Whether we want to or not, as Black people, most of us are always conscious of race because our lives depend on it. Not just because there has been another Black male shot down in the street but because we exist in this country built on the exploitation and the suppression of our race; suppression built on terrorism and denial. We, who are the descendants of African slaves, have a constant battle, combating “White Supremacy/racism” including the weight of the US government openly supported by the majority white population.
Recently, I have been reading, “The Isis Papers: Keys to the Colors” by Dr Frances Cress Welsing. Dr. Welsing, a psychiatrist describes various cases of Black “functional inferiority” plaguing the descendants of slaves. Although the book is an interesting read about racial genetic superiority, a descriptive analysis of the Black functional inferiority was like a punch to my gut, read page 267 and 268 :
“…, 25% of Black children being born in the U.S. are a part of this cycle of emotional underdevelopment-the basis for functional inferiority. Black would be horrified if anyone suggested the outright slaughtering of 25% of Black children. Again, Blacks scream genocide when outspoken white supremacists suggest sterilization of 25% or more of the Black population. Yet, the aforementioned pattern of child-parenting, presently widespread in the Black population, achieves exactly the same results. The only difference is that with Black child-parents, the Black child’s death is more painful and drawn out-a living death.
- It is a living death in this highly complex society to be left unable to sit still in school and achieve academically because of incorrect socialization.
- It is a living death for a child to be shifted repeatedly from one foster home to another.
- It is a living death for a child to walk the streets addicted to drugs or alcohol.
- It is a living death to be a school dropout
- It is a living death to walk the streets as a prostitute.
- It is a living death to sneak around the streets as a thief.
- It is a living death to suffer the depression of unemployment because you ar uneducated and unskilled.
- It is a living death for a child to be attacked by teachers and others for being “bad,” meaning his/her behavior is unsocialized.
- It is a living death for a child to be confined to a psychiatric hospital.
- It is a living death to spend a lifetime locked up behind the bars of juvenile detention center or a prison cell.
- Depression that results from not having had sufficient, patient and confident mothering is also a living death. (Bullet points and italics are mine.)
Many of these syndromes of living death lead to forms of actual death such as suicide, drug overdose, and homicide. More often than not, these deaths are the direct result of children parenting children”. [“The Isis Papers: Keys to the Colors” by Dr Frances Cress Welsing.]
Is our legacy just remnants of fear extended from slavery, Jim Crow, exacerbated by how we strive to survive? Many see these behaviors are symptoms of failed coping strategies. When I think of the pathologies that Dr. Welsing mentions it makes me so sad, we have not developed a different strategy to combat White Supremacy. The following is a compendium that outlines the results of the fear which plagues our people.
- Fear of a Black Planet: The maintenance of fear is reciprocal.
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Unreasonable Fear Is Killing Black Men in America—And There’s No Justification For It
“If you closely follow the twists and turns in many of the most recent high-profile shootings of black men, you’ll notice a pattern. First, only the slightest and smallest level of alleged misconduct or “suspicious” behavior is used to justify the killer’s unreasonable fear.
And second, even after the smoke clears, all too many members of the public will understand, forgive and perhaps even share that deadly terror. Americans still impose upon black men the burden of their own unbalanced sense of risk. The injustice of the singular act of the shooting is magnified by a collective acceptance and defense of the shooter’s extraordinary alarm.” Read more by David French Time Magazine, June 1, 2020 (print edition)
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Health care: Black Americans dying of Covid-19 at three times the rate of white people
“The racial wound at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the US continues to fester, with latest data showing that African Americans have died from the disease at almost three times the rate of white people.
New figures compiled by the non-partisan APM Research Lab and released on Wednesday under the title Color of Coronavirus provide further evidence of the staggering divide in the Covid-19 death rate between black Americans and the rest of the nation.
Across the country, African Americans have died at a rate of 50.3 per 100,000 people, compared with 20.7 for whites, 22.9 for Latinos and 22.7 for Asian Americans.” Continue reading @The Guardian
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Black kids and suicide: Why are rates so high, and so ignored?
“Teen suicide rates among black youth are increasing. In 2016 and again in 2018, national data revealed that among children age 5-11, black children had the highest rate of death by suicide. For the years 2008 to 2012, 59 black youth died by suicide, up from 54 in the years 2003-2007.
Also, the 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that, compared to non-Hispanic white boys, black high-school age boys are more likely to have made serious suicide attempts that require medical attention.” Read more @The Conversation.com
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Wealth Gap:
“Black owned businesses in the United States increased 34.5% between 2007 and 2012 totaling 2.6 million Black firms. More than 95% of these businesses are mostly sole proprietorship or partnerships which have no paid employees. About 4 in 10 black-owned businesses (1.1 Million) in 2012 operated in the health care, social assistance; and other services such as repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sectors.” (Source: Black Demographics)
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- Education Statistics:
“College degrees are regarded as a primary vehicle for reducing poverty and closing the wealth gaps between people of color and whites. Yet, the disparities that exist are alarming. But don’t take our word for it. See for yourself by reading these statistics and the full reports from which they come.” Continue Reading.
“Eighty Percent of African Americans over age 25 have high school diplomas. The average number of African Americans
that have at least a bachelor’s degree increased two percentage point to 19% since the year 2000. This however is still ten percentage points lower than the national average.” More statistics @BlackDemographics.com
Originally, when I began writing this article my aim was to build a justification for “Blank Voting” but recent events have changed my direction, not from Blank voting but my concern for how Black people view the events that surround us. I’m not only disappointed by our lack of an understanding of history but how we choose to protest or better said why we don’t see any way to control our collective situation outside of the democratic party. It is not about #45 but what how are we going to gain control of our lives. Have our aspirations for a middle-class life, riches, fame, notoriety made us immune to our failures in the wealthiest nation in the world or we just confirming Malcolm X’s delineation of “House Niggers”. Are these pathologies to be our legacy for the future?