The Intergenerational Effects and Trauma of the Name Fort Bragg and Braxton Bragg

As a psychologist, I often witness the effects of injuries and trauma on people’s emotions. In our current National climate, we are becoming more sensitized as to the history of trauma upon the descendants of many historical events. This is true today across much of the world. For example, in Germany, all Nazi statues have been removed and new ones cannot be erected to honor that genocidal history. I became aware of this reality when I was in Germany in 1969.

Our own country is still in the process of addressing this intergenerational trauma by removing place-names and statues honoring the history of civil war and slavery. I often wonder about our inaction and its effects upon our residents through the honoring of Braxton Bragg, a vicious slave owner and Confederate general, and the historic Fort Bragg which engaged in the incarceration and abuse of indigenous people of this region. And this is regardless of our conscious daily awareness.

I’d like us to take a moment to ask you to interact with this theme. What images, feelings and associations arise for you when you think of Braxton Bragg.

What associations do you have to the name Fort Bragg?

Now, imagine how you might feel if you were an indigenous person, or a person with an ancestry of slavery

What you might experience is what we call “Intergenerational trauma” which  can also be the result of oppression, including racial trauma, or other forms of systemic oppression. The effects of intergenerational trauma have been documented in descendants of refugees,(3) residential schools,(4) and Holocaust survivors,(5) demonstrating how this type of trauma continues to impact populations for generations after a collective traumatic event has occurred.

Intergenerational trauma refers to trauma that is passed from a survivor to their descendants. It can also be referred to as transgenerational or multigenerational trauma.

People experiencing intergenerational trauma often experience symptoms, reactions, patterns, and emotional and psychological effects from trauma experienced by previous generations (not limited to just parents or grandparents).

Because intergenerational trauma is inherited across generations, it can be fully healed by creating an environment where additional trauma does not occur for multiple generations. It can be healed even in the context of continuing stressors, with the tools, inner resources, and support needed to care for symptoms, and heal the root cause of the intergenerational trauma on physical/somatic, emotional, mental, cellular, and ancestral levels.

Another concern I have is what people will think about our inactions, and how might we address this to be sensitive to the horrors of our past, its effect on others, and how they view us through that lens.

This is a call to speak up in anyway you can. A few months ago, I asked to speak to the owner of Tall Guy, a great beer pub with music. He had a Fort Bragg forever sign and I told him “not everyone feels that way”. He took the sign out of the window immediately. I am not sure what his personal feelings are, but he was responsive to his customers. So please speak up and talk about the issues. Thank you!