Narratives of grieving African Americans about racism in the lives of deceased family members

This article explores how racism is incorporated into narratives about a deceased family member. This qualitative research study reports on interviews of 26 African American about the life experience of deceased family members. Almost all the individuals interviewed talked about the ways the decease taught them to deal with racism. Findings suggest that a view of African American grief that is insensitive to racism in the African American experience may lead to unhelpful grief support or counseling.