Last edited Tue Dec 10, 2013, 05:00 AM - Edit history (2)
amazing conclusion, to my way of thinking as a child. I didn't see how blacks could function on a daily basis without going stark raving mad.
I never stopped wondering how blacks survived it, many did die, many are dying from things others would not be faced with, and it is only the survivors we hear from. As Sojourner Truth said, women of color have not been treated like human beings, what a mockery to look at ladies with lace and privilege 'protected' by racist men.
That AA's have not turned into maniacs like the KKK and others, says something about AA's that many whites do not ever learn, even in the face of what must be an ingrained paranoia by now. I'll try clumsily to explain what it is
Growing up with a certain sense of safety as white, I didn't think I could handle the same burden. I asked my self what would it be like to walk the world with a target painted on one's back painted by racists?
To feel that every minute of the day in a majority society that sees one as a trespasser, or a criminal when one is not? How can one feel free to grow and be open to discovery and learning in that environment?
It made me sad, uncomfortable and curious. In my later years of depression (family matters) brought me to a conclusion that for me, depression was being forced to deal with a lie by those in your life with more power than you.
Their dishonest, self-serving reality being enforced upon on you. If you don't agree, you are an outlier to be punished, creating incredible internal pressure, so much that a person has trouble focusing. You can't live a lie for someone else, you must be what you are.
A doctor asked me what did I think was the cause of depression. My response was that would make you question reality and become wise, or go crazy by trying to hold onto a vision that one needs as security in the world to grow. But it's a lie, so all attempts to reconcile oneself to it will fail.
AAs in the USA endured centuries of boundaries being crossed, their humanity, character and simply one's continued existence being questioned. Why is there so much suffering in poor communities which are predominantly of color, as we see in the stories at DU, that go under the radar?
The first cause is poverty, and the solution is simple, find a thing one can achieve and move up. Blacks for generations have not been allowed free movement in this nation, or opportunities. It's been like an open air prison, with the boundaries enforced by economic and legal strategies.
The other is devaluing oneself, because one knows one is not considered worthwhile. Does it really matter if one does all the right things, works, saves, lives the moral life, and it is all taken away by one violent mob, if one crosses a line set up as a trap, and the bigger injustices left unaddressed?
Depression is the normal reaction to living in a cage made by racism. If one was not depressed, one would not be in touch with reality. Am I making any sense here?
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