The National Center for PTSD defines racial trauma as, “ the emotional impact of stress related to racism, racial discrimination, and race-related stressors, such as being affected by stereotypes, hurtful comments, or barriers to advancement.”

Racial trauma can result from major experiences of racism such as workplace discrimination or hate crimes, or it can be the result of an accumulation of many small occurrences, such as everyday discrimination and microaggressions.

Ethnic trauma can be directed towards minority groups such as Asian, Arab-Chaldean, British, Irish, Jewish, to name a few. Trauma can result from the psychological distress of experiencing or witnessing discrimination, verbal and physical aggression (including receiving death threats or acts of violence) and intimidation.