[...]... that, despite the diversity of African Americans (Barrett, 1998, 2003), there would be major differences between African American and Euro -American grief because there is much that is different about the experiences and culture(s) of African Americans We assumed that African American grief might be like Euro -American grief in the core processes of dealing with loss, in grief feelings and their time... reason to think that African American grief might differ from Euro -American grief The Dilemma of Comparison In comparing African Americans with Euro-Americans there is the risk of making Euro-Americans the standard to which African Americans cannot measure up There is the risk of using Euro -American ways of understanding things to obscure the uniqueness and complexity of African American ways of understanding... assumed that African American grief would be different from EuroAmerican grief because the history and contemporary experiences of African Americans provide unique elements for meaning making about the death and because racism is often implicated in African American death and grief We assumed that the unique history of oppression would move African Americans to places that relatively few Euro-Americans... tend to ignore African American grief Tuning out African American grief might occur for many reasons Many white people live racially segregated lives, so they may have little to go on in thinking about African American grieving And also, it may be that in some ways African American experience does not count as much as white experience for some white people Moreover, African American grief may be aversive... about grief comes from studies of Euro-Americans, so if we are going to make use of theory in understanding African American grief and use what we learn from our interviews of African Americans to challenge that theory, we must compare We want this book to be not only about but for the benefit of African Americans We want this book to focus on African Americans, rather than to define African Americans... is that I am an African American An African American even to the point that, yeah, of African descent, but I’m African American I really am The fact of distinctive identity would be one ingredient in thinking that perhaps there are clear differences between how African Americans and EuroAmericans grieve Rosenblatt_RT51526_C00.pmd 16 2/3/2005, 12:38 PM Introduction xvii Every African American interviewed... Euro-Americans We do not for a moment think that what is meaningful about African Americans is how African Americans compare with Euro-Americans Still, comparison is useful in raising questions about theories that might be inappropriately applied to African Americans Comparison is useful in illuminating the ways racism can create challenges for African Americans that are not present for Euro-Americans... with those of Euro-Americans Many of the people who were interviewed did not hesitate to contrast African American with Euro -American grief or their experiences with employers, hospitals, and other societal institutions with the experiences of Euro-Americans This suggests that in trying to represent African American realities, it is legitimate to compare African American and Euro -American experience... we need to understand the grief of African Americans We have written this book for academics and professionals who focus on grief or on African American life Beginning Assumptions We began with the assumption that African American grief over the death of someone important in the person’s life, in all its cultural, social class, and religious diversity, is like Euro -American grief, in all its cultural,... will some day be that comprehensive picture of African American bereavement Based on the 26 interviews, we describe, document, and analyze what seem to us to be key phenomena in African American grieving and key elements of difference between African American and Euro -American grieving There is much that could conceivably be relevant to African American grief that the people who were interviewed did . Crying about It with Others 145 15 Our Grief and Theirs: African Americans Compare Their Grief with Euro -American Grief 153 16 Understanding African American Grief 167 Appendix 173 References 179 Author. think that African American grief might differ from Euro -American grief. The Dilemma of Comparison In comparing African Americans with Euro-Americans there is the risk of making Euro-Americans. phenomena in African American grieving and key elements of differ- ence between African American and Euro -American grieving. There is much that could conceivably be relevant to African American grief