INTERNALIZED RACISM

"Internalized racism has been the primary means by which we have been forced to perpetuate and 'agree' to our own oppression. It has been a major factor preventing us, as black people, from realizing and putting into action the tremendous intelligence and power which in reality we possess. On a personal level it has been a major ingredient in the distressful and unworkable relationships which we so often have with each other. It has proved to be the fatal stumbling block of every promising and potentially powerful black liberation effort that has failed in the past. Patterns of internalized oppression severely limit the effectiveness of every existing black group."

(In other words, waking up in the morning and saying, "Boy! I wonder how the White man is going to oppress me today!")

"Patterns of internalized racism get played out in dozens of unique ways in each individual. But we have come to recognize that there are certain forms of internalized oppression that are widely experienced by black people in our society. Some forms of these distress patterns are so universal throughout our black sub-culture that they are mistaken for a 'true' part of our culture."

"Internalized oppression leads us to accept a narrow and limiting view of what is 'authentic' black culture and behavior. Blacks have been ridiculed, humiliated, attacked, and isolated because they excelled in school; because they did or did not talk in a particular way; because they liked classical or folk music; because they did not dance; because they did not play basketball; and in many other ways have been told that they were not legitimately 'black enough,' or are 'trying to be white,' etc. All of these hurts were served up and accepted by human beings wearing restimulated patterns of internalized racism."

Go to http://www.rc.org/publications/journals/black_reemergence/br2/br2_5_sl.html