Is White Supremacy a Mental Disorder?

[Judi Lynn]

August 4, 2015
Is White Supremacy a Mental Disorder?

by Herbert Dyer, Jr.

“I will state flatly that the bulk of this country’s white population impresses me, and has so impressed me for a very long time, as being beyond any conceivable hope of moral rehabilitation. They have been white, if I may so put it, too long. They have been married to the lie of white supremacy too long. The effect in their personalities, their lives, their very grasp of realty, has been as devastating as the lava which so memorably immobilized the citizens of Pompeii. They are unable to conceive that their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history, a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself.”

— James Baldwin

“Here’s the thing. When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it’s all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they’re not as crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say they deserved what happened to them before.”

– Chris Rock

Back in the late ’80s, I signed up for a “creative writing” seminar at a prestigious Chicago university as led by a widely respected white, bow-tie-clad, fifty-ish author-professor. In the very first session, he asked the class of 15 students who our favorite American author was. The students responded with Faulkner, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the like. The professor nodded approvingly at the mention of each of these literary giants’ name.

When my turn came, I responded with, “James Baldwin.” (Baldwin had just recently died).

“Baldwin?!” the prof practically shouted. “Hell….he was no goddamn writer. His one-trick pony is named racism.”

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/04/is-white-supremacy-a-mental-disorder/

[msongs]

1. it's learned behavior nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. Post to for later; but, I'm certain this won't be well met. n/t

[jaysunb]

8. I assure you it will drop like a stone. n/t

[HFRN]

3. blaming one group for all of society's ills is nothing new

in fact, i think the concept is about 82 years old

[Journeyman]

4. I wonder what shit hole "prestigious Chicago university" it was he attended in the '80s . . .

I attended a state university in Los Angeles in the '70s and had numerous white professors, bow-tie-clad and sandaled alike, recommend a host of black writers alongside many women, foreign and "white literary giants" as well.

I remember much criticism of every writer, no matter their background or subject area, but nothing so facile as declaring someone a one-trick pony, or denigrating them for addressing one of the central aspects of our lives.

Perhaps Mr Dyer, instead of bolting so precipitously, could have stayed around awhile, at least long enough to grace the class with his own version of "Theme for English B" so they might appreciate, even if they didn't understand, his need to leave that arena.

[brush]

7. I think he didn't want to flunk that class as . . .

that professor sure as shit reveal his racism with his "one trick pony" response.

It's best not to stay in the orbit of a-holes.

[Journeyman]

9. Who suggested he stay around long enough to flunk? . . .

Most classes have a set period for safe withdrawal, and even in a quarter system, he could have left the first week then returned the next to audit the class (the professor would have let him stay one session, on a simple appeal of "evident admin screw-up&quot , there to pen his reckoning to the professor and to share it with the rest.

But hey, I wasn't there . . .

[brush]

10. Your last sentence seemed to suggest that he stick around.

I know I would have gotten the hell out of that class.

Who would want to listen any further to a professor with that mindset?

I don't have much tolerance for racist BS, especially when I'm paying money.

[Journeyman]

12. But if you don't confront it - in the least possible way, if that's all you have - you accept it ...

and you can't come to me 30 years later with wild tales of boogeymen you were afraid to confront.

Dyer was some 40 years old when this bow-tied apparition appeared to him at a university he can't even name, and he couldn't find the courage to confront this fool who spouted such idiocies? I have a very limited acquaintance with Baldwin's work, but even I could have mounted a defense against such a specious argument.

The whole vignette seems contrived and far too simplistic for a university setting.

[brush]

17. Like I said before, I don't think he wanted to flunk that class

Last edited Wed Aug 5, 2015, 10:07 AM - Edit history (1)

The power dynamic was in the racist prof's favor and he didn't want to waste his money by arguing with someone so far gone and risk flunking.

I myself wouldn't waste time trying to persuade that fool by listening to his crap. I'd drop that class in a minute and report the reason.

[Judi Lynn]

13. You think the author lied about having attended a "prestigious Chicago university?" I don't. n/t

[Journeyman]

14. I find the story implausible. . .

However, if true, I find his response simple acquiescence, unworthy of consideration.

At 40 years of age, Dyer had neither the courage of conviction nor the certitude of belief to defend his choices. Given an opportunity to confront bigotry in an academic arena, a relatively safe environment, he chose flight. It wasn't even a class he was in, but a seminar on creative writing. If he wasn't going to stay and prove -- to himself at the least, the validity of his choices -- why not confront this cartoon bigot with at least a feeble defense before scurrying away.

I'm not that familiar with Baldwin but even I could defend him against such a trite accusation.

At the least, embrace this criticism and show it as core to Baldwin's work, cast it back at the fool and demand to know why a life spent dealing with one of the central issues of our times is cause for derision and not the praise it has richly earned.

[1StrongBlackMan]

19. It, rarely, is about a matter of having the "courage of conviction" or "certitude of belief" ...

PoC, women, LGBT and all other "others" learn early in life to pick the battles/hills that they/we fight and/or willing to die on.

And, generally, a non-required, college elective, would no be one of them.

[bemildred]

22. +1. nt

[jberryhill]

5. No, since it seems to mainly just afflict white people

[brush]

6. It's real.

The article is a must read. It delves into how we're all immersed in it in this society.

African Americans and other people of color see and deal with it daily.

Only the most perceptive whites have any idea of the totality of it and how it's seen "as the norm" and "the way things should be", which is why tone deaf appropriations like "all lives matter" crop up even on this board, or the ubiquitous "why didn't she/he just comply" comment rolls off the tongues of those you thought would surely get it.

One of the things that gets me is when you find out that a cultural figure that you liked and thought must be a nice person slips up and publicly reveals his or her racism — i.e. Hulk Hogan, Paula Deem, Michael Richards, et al., and you wonder how many others haven't been able to see through white supremacist reality/privilege to real reality.

You kinda say to yourself "oh well, that's that, won't be watching "Seinfeld" anymore even though you like the other actors, especially Julia Louis-Dreyfus who has come out and backed progressive causes, but you get to watch her on her other shows.

Anyway, forgive me, just a few musings on this. I could go on and on but article at the link does it extremely well.

[Jamastiene]

11. Something tells me if they ever label white supremacy and homophobia and sexism as

mental disorders, the rest of us will have to be declared sane and not mentally ill. I would be willing to bet that most people who get tagged with the mentally ill label as it stands now got that way because half their damn family is white supremacist, homophobic, and (they usually all go together) sexist. I know in my case, if I hadn't gotten so fucked up by the homophobes and what should have been considered a hate crime and the sexists around here, I might not have such a severe case of mental illness like I do. Life would have been so much better if the assholes around here had been made to act right instead of going around raping lesbians and the damn cops doing not a damn thing about it. Apparently, it's ok to rape some women, but not others.

[List left]

15. 11th grade book report

When I was in the 11th grade my English teacher handed out a list of suggested titles for a book report and said we could choose another book if we wanted but she needed to approve it. I went home and looked through my parents bookshelves and chose what seemed to be an interesting book. The next day I asked the teacher if I could do my report on "Another Country" by James Baldwin. She turned several shades of red and told me she could not let me do a report on that book, and just as adamantly told me to read it. It was her first semester teaching. Later I realized that in the Midwest circa 1968 she would have be immediately fired if she had allowed it.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

16. Baldwin is a favorite author of this mostly white lady.

I've been trying to cure my white racism for a long, long time. I've always kind of felt that everyone is prejudiced and that tribe runs deep and that it's how you deal with it that counts.

[raccoon]

18. From the article, this is worth repeating:

For example, white people have convinced themselves that they came into possession of this North American continent in a just and honorable manner.

Man, that is so true. That's how I was taught it in school.

Not until I was way into adulthood did I realize what a whitewashed bunch of nonsense that was.

[daybranch]

20. White supremacy/racism is driven by Oligarchy to prevent our joining against them

While many white, black, brown,etc. suffer from mental illness from a variety of reasons, to say this is just another way to avoid the whys of racism. Yes we know there are prejudices that occur naturally but it is those that use those prejudices for their own greed that amplify prejudice into full blown racism.
I agree with your Baldwin quote and I invite you to look at it closely- especially the last sentence -- their version of reality, which they want me to accept, is an insult to my history, a parody of theirs and an intolerable violation of myself.

This is all too shamefully true, but fighting this does not just mean looking at the results of the disease on our society and saying it should not happen. To truly fight it we must create an overwhelming outrage across our society directed at those who use and cultivate racism as a tool for economic enrichment. Yes , we probably will always have some prejudices but most importantly we can avoid acting on those prejudices by understanding they are wrong. But we have a oligarchic system created to perpetuate hate because without this racial hate, people will unite against the rich.

Racial hatred is not natural and people in similar economic circumstances have natural tendencies to recognize their needs and values are much alike. This was evident long before our Revolutionary War and the rich in states like Virginia passed laws designed to prevent Whites and blacks from marrying and from producing mixed race offspring. This legal division was necessary to keep white indentured servants and black slaves from joining together against the rich. Even the punishments meted out was designed to stir animosity and sense of unfairness as blacks received severe punishments while whites were given much less severe punishment. The need to separate and divide has been a continual need of the rich in their quest to retain the political power of our country. W. E. B. Du Bois, in his book : Black Reconstruction"' speaks eloquently of the rich industrialists of the north uniting with former slaveowners to enslave the workers , white and black. So Baldwin is absolutely right, a false historical view was written and publicized , spread and used to spur degrading racial stereotypes. But it is important to remember that these stereotypes to a great degree were written at Columbia University by Northerners with the blessings and financial support of Northern industrialists. Baldwin is correct that it is a parody of white peoples history, but let us not forget it is the rich who write history and it is those who receive the spoils of war who grow rich. So to appeal to poor and working people over these years, white rich men have been glorified as great leaders, and almost godlike in their contributions. This whole founding fathers infallibility thing embraced by the Teaparty today to justify greed as freedom, is a fine example of how that parody of history can be used to further racism and harm the black people as they cut the social safety net to support their originators- the Koch Brothers. Yes we white people have been fed a line of bull about our history and the history of blacks. We have been fed an overblown history of how much rich whites created for mankind and falsely, how little people of color did. We whites have been ignorant, I have been ignorant of the false history most of my life and remained unaware of most of black history. Yet I could see by my interaction with African American friends, that we are first of al people with the same basic abilities and desires, the same strengths and weaknesses. As I have learned more and more how right DuBois and Baldwin are, I have also read Martin Zinn's " The People's History of the United States', which clearly lays out the manipulation of working Americans by creating division through hatred, false history.
I believe that if those poor whites from the former slave states, actually knew how abused their forefathers were when they were conscripted to fight to protect the slave owners rights, while slave owners remained on the plantation free from fighting, and understood how the rich and their political agents created the white supremacy/racial hatred manipulation of the working people to elect those who would create more and more wealth for the rich as they held down the masses by creating division.
I could go on and on but please, lets examine the cause of this institutional racism, an oligarchy who depend on making Black Lives and lives of Hispanics and other poor identified as non-white Matter Less. But this is only business and is not personal to them. They care little whether you are any particular color and have no allegiance to other white people. Everyday they seek to manipulate we, the people to vote against the economic interests of the people But if we join together and elect those who will stand with all the people against the oligarchy, we can go a long way to eradicating the worse effects of this institutionalized racism. Let learn oiur history, white and black, and teach others, and see that by spreading truth that two results may be achieved, racism will be reduced and working people of all colors will join together against the oligarchy to restore democracy and control of our government to all our people and remove that control from the billionaires, Wall Street Bankers, Corporate CEOs, and the Private Prison Industry.
The first step in that process is to nominate for Presdient the candidate who stands with the people against the rich oligarchs and the only candidate I see doing that is Bernie Sanders.
candidate

[Judi Lynn]

21. daybranch, thank you for your exceptional comments. n/t

[notemason]

23. I join you

in appreciation.