luke wilson
The Living Force
Hi Guys,
This is not a spur of the moment type thing but rather something I have been thinking about for some time now.
I did a search on the forum for a term that I came to learn about and didn't find even a single hit; Internal Racism.
Has anyone ever heard about it? What are your thoughts? Is it real? What could cause it?
Lastly, in your views, what sort of mental energy should lets say a person classified as a minority expend on dealing with the above issue? Should it be ignored, left to its own devices or should someone make an attempt to come to some sort of understanding of what it is and the dynamics behind it?
What I have learnt about it has come in the way of documentaries and/or listening to other people talk about it.
The below link I think explains it better than I could
_http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/internalizedracism.htm
The below Ted talk I think explains how such stuff can grow to be internalized:
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STXemdQQNsg
I think the gist is, "being consistently exposed to multiple micro-aggressions".
Also is this like a new thing or was it something that say, slaves or those living in the 40's, 50's etc had to deal with? From my understanding internal racism is connected with the changing nature of racism i.e. from overt to more covert so it is more a problem now than then.
For example,
A small black child as he/she is growing up today might notice that black people tend to live in ghettos whilst white people live in well-to-do suburbs. So how will he/she explain this to himself/herself? Back in the day, the answer would be obvious, now it isn't so obvious. If this same child continues to notice the world around him/her, they'll no doubt hear stereotypes, watch TV and see certain things e.g. why are rappers always so angry and aggressive calling each other the 'n' word all the time.. why do lets say, black people not do well at school as a general rule? Why is there more of them in prisons? why is it the bad part of town tends to have quite a lot of them? etc etc
All the above and many more can eventually crystallize to form a solid impression of the world in an unsuspecting child. Not of the invisible subtle forces that operate the world, but rather, of the value of certain people simply based on how they appear. This then will form his/her own personal demons especially if he/she finds themself on the wrong side of this fence i.e. I look like them, so what does this make me? What can I do about it?
So what are your thoughts? Has anyone heard of the term before?
This is not a spur of the moment type thing but rather something I have been thinking about for some time now.
I did a search on the forum for a term that I came to learn about and didn't find even a single hit; Internal Racism.
Has anyone ever heard about it? What are your thoughts? Is it real? What could cause it?
Lastly, in your views, what sort of mental energy should lets say a person classified as a minority expend on dealing with the above issue? Should it be ignored, left to its own devices or should someone make an attempt to come to some sort of understanding of what it is and the dynamics behind it?
What I have learnt about it has come in the way of documentaries and/or listening to other people talk about it.
The below link I think explains it better than I could
_http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/internalizedracism.htm
In a society where racial prejudice thrives in politics, communities, institutions and popular culture, it’s difficult for racial minorities to avoid absorbing the racist messages that constantly bombard them.
The below Ted talk I think explains how such stuff can grow to be internalized:
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STXemdQQNsg
I think the gist is, "being consistently exposed to multiple micro-aggressions".
Also is this like a new thing or was it something that say, slaves or those living in the 40's, 50's etc had to deal with? From my understanding internal racism is connected with the changing nature of racism i.e. from overt to more covert so it is more a problem now than then.
For example,
A small black child as he/she is growing up today might notice that black people tend to live in ghettos whilst white people live in well-to-do suburbs. So how will he/she explain this to himself/herself? Back in the day, the answer would be obvious, now it isn't so obvious. If this same child continues to notice the world around him/her, they'll no doubt hear stereotypes, watch TV and see certain things e.g. why are rappers always so angry and aggressive calling each other the 'n' word all the time.. why do lets say, black people not do well at school as a general rule? Why is there more of them in prisons? why is it the bad part of town tends to have quite a lot of them? etc etc
All the above and many more can eventually crystallize to form a solid impression of the world in an unsuspecting child. Not of the invisible subtle forces that operate the world, but rather, of the value of certain people simply based on how they appear. This then will form his/her own personal demons especially if he/she finds themself on the wrong side of this fence i.e. I look like them, so what does this make me? What can I do about it?
So what are your thoughts? Has anyone heard of the term before?