THE COLOR SICKNESS:

THE COLOR SICKNESS:
Unacknowledged, Denied and Pandemic

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "Racism is a sin unto death."
James Baldwin said: "There was not then, nor is there now a single American institution which is not a racist institution."

Baldwin might've said, "a single worldwide institution." They certainly knew, instinctively, what they were talking about.

However, a more accurate term than the archaic "racism" is evolving to define the irrational practice of judging and treating a hueman being solely by the color of her/his skin; it is "colorism" precisely because there is only one hueman race. (I spell 'hueman' with an 'e' in recognition of the science-proven fact that within all huemans is retained some level/amount of melanin - some of us are just more or less 'rinsed out.'

It is of utmost and world wide importance that the psychological health of hueman beings is restored and maintained. Unfortunately, there is pandemic denial that colorism exists to a counterproductive degree and affects and victimizes huemans in every arena of people activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex and war. (thanks to Psychiatrist Dr. Frances Cress Welsing for this list)

Guess What? How does one spell "C-o-u-n-t-e-r-p-r-o-d-u-c-t-i-v-e?" I just learned that the (mostly white) Congress of the United States of America is conspiring to shut down Black History Month! YIKES! Instead of incorporating Black History in schools at every level, thereby teaching all students who were their most distant ancestors/relatives and that "Black" history is world history, there we have a bunch of mis-educated (elected) genetic mutants leading the entire U.S.A. into lemming-like retrogressive thinking (it's called "Dumbing Down") OUCH!

We define such infestation, "colorism" - as the irrational "pathological response to differences in color and culture." That definition was coined by the intrepid Community Activist Sister Jean Wilkins Dember MHS (Master of Hueman Services)

Although we'd prefer to avoid labels, when such irrationality becomes continuous, it is labeled 'insanity,' is it not?

There is a basic universally-held feeling that unless you're masochistic no one wants to be a victim. Similarly, most huemans, if they're honest and recognize the 'bottom-socio-economic-rung position' of the world's Black and other people of color, definitely do not want to be 'of color.' (Ref. to the book "Two Nations: Separate, Unequal and Hostile," where students asked if they'd accept money to become white said they wouldn't take even one million dollars)

Blacks and other people of color who're trying to maintain dignity and pride in their Black African descendancy must of necessity at some stage in their development as adults of color, resolve the thorny issues of self identity and self worth and continually fight off not only external slings and arrows of colorism, but also the internal barbs of psychic destruction which occasionally gets past their unique defense barriers.

An instructive comparison allows for understanding this constant psychological, spiritual battle: someone raised female in this world is raised in mostly patriarchies which constantly 'put down' and attempt to control the female entity. As young girls attempting self determination in such a repressive milieu, for them to be able to even dress themselves in the morning is amazing. The repression, suppression,oppresiveness is overwhelming unfortunately, females evince submissiveness to overt and covert control in most societies, as untenable as this seems. Because some huemans are endowed with more estrogen than testosterone hormones, they are automatically relegated to second and third class citizenship. Every day, therefore, if by some social magic, some existential serendipity, a female manages to even partially escape the intellectual, pshychological, emotional, legal and physical predation as she ages, and is able to think clearly for herself, she must continually scrape off (and out) the destructive effects of being female in a (mostly) partriarchal world and seek reinforcement that she is a worthwhile entity.


The same intellectual, psychological, emotional, spiritual daily battles must be and are fought by Black and other people of color who are continually 'had at' by a colorist predatory world, and anyone who hasn't 'walked a mile' in such shoes-of-color (and of 'femaleness') cannot dictate how others do or should feel.

However, the 'myth of meritocracy,' the 'pulling up by one's own bootstraps' is forever flown inf the faces of those who dare challenge the massive denial extant in the U.S.A. and in other countries where there's mostly white-male-rule (and if they're not out there in the public eye, they're behind the scenes pulling the economic strings)

Doubt any of this and you're urged to go to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of the U.S.A.; on December 13, 1865, the invidious regulation supposedly abolishing slavery was enacted - with the exception of jails. (my emphasis) People with observable melanin were routinely enslaved and the masses of inhabitants in this country allowed it! The vicious repercussions and remnants of this evil are alive and 'well' in today's societies. (Refer to Dr.
Joy DeGruy's 'Post Slavery Traumatic Disorder.')

However, pandemic denial of these dangerous social thorns persists. Despite the widely held belief that a person should not be held responsible or maltreated because of something over which she/he has no control (being born Black and/or of color) untreated colorism (racism) reigns, subverts, damages entire societies, causes invasions, wars, deaths and retrogressive administrations - a la the barbarian childkilling wallbuilding Israeli 'sitting-duck' attacks on hapless Palestinians - to engage in ethnic cleansing for hegemonic gains.

That untreated colorism causes degrading behavior not only by caucasians against people of color but, almost incredibly, causes those very people of color victims to practice a kind of 'color-striated' violence even against members of their own families of color such as;

- colorist advice from Black/of color parents for their children to choose 'lighter-skinned' partners;

- colorist practices of skin-bleaching not only in Black Africa but also Yellow China and other places;

- color-chosen members of entire bands of Carnival revelers in Trinidad/Tobago, West Indies;

-Black children choosing white dolls rather than dolls resembling their own color because "Black dolls are bad."

Then we have the mostly all-white (male) sunday morning TV anchors and commentators prating about "world" affairs (the three-quarters of color world) as though they're the only ones with worthwhile opinions. This is surely reflective of the malignant, counterproductive and relentless 'decisions-dictated-by-color' which pervade a world infected by what can only be called "The Color Sickness."

Suggestions For Serious Healing: A good start in erasing the pandemic denial would be for individuals and institutions (especially those 'kill-Black-males' law enforcement outfits and the nation's education systems) wishing to regain their credibility, rationality, sanity - to log on to Discussrace.com [to, as Law Professor Dr. Lani Guinier so presciently advises: "Discuss racism (she meant 'colorism') in public forums in order to put it on the front burner so as to be able to deal with it in a forthright manner"] - and to take and share the Racismtest.org.

And where pathological responses to differences in color and culture are revealed, those infected can opt (like any other addicts) to undergo Ethnotherapy Counseling until they can recover their ability to think straight. (and not be fired unless they refuse Ethnotherapeutic Couseling, Imus)

If you're thinking straight, you don't consider yourself better than others, you don't have to scapegoat anyone, you don't judge a book by its cover or huemans by their skin color, you're helping to make this ol' world a better place for your children.