First the question is “Is it because I am Black”. But now we need to know “why are they holding us back?”
There are three facts that we live with;
1…..How the world treats people is different based on race, ethnicity, economic status.
2…..Other people’s feelings of hate or superiority are fueled by who they are with at the moment as well as how important it is to show those feelings out in the open.
3…..Racism and the execution of racist acts are informed by educational experience and experiences from childhood.
And how does this play out?
Let’s look at Maya Wiley talking about upbringing and racism
“It’s that humanity suffers and it suffers from deep illness. Racism is a deep illness and some folks are sick and don’t know it. They don’t know or understand that they’re sick.”
What I do know is that there are children and young adults really suffering out there. Their days and nights are a hell where every encounter or experience in life is colored by the color of their skin AND of the people who are part of that encounter.
If we see a picture of white children walking with parents of mixed ethnicities or black children walking with mixed parents, a ton of questions and judgements pop up:
- Who was doing what when this happened
- Are they adopted
- or
- If the children look mixed then it’s not too bad, they are so pretty with their good hair and brown skin.
What are we seeing internationally?
A positive:
In Canada,there is a movement toward supporting parents of Black children and access to the legislation surrounding racism. Over the past 3 years or so we have seen reports in the media of parents speaking out about unresolved instances of racism experienced by their children.
This led to the establishment of an advocacy and knowledge-building organisation viz. parentsofblackchildren.org Their about says: Facilitating and advocating for system change to ensure Black children and youth can achieve their fullest potential.
They work with all the school systems, in Canada eg. blackLivesMatter-Peel @AdvocacyPeel.
A Negative:
Further afield…In The Guardian International edition Jan 2021 we read
“When I read that in the UK ,black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth or pregnancy, I think it’s a disgrace. I had no idea there was a difference in the way black women were treated by the NHS. I’ve found myself wondering: was I treated differently, when I was pregnant, because I am black?”
What else do we know?
Worldwide, when we go for treatment in any health institution whether mental, emotional or physical, the encounter is one of systemic racism and hurtful negative stereotyping. In the case of Black kids, they are more likely to be misdiagnosed as being mentally ill or having a particular type of mental illness (see reports on autism diagnosis and treatment internationally).
According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Black Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. Black youth who are exposed to violence are at a greater risk for PTSD by over 25%.
Healthline.org July 2019 reports that Black people are 20 percent more likely to experience mental health problems compared to the rest of the population.
All of these examples, both the positive and the negative re-enforce the fact that all over the world, Black women, parents and children are negatively stereotyped in the critical service agencies of any society, i.e. the educational and health systems.
It seems like the tentacles of white supremacy are systematically tightening their hold on a section of humanity, i.e. Black peoples, with few repercussions in the larger society.
Don’t stop here!!!!!
Read part 2 and part 1 for THE WAY FORWARD right here in this site https://www.eawpublications.com