Black Mens Studies. Serie McDougal III
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a White woman heading to a nearby car-I don’t do this with White males or with men or women of other races, for that matter. I either reach loudly and obviously for my keys or hold back until she is safely in her car, for fear that she thinks I’m a potential rapist, purse snatcher or carjacker. I hold back because I don’t want to relive the dignity bruising experience of seeing her hasten her steps to her car, and/or hear the power locks being quickly, and loudly, activated, which happened once several years ago while I was attending graduate school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Now as I walked up to the pay phone, I realized that this hesitation had, in fact, been coloring my actions over the years almost imperceptibly. I was also angry at myself. Had I been so influenced by the newspaper accounts, studies and opinion polls I had read that indicated that Whites, particularly White women, were fearful of Blacks, particularly Black males, that I felt the need to make constant apologies on behalf of all men of my race? It was an angry burden to carry and it was getting way too heavy. I neared the available phone. The woman had her back to me, and although she might have sensed that someone was approaching to use the other telephone, she did not turn around just then. As I picked up the receiver to dial, she turned, as anyone probably would have, to see her new “neighbor” When she saw me, she turned back around. Almost subconsciously, I continued to observe her as she proceeded to pull the handbag that had been hanging by her side in front of her. I decided that this time, I would not continue to go out of my way to be accommodating. Previously, I would have done something like taking my large business planner with me to the phone to make her aware that I was not a thug. After all, thugs don’t usually carry business planners, I reasoned. Previously, I would have spoken a little louder than necessary on the phone so she could hear not only my accent and diction but also the content of my conversation. Then she would realize I had a legitimate reason for being there-that I was a dignified, purposeful fellow human being! This time, however, I decided I had had enough. I had to let it go. It had become too draining, too taxing, to apologize for being what I could not change, and for trying to apologize for every man with my pigmentation who might have done harm to someone like her at some time in the past. I decided that from that point on I would not edit my actions. I forgot about my neighbor and completed my call, in the same way, I would have if a White male, Black female or Hispanic male had been using a nearby phone. I determined that life was too short and that my self-respect was too valuable. (p. 64)
Relative Powerlessness and Fatalism
Some Black men are compelled to adopt the belief that their fate isn’t in their own hands, but in the hands of their oppressors due to the imbalance of power and privilege in society. Unable to see the fragility of systems of oppression, many Blacks adopt mystic beliefs about the invincibility of their oppressors. Azibo (2014) suggests that this sense of relative powerlessness and hopelessness related to race is a consequence of what he defines as Eurasian supremacy stress. Racism produces a profound feeling of helplessness in Black men, forcing them to abandon hope of the world becoming a better place for them (Head, 2005). Franklin (2004) similarly argues that invisibility can lead Black men to experience feelings of being trapped and without hope. Additionally, it is also important to note that the experience of racism and high-profile racialized killings (i.e., police terrorism) of Black males are not just threats to Black men’s sense of control over their fate and ability to protect themselves, they are also a threat to Black men’s sense of their ability to protect their loved ones from racial hatred (Franklin, 2004).
Stress
Resulting from prolonged exposure to racism, stress occurs at the unconscious and conscious levels, ranging from mild to extreme. Blacks report greater stress related to racism than any other ethnic group (Wong & Schwing, 2014). The more racial discrimination is experienced, the greater the decrease in self-esteem, academic performance, happiness, and life satisfaction (Wong & Schwing, 2014). According to Wilson (1991), this stress is sometimes due to a chronic sense of threat and vulnerability due to a history of unprovoked, irrational racist hostility and psychological abuse. The consequence ←42 | 43→may be that many Black males maintain a chronic sense of stress while anticipating harm and rejection (Wilson, 1991).
Low Self-Confidence, Worth, and Motivation
Majors and Billson (1992) argue that White racism can ultimately debase Black men’s sense of self because they must carry the weight of White-originated stereotypes of them at every moment of their lives. When internalized, this weight can ultimately affect their confidence and motivation. According to Leary (2005), Black people can experience low self-esteem as a consequence of the pronouncements of Black inferiority from three key spheres of influence: society, community, and family. According to Azibo (2014), this lack of self-worth can emerge from Black people using White American cultural standards and definitions to evaluate themselves.
Similarly, Franklin (2004) argues that the sense of invisibility that Black men experience can also cause them to question their own worth. It can cause them to question their deservingness. The imposter phenomenon is a sense of intellectual and professional phoniness experienced by high-achieving individuals (Clance, 1985). These feelings are found to be related to depression symptoms (McGregor, Gee, & Posey, 2008). Head (2005), a Black male psychologist, offers a glimpse into the phenomenon—an anti-Black male racism-induced sense of un-deservingness. He explains that racism fed his own feelings of un-deservingness of his accomplishments:
As I’ve said, many would argue I’ve led a life in which a long series of good luck and accomplishments has been strung together. In my mind, however, there was one thread running through all the good things in my life: I didn’t deserve them. I thought of myself as a phony, an imposter who was certain to be found out in the end. Any praise directed at me was a generous lie. I was destined for spectacular failure, but mere fate for some reason kept preventing it from happening. I believed in my heart that eventually I would fall and get what I really deserved. (p. 8)
Cultural Misorientation
One aspect of racism’s impact on Black men, and Black people in general, is its pressure to adopt Western values like materialism and individualism at extreme levels (Wilson, 1991). Kambon (2006) also argues that there are cultural consequences to racism. Cultural misorientation is a psychological condition that develops due to African people’s experience with Eurocentric cultural oppression (Kambon, 2006). From a prolonged and intense exposure, many Black people internalize and promote a Eurocentric consciousness. According to Kambon (2006), European cultural imposition has not been completely successful; therefore, Black people are affected by cultural imposition in varying degrees, some severely, most moderately, and few minimally. When internalized, Black communities themselves may engage in socialization practices that promote cultural ideals that are harmful to them. Leary (2005) calls this racist socialization, or the adoption of racist standards and the enslaver’s value system, i.e., all things associated with Whiteness are superior and all things associated with Blackness are inferior. Cultural imposition can prevent Black males from envisioning a world outside of the one the people in power have created based on their own values and beliefs.
Self-Blame and Perfectionism
While some argue that racism results in system-blaming among African Americans (Landrum-Brown, 1990), others argue that self-blame in the collective and individual sense is more common. According to Wilson (1991), the internalization of racist miseducation and misinformation causes some Black people to mistakenly conclude that their suffering is caused by their Blackness or personal inadequacies, instead of the psychopathology of their oppressors. Having internalized stereotypes about themselves, and an attraction to their oppressor’s way of life, some Blacks become instigators of disunity ←43 | 44→among Black society. Research on African American males also shows that some engage in harmful levels of self-blame. Experiences with racism, without a protecting shield of self-worth, can produce a sense of unworthiness hidden behind a seeming nonchalance. This is true for Black boys as well as adult males. For example, nonchalance about racism actually undermines Black boys’ abilities to effectively cope with racism, as they often redirect their anger toward themselves. Contrary to the notion that African American males blame the system, Spielberg’s (2014a) research shows that many African American males blame themselves for any lack of success in school or life. Through his interviews with young makes, Spielberg also found that the shame created by racism can also lead to a damaging sense of perfectionism