Identifying and defining racial battle fatigue manifestations among black students

Black high school students experience discrimination in a variety of formats in and outside of school. Such discrimination can be distressing and may lead to racial battle fatigue (RBF), which is the physiological, psychological, or behavioral strain people of color experience after exhaustive cope with on-going racial discrimination. RBF has rarely been studied among Black adolescent populations, and operationalizations about how RBF manifests are limited. The present study aimed to define and categorize RBF manifestations among Black high school students. This study qualitatively examined the ways in which recent Black high school graduates (N =17; ages 18-21) experienced RBF during their time in secondary education settings, and it considered the discriminatory context in which RBF arose. Results also suggest that RBF manifested in four distinct behavioral, psychological, or emotional ways. Furthermore, RBF manifestations arose due to discrimination related to microaggressions, macroaggressions, and overt discrimination.