Dismantling White Privilege: The White Psychology of Slavery
The killings of people of color perpetrated by white people is not new. Be it slave traders, slave masters, lynch mobs, KKK members, or even today certain officers of the militarized ‘shoot first’ police force though the titles may have changed, the institution of white supremacy and the killing of people of color has remained the same.
As the white European ‘settlers’ began colonizing the already occupied North American continent, the slave trade was well under way. Like the displacement and relocation of the indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans is another example of white European imperialism, and more importantly, these are examples of white genocide resulting from white entitlement.
The fact that white Europeans believed they were so superior to Africans that they had absolutely no hesitation to kidnap millions from their homeland, rip them from their culture and relocate them to a foreign world with absolutely no rights or freedoms is more than enough evidence to prove the establishment of white entitlement in this country.
To justify white entitlement and ultimately slavery at this time, white Europeans promoted and passed down the racist belief that Africans and their descendants weren’t even human. Instead, Africans were considered to be property so slavery was justifiable.
The only time that slaves were almost considered to be human was close to two hundred years after the slave trade began when southern legislators wanted to count slaves as people for representation purposes. Even so, slaves were never considered to be a whole person and most certainly not for the sake of their feelings, lives, or autonomy. Not only were African and African-American bodies only useful to the white population as slave labor, the 3/5 Compromise once again highlights white entitlement that slaves’ lives were only useful when white representation was an issue. African-Americans were only considered to be human to satisfy white need.
As much as slavery was a physical institution, it was a mental one as well. Slave and plantation owners, slave traders, and the general white population were mentally convinced that racism was acceptable. In order to act out a physical institution such as slavery, one must be convinced of the mental institution meaning that slavery was acceptable. The white population that enacted slavery believed that this institution was justifiable despite the inhumane realities.
Even though the legal institution of slavery was legally abolished in the United States, centuries of racism cannot be eliminated with one federal amendment. Racism resulting from white entitlement existed for hundreds of years prior to the passing of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments which ended slavery and began the enfranchisement of the African-American population and as profound as the meaning behind those written documents are, words alone cannot always change hearts and minds.
White minds and hearts had been conditioned for years to believe and know that African and African-American lives were less than and inferior to white lives. More importantly, these beliefs were distorted to be facts. For example, white indentured servitude was another form of ‘labor’ present during the time of slavery; but, African slavery was preferred to white indentured servitude for many reasons. This racist belief was justified primarily for the ‘fact’ that due to the higher melatonin present in African skin, they made better workers because their bodies were ‘predisposed’ to work in harsher, hotter climates.
Whether or not African bodies can withstand more sun is not the issue. The issue is that this ‘psychology’ diverted the ‘facts’ in order to justify the mistreatment of an entire population of people. The reality is that no persons, no matter how much or how little melatonin was or was not present in one’s body, was predisposed for the ‘conditions’ that whites created for slaves.
The institution of slavery was not sanctioned labor-it was physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual torture.
There was no governing body which regulated working conditions. Slave owners and masters could treat their slaves however they wanted because slaves were not considered to be human, they were considered to be property.
What white people have to consider when studying racist institution like slavery is that racism is not innate, meaning that humans are not born with racist ideals. Rather, racism is a societal structure that has been created and taught and passed down through generations to promote the continuation of white supremacy. Taken one step further, racism is intentional meaning that feelings of superiority to the level of restricting rights and even taking lives are justifiable beliefs that should be preserved. Racism is not an accident.
Since the slave trade, white people have been guilty of continuing to pass down white supremacy meaning white superiority, mentalities that can be seen from the failed attempt at reconstruction after the Civil War, to the Jim Crow era of the south to the systematic and institutionalized racism that is still present today.
Throughout American history, white supremacy has portrayed African-Americans as threatening and individuals to be feared. Fear is a great tactic to keep people manipulated as well as biased towards the feared stimulus and white fear is an extension of white entitlement that has contributed to the presence of white supremacy in this country. From lustful predators that will defile and rape pure white women to the criminal and immoral ‘thugs’ of today, the images of African-Americans have been intentionally created to promote white fear. Fear leads to mistrust and mistrust ultimately leads to dehumanization which justifies the presence and ‘need’ for white supremacy and thus the cycles continues.
White fear is not rational.
White fear is the result of generations of racist ideologies that have promoted lies and misinformation and buying into white fear only results in furthering white supremacy and white entitlement in this country because white fear supports the racist ideologies that African-Americans are out of control and selfish individuals. White fear is the result of societal associations like ‘slave’ equals ‘property’ or ‘thug’ equals ‘dangerous’.
The white Europeans have been creating negative associations of Africans and African-Americans since the slave trade which has contorted the perceptions of that population in white minds.
To compound this phenomenon of mental association, white power in the form of politicians and the media for example have focused on these negative associations to continue the stereotype that African-Americans are dangerous and unintelligent, ‘lesser’ human beings all while ignoring contributions made by African-Americans in this country. The portrayal of African-Americans in this country today is one-sided and this racist portrayal started hundreds of years ago. Much more on this ‘psychology’ to come in later editions.
Because white fear continues to promote racist images and lies directed at the African-American community today, those who subscribe to the white fear propaganda, are not consciously working to dismantle, or take apart, the systems of racism in this country.
Racism will not undo itself.
In order to truly end racism in this country, it needs to be unlearned, meaning untaught as well as un-programmed. And in order for racism to be unlearned, that means work. White people must work to observe their thoughts, feelings and actions regarding African-American people as well as the issues affecting them and this must be a daily exercise. When white people realize that their thoughts are indeed racist, they must work at changing those types of thoughts so they will not be passed on.
Dismantling racism is not simple enough to simply claim that one is not racist because one did not own slaves nor participates in KKK chapters. Racism is not an issue of the past.
Along with becoming aware of one’s own racist and prejudice beliefs, one must actively work to call out racism when one sees it. If one is silent in the presence of racism, then one is complicit with racism. Not saying anything equates as a silent approval because that one is not intervening in the unjust and inappropriate behavior that is being displayed.
One should not have to prove that one is not racist. People should not be racist.
Similarly, if one believes in the white fear and uses the term ‘thug’ and ‘ghetto’, then that one is acting racist in those moments by continuing to promote the racist associations of today. There are different degrees of racist behavior and none are more acceptable than any others. Using language, perpetuating myths, and even retelling a joke are all forms of racism. Language is just as powerful in dehumanizing people and when language like ‘thug’ is used, it takes the humanity away from the person.
Racism is not an issue of being politically correct. Racism is an issue of an abuse of power in which lives are put at stake because they are valued less than others. People are not too sensitive these days. Claims like these are diversionary tactics attempt to distract the attention and responsibility away from the perpetrator. Rather, people are expecting better and holding the country to the ideals upon which it was originally ‘founded’ meaning that ALL men are created equal.
As was the case hundreds of years ago, racism is continuing to claim thousands of lives today and the ‘founding’ principles have yet to be evenly applied to each occupant of this country.
