (2026) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.70113 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lewis, M. L., & White, V. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-83726-6_16 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Palmer, G., Rogers, T., & Wilkins, N. (2023) · Psychological Thought · doi:10.37708/psyct.v16i1.699 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Unconscious Bias in Social Work: Identifying Culturally Responsive Interventions with BIPOC Clients
Gladden, P. (2025) · Essential clinical social work series · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-91391-4_12
Kawaii-Bogue, B., MacNear, K. A., Dixon-Gardner, A., Bobo, K., Okafor, C., Cook, E., & Soares, K. (2025) · Mental Health Religion & Culture · doi:10.1080/13674676.2025.2520501
Brundage, W. F., Hunter, A., Williams, K., Snyder, C., Carrigan, W. D., Osher, D., & Elias, M. (2026) · Urban Education · doi:10.1177/00420859261445894
Muhammad, L. (2026) · Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · doi:10.1007/s40615-026-03020-z
Contemplative practices for healing historical trauma among BIPOC populations: a scoping review
To, M. N., Beltrán, R., & King, K. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1834789
- Authors
- Ortega-Williams, A., Crutchfield, J., & Hall, J. C.
- Affiliations
- Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, USA
- The University of Texas at Arlington (US)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Social Work
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-11-28
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 294-309
- ISSN
- 1468-0173 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-296X
- OpenAlex
- W2989976381
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 9.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Social Work (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Counseling Practices and Supervision
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Social Work Education and Practice
- Keywords
- colorism, historical trauma, African Americans, culturally responsive practice, social work education, intersectionality, racism, well-being, trauma transmission, systemic racism, social determinants of health
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
