Black Mens Studies. Serie McDougal III
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2006). Uzogara et al. (2014) investigated skin-tone discrimination among African American males using survey data collected through the National Survey of American Life. They found that dark-skinned African American males experienced the most out-group discrimination (from non-Blacks), ←39 | 40→followed by Black males with medium skin tone. Light-skinned Black males experienced the least out-group skin-tone discrimination. They found that light-skinned Black males experienced the most in-group skin-tone discrimination, while medium skinned Black males experienced the least in-group skin-tone discrimination (Oyserman et al., 2006). Light-skinned Black males get the most favorable treatment from Whites today as was the case during slavery (Oyserman et al., 2006).
Anti-Self Disorder
Akbar (1991) defines anti-self-disorder as a mental condition that includes the characteristics of alien-self disorders with the addition of overt and covert hostility toward other Black people. It is easy for Black people to be hostile toward or undermine other Black people because there are very few consequences compared to those for undermining White privilege. A part of the anti-self-disorder is what Wilson (1991) calls displaced aggression, when Black men are provoked to self-destructive anger by racism. This aggressive energy is sometimes directed toward other Black people in self-destructive ways (i.e., Black-on-Black violence or apathy and withdrawal) instead of at its true sources and causes. Experiences with racial discrimination are also associated with violent risk behaviors. For example, research shows that as adolescent Black males’ experiences with racial discrimination increase, the likelihood of them engaging in violent behavior increases (Hammond, Agyemang, et al., 2014). Hammond, Agyemang, et al. (2014) argue that experiencing racism increases risk-taking behavior as a coping mechanism; racism threatens core aspects of traditional masculinity by lowering Black males’ sense of agency and control. Similarly, microaggressions can lead to feelings of isolation and loss of control (Evans, Hemmings, Burkhalter, & Lacy, 2016). The authors theorize that Black males try to recuperate that threatened masculinity by engaging in risk behaviors, including but not limited to violence.
Ego-defense Orientation
The need to constantly protect against the negative effects of racism stimulates African Americans to develop and use ego-defense mechanisms including the unconscious effort to defend against racial anxiety through self-deception, distorting, and denying reality (i.e., embracing the notion that society is post-racial) (Wilson, 1991). Surviving in a racist environment requires a great deal of awareness. When a Black male experiences racism, it is just one of a collection of experiences, not usually single event. Moreover, one experience with racism triggers memories of others (White & Cones, 1999). Repeatedly reliving racist experiences can take a toll and keep one hypervigilant of racism. Among African Americans, the ability to detect subtle racial slights is considered a kind of sixth sense (Franklin & Boyd-Franklin, 2000). Black men are forced to maintain this vigilance due to the prevalence of racism and its intrapsychic consequences. However, some males attempt to avoid awareness of racism through a variety of ego-defense mechanisms. Avoidance may come in the form of denial of the existence of racism or claims of being unaffected by it.
Similarly, Landrum-Brown (1990) argues that racism can lead to a denial of the political significance of race and racism. Azibo (2014) calls it a nepenthe defense mechanism disorder, in which some Black people respond to racial terrorism by being forgetful or oblivious to racism to protect themselves from the associated pain and suffering. Spielberg’s (2014a) research explores a mechanism that some Black males use to cope with racism called trying not to know. Different from the popular belief that Black males see racism in every interaction with Whites, Spielberg notes the Black males he interviewed about racism in their lives actually went out of their way to avoid seeing race on individual, institutional, and cultural levels. According to Spielberg, they try to avoid the emotional pain attached to racially charged experiences by ignoring them until the impact is so overwhelming they can’t ignore them any longer. Spielberg’s research found that young Black males who were in most denial about racism were the least academically successful, while those who indicated an awareness of racism and had ways to cope with it were more academically successful and had more psychological well-being. ←40 | 41→However, awareness of racism alone is not enough. Some Black males avoid conversations about racism because these conversations are mostly unaccompanied by ideas about addressing it and are thus demoralizing if not defeatist (Pierce & Profit, 1994). Some attempt to avoid the trauma of racism by avoiding knowledge or awareness of present or historic abuses (Williams-Washington, 2010). Denial of racism or silence about racism can also be a misguided method of avoiding conflict to protect one’s self from the negative emotional consequences of racism. The act of trying to ignore racism may feel like a viable strategy for protection against its impacts. But it makes things worse by requiring a constant denial of one’s own truth. Attempting to avoid knowledge of racism can leave Black men more vulnerable to historic trauma and subjugation (Williams-Washington, 2010).
Compensatory Striving Through Assimilation and Self-Reduction
According to Wilson (1991), some Black men react to feelings of inadequacy due to racism by disguising, denying or counterbalancing these feelings through intensely striving for social acceptance and identification with their oppressors or those with power. This is similar to the alien-self disorder described previously. This state may also manifest as social over-conformity. Historically, there have always been Black men who respond to racism through conformity. White and Cones (1999) explain how some Black men accept mainstream American values and goals and mainstream methods of achieving them. For example, one of the consequences of internalized racism is the assumption that there is one type of Black male, which leads even Black people to embrace the burden of racial performance to prove themselves—often by performing racially stereotypical behaviors (Young, 2007). In predominantly White environments, this pressure to act stereotypically Black can be greater than usual because Whites may provide social rewards for such behaviors (Brewster et al., 2014). Under Barack Obama’s presidential administration, the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force went into communities across the country and held listening sessions and talked with young men and boys of color. They found many young men engaged in behaviors to compensate for the prejudice others had about them. In their report they explain two heartbreaking admissions that the boys and young men made: (1) they too had internalized negative views of themselves and sometimes feared other boys and young men of color, and; (2) they would often diminish themselves during their daily lives to not appear threatening to others (Johnson & Shelton, 2014).
One type of compensatory striving or self-reduction is the GEMM mentality. Being a GEMM and attempting to assimilate to a racist environment comes at a dangerous cost as some Black men experience stress from attempting to adjust themselves for the comfort of Whites or others. For example, mental health specialist, Paul A. Dawkins (1999) explains that many Black men may experience stress related to altering their behavior to ease the minds of Whites while increasing their own anxiety. Dawkins explains his own experiences with adopting a less threatening posture around White women:
While searching for a public pay phone recently in Durham, North Carolina, I found myself reexperiencing a situation I had encountered several times before in the 15 years I have lived in this, my adopted country. I had spied an available and, I hoped, functioning pay phone in a convenience store’s parking lot and decided to pull in. There were two phones side-by-side. One was being used by a well-dressed, slightly older White woman. As I pulled in and parked my car, I discovered, much to my dismay and chagrin, that I was a bit reluctant to get out of my car and use the phone while this woman was still there. In questioning my hesitation, I came to the puzzling conclusion that I did not want to make her “uncomfortable.” I was surprised, and yet not surprised, by my reaction. Surprised because I hadn’t quite realized to what extent I had allowed others’ perceptions of who I was to seep so pronouncedly into my psyche. Thinking back, while I remained seated in my car, I realized that as an almost 40-year-old Jamaican-born man (who was aware of race relations in the United States before arriving here), I’ve found myself not wanting to make Whites, particularly White women, uncomfortable. I’ve even found myself apologizing, at least internally, for being a Black male. At times I’ve gone so far as to adopt what I consider a less threatening posture whenever I encounter a White woman, especially an older one, in ←41 | 42→places where we are alone together. Sometimes I catch myself slowing down