ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the cultural history of African American substance use and delineates how a legacy of systemic racism shaped substance use practices for the population. The chapter provides historical examples starting from the slaveowners’ use of alcohol to pacify enslaved persons as an oppressive measure to limit uprisings. Another section offers a description of the advent of 19th-century laws prohibiting substances resultant in the disproportionate impact on legal consequences to African Americans as compared to their White counterparts. Next, the chapter describes the confounding influences of sexual and community violence, poverty, and intersectional identities, to include LGBTQIA+ populations, on substance use within the African American community. The chapter continues with a review of African American cultural grief processes, with specific focus on intergenerational grief and racial trauma. The chapter concludes with strengths-based practice recommendations, including cultural humility and broaching interventions, to support African Americans in healing and recovery.
