Trauma
One of the central metaphorical images controlling the thesis of the book is situated in the conceptualization of trauma. Over the course of the book, the author makes several arguments supporting his contention that racism is trauma that impacts the body itself as well as the emotional and mental state:
“Most of us think of trauma as something that occurs in an individual body, like a toothache or a broken arm. But trauma also routinely spreads between bodies, like a contagious disease.”
Racial Terminology
The author strives to make clear yet again for those who have not gotten the memo that the very concept of race is nothing but a myth invented by man for the purpose of economic exploitation. He also chooses to use terms that slightly altered or tweaked so as to make his meaning clearer, but these alterations arrive with an important caveat:
“Many English words are loaded or slippery, especially when it comes to race.”
Buzz
Part of the book is given over to recommending breathing exercises as part of the book’s overall thesis about how racist trauma impacts the body. Animal imagery comes in handy as metaphorical description:
“Breathe out slowly and firmly. As you exhale, make a buzzing sound, like a bee. Extend the buzz and the exhalation as long as you can without strain or discomfort.”
Our Body, Our Story
The connection between body, trauma and history is a recurring theme in the book. In fact, it is the foundational operating theory of the narrative thesis. And metaphor comes in handy for making the occasionally difficult abstractions of this theory more concrete:
"In the aftermath of a highly stressful event, our lizard brain may embed a reflexive trauma response—a wordless story of danger—in our body.”
And Almost all Cops
The lizard brain trope for situating the primitive processing of instinctual behavior is another recurring idea throughout the book. While it does help to explain how racist behavior is not necessarily always an indication of actual racist thought or intent, the dark side of this process is too often used to justify the shooting of suspects by police who can offer absolutely no other rationale to explain away their behavior:
“thinking that `I am going to die' when encountering a Black body is baked into the bodies—and the lizard brains—of many Americans.
