African-Americans are confused about racism in four ways.
First, they are confused about whether they are being tolerated or accepted by whites. Though some whites truly accept African-Americans, many more harbor negative stereotypes of them and only tolerate them. Rejecting the legitimate good will of whites is as big a mistake as trusting a white person who harbors racist attitudes The problem is that Afican-Americans can rarely tell who's who.
A second problem concerns an African-American's inability to distinguish between the supportive efforts of individual whites and the destructive actions of whites as a collective. This confusion occurs when an African-American is accepted by an individual white person and, as a result, mistakenly believes that racism no longer exists.
A third problem is knowing when, where and how to resist oppression, versus when, where and how to accommodate it. There are times and places when racism should be fought bitterly, but other times are not suitable. For example, the African-American employee whose white boss tells a racist joke, has a difficult choice to make.
The final confusion is whether an African-American's locus of control is internal or external. An internal locus of control implies that you attribute your successes to yourself and your failures to your lack of effort. An external locus of control implies that you attribute your failures or successes to something outside of your control. A major problem for African-Americans is determining when they are in control of their destiny or whether there are external factors imposed by racism. If Blacks assume an external locus of control (i.e., the "white man" controls everything we do), then we will lack motivation to help ourselves. On the other hand, if Blacks don't recognize the external constraints imposed upon Blacks by a white-racist society, they could be blaming African-American shortcomings on Blacks and not the real culprit.
(from Finding a Way Through the Maze of Racism by Dr Carl Bell http://whgbetc.com/meta/microinsults.html )
First, they are confused about whether they are being tolerated or accepted by whites. Though some whites truly accept African-Americans, many more harbor negative stereotypes of them and only tolerate them. Rejecting the legitimate good will of whites is as big a mistake as trusting a white person who harbors racist attitudes The problem is that Afican-Americans can rarely tell who's who.
A second problem concerns an African-American's inability to distinguish between the supportive efforts of individual whites and the destructive actions of whites as a collective. This confusion occurs when an African-American is accepted by an individual white person and, as a result, mistakenly believes that racism no longer exists.
A third problem is knowing when, where and how to resist oppression, versus when, where and how to accommodate it. There are times and places when racism should be fought bitterly, but other times are not suitable. For example, the African-American employee whose white boss tells a racist joke, has a difficult choice to make.
The final confusion is whether an African-American's locus of control is internal or external. An internal locus of control implies that you attribute your successes to yourself and your failures to your lack of effort. An external locus of control implies that you attribute your failures or successes to something outside of your control. A major problem for African-Americans is determining when they are in control of their destiny or whether there are external factors imposed by racism. If Blacks assume an external locus of control (i.e., the "white man" controls everything we do), then we will lack motivation to help ourselves. On the other hand, if Blacks don't recognize the external constraints imposed upon Blacks by a white-racist society, they could be blaming African-American shortcomings on Blacks and not the real culprit.
(from Finding a Way Through the Maze of Racism by Dr Carl Bell http://whgbetc.com/meta/microinsults.html )