By: Osage Dior
On April 16, 2012-I was working in Douala, Cameroon-just turned 27. I knew that if I left my job at 12:00am in the morning to catch a taxi to get back home-nothing would happen to me. The same day an article was posted discussing four white men who was convicted for beating a black man at a downtown bus stop in Houston around midnight. These men apparently bonded over an iconic white supremacist tattoo they all had and decided to hang some strange fruit #Texasstyle. Using a ploy of, “What time is it…?”, these men gathered around Yondell Johnson at the bus stop and beat him severely.
On April 16, 2012-I was working in Douala, Cameroon-just turned 27. I knew that if I left my job at 12:00am in the morning to catch a taxi to get back home-nothing would happen to me. The same day an article was posted discussing four white men who was convicted for beating a black man at a downtown bus stop in Houston around midnight. These men apparently bonded over an iconic white supremacist tattoo they all had and decided to hang some strange fruit #Texasstyle. Using a ploy of, “What time is it…?”, these men gathered around Yondell Johnson at the bus stop and beat him severely.
Today, my cousin’s brother was beat in the third ward by a gang of black men for defending his mother-in-law. He suffered severely from eye injury that will cause him to see a specialist. This incident was described as “Some hood shyt…this only happens in our neighborhoods…” or “I don’t feel safe when people look at me a certain way over there…I come from a safe area” #suburbianreject. Now, I don’t know exactly what happened, and it was an unfortunate event but to state that a whole neighborhood was inferior, ghetto, miserable, restless, and more-bothered me.
Here in this instance, two of my family members were showing signs of internal racial oppression, a coin I was re-introduced to at an Association of Black Psychologist meeting at the SHAPE center. Internalized racial oppression is defined as the internalized inferiority in people of color and superiority of white people according to author Joseph R. Barndt. He continues stating that it is the distorted self-understanding and dysfunctional relationships within and across color lines that cause people to inflict a hidden hate on their own race. John Ramos David stated that internalized oppression is a condition in which an oppressed individual or group come to believe that they are inferior to those in power or who are part of the dominant group…among African Americans this leads to identity confusion and to the development of an inferior identity which has been called “negromachy”#googleitplease. This idea was created by a psychologist named Thomas who explained Negromachy (smh-#whataword) occurs when a black person shows confusion of self-worth and shows dependency upon white society for definition of self.
Back to the story, “this is some hood…shyt…you know this does not happen in other neighborhoods…” or “I do not even feel safe with a man watching me as I get in my car in those type of communities…” However, there is no mention of the crime happening outside of the black community…i.e. Sandy Hook Elementry School #educationalviolence, Dark Knight #hollywoodviolence, and Enron #economicviolence. Yet, when violence happens within the black community the first thing many black people do is validate the situation by not-being-surprised-and-expecting-crude-behavior-from-each-other. Internalizing violent behavior is a way of accepting it and that does not lead to progress: Black people we can do better! Because if we are expecting the worse from us, who will expect the best…
This is more than a ramble, I am seeking solutions to negromachy…any answers?
©NEEMA
Please visit links below for more information…
“I’m Not Gonna Let You Define Me”: A Qualitative Investigation of Racial …”
Par David L. Walden
http://books.google.com/books?id=hkRw8qKvmWUC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Thomas+1971+negromachy&source=bl&ots=VFQeeY38nL&sig=AAp3f4lLUcqQdmtLTqLi-BSqcwA&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=4tI-UZqtI4be8wT-34H4Cg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Thomas%201971%20negromachy&f=false
Three white men convicted of hate crime in attack at Houston bus stop http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Three-white-men-convicted-of-hate-crime-in-attack-3486507.php
Becoming an Anti-Racist Church: Journeying Toward Wholeness
Par Joseph R. Barndt
http://books.google.com/books?id=BuEL5TucFZ0C&pg=PA164&dq=internalized+racial+oppression&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=N8s-UZmeMYLa8wS-oIGACw&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=internalized%20racial%20oppression&f=false
Here in this instance, two of my family members were showing signs of internal racial oppression, a coin I was re-introduced to at an Association of Black Psychologist meeting at the SHAPE center. Internalized racial oppression is defined as the internalized inferiority in people of color and superiority of white people according to author Joseph R. Barndt. He continues stating that it is the distorted self-understanding and dysfunctional relationships within and across color lines that cause people to inflict a hidden hate on their own race. John Ramos David stated that internalized oppression is a condition in which an oppressed individual or group come to believe that they are inferior to those in power or who are part of the dominant group…among African Americans this leads to identity confusion and to the development of an inferior identity which has been called “negromachy”#googleitplease. This idea was created by a psychologist named Thomas who explained Negromachy (smh-#whataword) occurs when a black person shows confusion of self-worth and shows dependency upon white society for definition of self.
Back to the story, “this is some hood…shyt…you know this does not happen in other neighborhoods…” or “I do not even feel safe with a man watching me as I get in my car in those type of communities…” However, there is no mention of the crime happening outside of the black community…i.e. Sandy Hook Elementry School #educationalviolence, Dark Knight #hollywoodviolence, and Enron #economicviolence. Yet, when violence happens within the black community the first thing many black people do is validate the situation by not-being-surprised-and-expecting-crude-behavior-from-each-other. Internalizing violent behavior is a way of accepting it and that does not lead to progress: Black people we can do better! Because if we are expecting the worse from us, who will expect the best…
This is more than a ramble, I am seeking solutions to negromachy…any answers?
©NEEMA
Please visit links below for more information…
“I’m Not Gonna Let You Define Me”: A Qualitative Investigation of Racial …”
Par David L. Walden
http://books.google.com/books?id=hkRw8qKvmWUC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Thomas+1971+negromachy&source=bl&ots=VFQeeY38nL&sig=AAp3f4lLUcqQdmtLTqLi-BSqcwA&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=4tI-UZqtI4be8wT-34H4Cg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Thomas%201971%20negromachy&f=false
Three white men convicted of hate crime in attack at Houston bus stop http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Three-white-men-convicted-of-hate-crime-in-attack-3486507.php
Becoming an Anti-Racist Church: Journeying Toward Wholeness
Par Joseph R. Barndt
http://books.google.com/books?id=BuEL5TucFZ0C&pg=PA164&dq=internalized+racial+oppression&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=N8s-UZmeMYLa8wS-oIGACw&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=internalized%20racial%20oppression&f=false
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