Folami Jones
Bracher claims, “The failure to integrate excluded parts of the self can contribute to various kinds of social problems, including interferences with the learning process.” Colonialization has left the African psyche feeling paralyzed with an overwhelming sense of self hatred by virtue of our Blackness. Blackness has not only been devalued by whiteness, but intentionally excluded to centre whiteness as the reference point for normal. For the African person, Blackness is an excluded part of our identity, everyday we fight for recognition, or sadly we fight to suppress it. Bracher suggests that the failure to integrate these excluded parts contributes to social and learning problems; I would argue, the word failure assumes power is equally distributed and the ability to integrate is an option, however; for African peoples this is a dichotomy. How can you integrate or validate the excluded part of your identity into a realm where oppression has exiled your identity…Blackness? Through this theory, he indirectly highlights how racism (whether internalized or direct) leads to serious disadvantaging outcomes. As we see within the African communities, we suffer significantly with disparities in many areas, like economics, health, education, and social justice. Bracher continues to propose that, “Identity that simply rejects and excludes shameful elements of the self—such as impulses of aggression, dominance, or greed, or qualities such as fear, weakness, or laziness—will, as we have seen, be victimized by the return of these identifications, and disguised enactments, which are at the root of many social problems and which also interfere with learning and personal well-being.”
When we continue to examine Brachers identity integration theory looking at it through whiteness, we can see how the enormity to own responsibility for those you have oppressed has lead to the phenomenon of white guilt. Unlike other forms of shame elements that our identities reject and then reciprocate, white guilt does not lead to the victimization of white people, but oppositely, it victimizes all peoples of color. Zeus Leonardo describes this stating, “…white people are often the subjects of whiteness because it benefits and privileges them. As a collection of everyday strategies, whiteness is characterized by the unwillingness to name the contours of racism, the avoidance of identifying with a racial experience or group, the minimization of racist legacy, and other similar evasions (Frankenberg, 1993).” In the context to what Bracher calls “social problems”, it would seem that those who display signs of aggression, dominance, greed, fear, weakness or laziness are the citizens that are the contributors to most of our social problems. If we use the justice system, or look at employment rates to underscore who these citizens are, it would lead us to believe that Blacks and other minorities (being that they occupy majority of the incarcerated and unemployed population) are the degenerates. Using race to intimately look at what he terms as the “root” of these social problems would reveal how our racist colonial society is the main contributor to these enactments, and the precursor to disadvantaged learning and personal well-being.
Whiteness presides over the whole world, and is not just felt in the Western hemisphere where most discourse pertaining to whiteness is produced, but as Zeus Leonardo point’s out, is a form of global domination. “As whiteness becomes globalized, white domination begins to transcend national boundaries. Without suggesting the end of nations or their decreased significance for racial theory, multinational whiteness has developed into a formidable global force in its attempt to control and transform into its own image almost every nook and cranny of the earth.” So when analyzing the identity of the African peoples, we must first acknowledge the universal experience of racism, colonialization and whiteness as the fundamental root to our social and political problems. Where will the interrogation of whiteness and racism be fought from and how can we incorporate the deconstruction of racism and whiteness on a practical level? Lifelong learning enables students to continue their studies and apply new learned practices; however, if the core education is still riddled with racist analogies and ideologies, then we’re merely preserving a white essentialist agenda.
Enoch H, challenges the way racism is covered up as he exclaims, “ Masking racism today requires the tactical maneuver that old standards of whiteness be replaced with new standards of whiteness so that it seems racism is dying when its outcomes and agenda have not changed. Whiteness studies should reveal how racism has been popularized and legitimated by agents of whiteness who are granted dominant racial authority and it should be able to suggest what new shapes the same racial authority might take in the future.” I am egger to see where our Cohort will take its learners when challenging policy, and research as there is obviously a critical need for more African scholars to publish around areas of whiteness while examining current policies. The curriculum that the cohort endorses should continually be criticized to ensure that the frameworks are supporting its agenda of Africentricity, fortifying their students with tools to advocate for anti-racist practices.
1 comment:
Wonderfully written blog, Folami. Your blog was both intriguing and informative. I especially appreciated when you stated,” I would argue, the word failure assumes power is equally distributed and the ability to integrate is an option, however; for African peoples this is a dichotomy. How can you integrate or validate the excluded part of your identity into a realm where oppression has exiled your identity…Blackness? Through this theory, he indirectly highlights how racism (whether internalized or direct) leads to serious disadvantaging outcomes.” This statement speaks volumes about the plight of Black people.
Your blog is a wonderful affirmation of why it is so important for cohorts like these to exist, and for people of color to continue to challenge and promote change and growth as a global community. The points you raise in your blog would be the perfect response for all of those individuals in their position of white privilege, who continue to question the intentions of cohorts like this, and “affirmative action”, so that they may begin to see the truths of their privilege. All too often I encounter people, mostly colleagues who feel (without saying it out loud), that we as Black people are at an advantage because of the color of our skin. They often challenge me on why it is acceptable that I was hired in an equity position? And they had to “work years for their positions”. They ask, how is it fair that I can take an Africentric “free” masters and they have to pay for theirs? I am constantly bombarded with these negative attitudes and questioning almost accusatory comments. If only those people in positions of privileged could understand the things in which you so eloquently write about here, perhaps we could begin to chip away at the racist ideals of whiteness, and privilege, to have a more fair playing field for people of color.
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