"Who taught you to hate the colour of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don't want to be around each other?.."
Malcolm X 1962.
“The Black Plague” Understanding and decoding Internalized Oppression, racism and its effects on the African American Community.
America operates on two principles racism and hateism. First, you have to understand most white people who are in power in America are Racist and believe in the principles of White supremacy. They understand that “blatant” racism is out of style it became too messy and contradictory to the principles of democracy which they try to push in their ‘New World Order Campaign. They don't want to be exposed for their big white lies thus this is why they will viciously attack other white people who make overt racist insults against blacks.
White supremacy is like a cult. White people know racism is a deviant behaviour practiced by the elite rich and powerful around the globe who use it to hold the oppressed masses in racial check. They use poor whites as sacrificial lambs to carry out their system of oppression. It only becomes problematic for those who take part in their cult when one of their members is exposed such as in the case of “Donald Sterling” Ex LA Clippers owner.
When the covenant is broken and one of their members is exposed whites must act swiftly to elude the public that justice is being served. If they can't undo the act of admission through various damage control measures: {financial bribe ‘suits, public apology, investigations, civil probes, termination] they are forced to remove the cancer.
To avoid exposure most white supremacists have gotten smart, they put a Token Blackface out in front of their white supremacist institutions {Corporate America, religious institutions, politics, Judicial systems} to conceal their true identity. Through a system of elaborate checks and balances, the Black person has a title with no true powers other than to act as a gatekeeper and executioner. Typically the black overseer is more loyal than an obedient guard dog, and more vicious than the sheep in wolf's clothing. Black women and bi-racial individuals are the oppressor's favourite kind of Nigger. They want to be like their master and they fear the power of their master.
This token black often plays black by day and sleeps white by night. They're either married to a white person or are black people who have all the white mannerisms of etiquette. Now don't be fooled because white supremacists are clever, they will slip a pseudo-black militant, slick-talking, shucking and jiving niggah in a position of power and fool your ass. All of these Black Face individuals who have a big title and minute power have internalized their oppression.
“Internalized Oppression is the process by which a member of an oppressed group comes to accept and live out the inaccurate myths and stereotypes applied to the group. They turn the experience of oppression or discrimination inward. They begin to feel that the stereotypes and misinformation that society communicates are true and they act as if they were true. This is called internalized oppression.
Thug lifestyle culture, black-on-black disrespect/violence, Hip hop music profane lyrics, black reality shows with an all-star cast of head jerking I hate black men women full of gender confusion, and fractured family units are just a few examples where internalized oppression has taken root among African Americans.
Remember most African Americans' minds have been colonized by white supremacy to hate ourselves. If you hate yourself it only stands you hate others who are like you. The number one institution of oppression used to control/oppress Africans in America are our public school systems."Only a fool would let his enemy teach his Children." - Malcolm X
Because we have not built our own institutions of higher education we have few intellectuals who are traditional African center-mindedness that predates colonized Africa rooted in spirituality, but we have plenty of intellectual negropeans who have been educated in institutions built on the auction blocks of our slave masters. Miseducation can be just as destructive as no education.
This is why the higher up you elevate in education, wealth, and class the less you want to associate with other African Americans. Racism and classism go hand in hand. We live in a culture today filled with white racists and black hateist. So it’s hard to determine what face the oppressor is wearing. Entertainment, Politics, Government, Judicial law enforcement, and Education it's like the black plague of corruption has covered our planet.
Internalized oppression operates on an individual basis. Women on welfare, for example, are people who often believe that the stereotypes and misinformation that they hear about being on welfare are true. They hold themselves back from living life to their full potential or act in ways that reinforce the negative stereotypes that are ultimately self-defeating.
Internalized oppression often occurs among members of the same cultural group. People in the same group believe (often unconsciously) the misinformation and stereotypes that society communicates about other members of their group. People turn the oppression on one another, instead of addressing larger social-political problems in society. The results are that people treat one another in ways that are less than fully respectful. Often people from the same cultural group hurt, undermine, criticize, mistrust, fight with, or isolate themselves from one another. Black-on-black violence, survival crimes, chronic drug addiction, and poverty, are just a few examples of the collateral damage that stems from internalized oppression.
It is important to note that internalized oppression is not the fault of the people whom it affects. No one should be blamed or blame themselves for having been affected by discrimination. Nevertheless, as community members, we have to face these barriers in order to achieve our goals.
While the stereotypes that people internalize are imposed by society, we all, whether we are members of the favoured majority or the oppressed or unfairly treated minority, have a personal responsibility to confront those stereotypes and how they alter our self-confidence.
As members of the African American Community who are conscious of the cause and the effects of Internalized oppression, we must take responsibility to help and support individuals in our community to see that their personal worth has nothing to do with society’s current or past prejudice. We must not only passively discuss the problems that impact the African American community after they escalate into mass murders and gang gun violence. The blood that continues to spill into our Black communities is rooted in racial oppression. We must act collectively in identifying and implementing strategic solutions. As members of the collective community of those who were spared, we must roll up our sleeves and go out into the black community like missionaries to gather up our wounded soldiers to begin the healing process.
We are not only responsible to listen but for emotionally rehabbing our young. Our black children need our guidance and support. We must identify community leaders who will act as beacons of hope and like our ancestor “Harriet Tubman” go back and forth into our communities and lead one, teach one, back to their full potential.
PROTECT YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE EFFECTS OF OPPRESSION.
Internalized oppression makes its biggest impression on children because they don't have any context for understanding the injustices of society. It is easy to personalize the negative messages that are coming at you if you don't have a framework for understanding oppression.
There are a few ways to help young people understand oppression and protect them from its effects. First, it helps to explain to children how and why oppression works so they have a framework for understanding it. This can help young people make sense of the mistreatment they experience or witness, rather than blaming themselves or others in their own group for it. For example, if you give African-American children a history of slavery in the U.S., they will be able to make more sense of why racism operates today.
Teach young people to be proud of who they are and of their background and culture. Equally important, teach them the value of setting and working toward goals, and of not getting discouraged when things don’t go their way. People who’ve internalized discrimination or oppression may quit when faced with difficult circumstances, seeing themselves as incapable of overcoming setbacks. If children grow up with self-respect and with the understanding that occasional setbacks are a normal part of life, to be overcome by planning and hard work, they’ll keep moving forward in both good times and bad.
We can also set up environments for our children in which they and their cultures are cherished. For example, we can make schools become multicultural institutions. Teachers and administrators should understand the importance of integrating the histories and cultures of many groups into the curriculum. School staff should understand how to treat children equitably and have high expectations of every student.
Consider these words from Dr. Amos N. Wilson on the matter:
"Cultural continuity is maintained by educating children in the ways of their culture. And they are educated in the ways of their culture to MAINTAIN their culture, to advance its interests, and ultimately to try to maintain its very survival. That is the fundamental reason people are educated. What does it matter if you learn physics and computer science and everything else and you cannot defend yourself against a military assault by a hostile enemy or a germ warfare assault? Knowledge of computer science, knowledge of the law, knowledge of all of these other things matters not at all if you cannot use that knowledge for self-defence.
Ultimately then, intelligence must be defined in terms of the degree to which it solves YOUR PROBLEMS. The nature of education today prepares you to solve THEIR PROBLEMS and not your own. That's why you study THEIR books, you go to THEIR schools, you learn THEIR information, THEIR language, THEIR styles, THEIR perceptions, so when you come out of THEIR school you can do a humdinger of job-solving European problems, but you can't solve your own. And then you DARE call yourself "intelligent?" C'mon. That's the height of stupidity."
- Dr. Amos Wilson
