PHENOMENOLOGY OF RACIAL OPPRESSION

[mia]

http://www.academia.edu/7947135/Phenomenology_of_Racial_Oppression

(This article is forthcoming in a special issue of Knowledge Cultures edited by George Yancy)

ABSTRACT:

This paper attempts to further understand the lived experiences of racial oppression by bringing together personal testimonies, resources from phenomenology, and empirical work on stereotype threat. Integrating these three areas provides a psychological, existential, physiological, and embodied understanding of the fundamental harm of racial oppression. My aim is to show that the harm of existing as racially oppressed is not just psychological or physiological. That is, racial oppression is not only harmful with regards to the immediate and lasting effects of the compiled stresses that result from continually being made aware of one’s bodily existence as ‘other’ in a predominantly and normatively white world. In addition, racially oppressed people also often lose a sense of themselves, become alienated from themselves, and come to understand themselves vis-à-vis the oppressor. Combining contextualized analyses of the psychological, existential, physiological, and embodied dimensions of oppression, I argue that existing as racially oppressed in a white supremacist society also changes the ontological structure of one’s being-in-the-world.


“Only when we come to be very clear about how race is lived, in its multiple manifestations, only when we can come to appreciate its often hidden epistemic effects and its power over collective imaginations and public space, can we entertain even the remote possibility of its eventual transformation.” (Alcoff, 2001: 267)


This paper attempts to further understand the lived experiences of racial oppression by bringing together personal testimonies, resources from phenomenology, and empirical work on stereotype threat (ST). Integrating these three areas provides a psychological, existential, physiological, and embodied understanding of the fundamental harm of racial oppression. My aim in this paper is to show that the harm of existing as racially oppressed is not just psychological or physiological. That is, racial oppression is not only harmful with regards to the immediate and lasting effects of the compiled stresses that result from continually being made aware of one’s bodily existence as ‘other’ in a predominantly and normatively white world. In addition, and importantly, racially 3oppressed people also often lose a sense of themselves, become alienated from themselves, and come to understand themselves vis-à-vis the oppressor or oppressive system. Combining contextualized analyses of the psychological, existential, physiological, and embodied dimensions of oppression, I argue that existing as racially oppressed in a white supremacist society also changes the ontological structure of one’s being-in-the-world.

The paper has three sections. I begin by considering various testimonies and descriptions of individuals who reflect upon what it is like to exist as racially oppressed in a normatively white society. These testimonies were chosen to highlight the extent to which the minutiae of everyday existence –shopping, walking down the street, riding in an elevator, getting locked out of one’s car or house, wearing a hoodie, encountering the police, or, as William David Hart has called it, “black male being-in-America” (Hart, 2012: 91) – are infused with constant reminders of one’s existence not only as “other” but as “inferior,” “suspicious,” “dangerous,” and “guilty.” These testimonies illustrate the relentless psychological, and indeed existential toll of existing as racially oppressed. I then move from considering the psychological and existential harms of existing as racially oppressed to considering physiological harms by examining some empirical findings from the ST literature. What these findings show is that the physiological effects of being racially oppressed become embodied. That is, they are not just immediate and ‘skin-deep’ but are penetrating and enduring. With the psychological, existential, physiological, and embodied dimensions in hand, I finally go on to argue that existing as racially oppressed actually changes the ontological structure of one’s being-in-the-world....

[Supersedeas]

1. that's one way to get the conversation started

[mia]

4. Yes it is.

Looking at the world through the lens of another's subjective experiences helps us to understand the perceptions that guide our own behaviors.

[Igel]

2. Good to get that "learn one thing per day" box checked.

"Stereotype threat."

Useful term for something we all experience to some extent. Performance anxiety. Interesting, that it might affect linguistic ability by reduction in working memory. That's my anecdotal experience. I've been taking it to imply a lack of focus. Perhaps they're the same thing, reduced working memory and a lack of focus. Hmmm...

Sadly, ST is taken to be more important in many cases than it probably could be, and assumed to be non-existent by giving it a nifty new name that only applies to certain cohorts. A bit too much of the "oh, you poor baby" mentality for me.

At some point my vln and guitar teachers' dicta come into play.

"So you screw up? Do you die on the spot? No. You screw up, you move on, but if you carry that agony with you you're going to screw up more, so just stop carrying that grief."

"Most of the audience wants you to do well. Play for them. Those who don't simply aren't your concern."

"Why are you worried about screwing up in front of me? You're paying me to be here when you screw up so I can fix your problems."


And there was the school psychologist's take when training a bunch of teachers who had to interact with developmentally disabled kids age 4-20:

"Don't feel sorry for your kids. That teaches them to feel sorry for themselves, and who has time for that?"

"If you feel sorry for your kids and let them get by with crap, they'll learn they can always get by with it. Then when they find the script is flipped they feel resentful and bitter or just confused."

"Your kids' problems just are. Deal with them as routine problems with solutions, not as these horrible things that need a lot of attention. Push their problems to the back and get them to be as mainstreamed and well-adjusted as possible. That may mean learning to tie their shoes. It may mean learning to balance a checkbook."

[mia]

6. "Stereotype threat."

Thank for your take on this term. I have a better understanding of it now. Performance anxiety is related to "fear of failure" too. Your second example reminds me that the past can't be fixed.

[ananda]

7. Good points, especially ...

... the one about how racism and terror affect cognitive and learning ability.

[mia]

8. Yes. So true.

Thanks for pointing this out.

[freeplessinseattle]

3. This is right up my alley, thank you! Been awhile

since I've seen the word "phenomenology", and now wonder why I've not heard of this approach taken before! Brilliant.

[mia]

5. It's been awhile for me too.

A course in Theories of Personality gave me my introduction to phenomenology. I had to look up a few terms while reading this paper. Thank you for posting this.