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By Jumasa

Against the background of conventional logic, there is a haunting question which lingers over issues relating to the current status and condition of the social aggregate identified as Black people. The black population is not simply divided against itself, it is critically dangerous to itself. And so the question must be asked, AIn the face of a five hundred year history of oppression, why is there so much divisiveness, antagonism and mistrust within the black population? This question addresses a situation which defies logic, since logic dictates that an oppressed people would mobilize around their common interest in liberation. But it is a situation which is very real and has crippled the Black population with what can be termed, self inflicted wounds. The factious discord internal to the black population is far more intense and go well beyond the disagreements which may develop from mere differences of opinion. However, what at first blush may seem perplexing and inexplicable, becomes clear, if one understands the debilitating mental and psychological effects of a process called indoctrination. The black population=s dysfunctions are the symptoms of a deeper mental and psychological result of indoctrination that noted psychiatrist and scholar, Frantz Fanon, called, the internalization of inferiority. Simply defined, AInternalized inferiority is the condition where the victims of racism, (oppression) believe, subscribe to and internalize the misinformation which is based upon the proposition of the inferiority of their own group.@

Internalized inferiority emerged as a driving force behind the continued enslavement and exploitation of African people, particularly after the event called emancipation. Initially, European colonialism orchestrated the destruction of African civilization and culture. Subsequently, African people were Asocialized@ under the tutelage of white institutions. This socialization process was designed condition African people to condone and accommodate their oppression rather than to militate against it. The conditioning itself was effective though not perfect. That is, African people became sufficiently indoctrinated with the beliefs and values of white culture and civilization so as to ensure their continued subjugation. As a result, African people not only became slaves by the force and command of the white man=s violence, African people became slaves in humble subservience to the command of the white man=s values. As a general proposition, internalized inferiority afflicts the individual, and by extension the body politic, with a moral, spiritual and intellectual paralysis which forces the entire body into a posture of compromise, submission, surrender and enslavement. Its presence is acknowledged within the black population and identified with the use of such terms as Negro, Oreo, Coconut, Uncle Tom, Sambo, Mental Slavery and Crab-In-A-Barrel.

It deserves emphasis that wherever European colonialism has been, the black people it encountered have been subjected to the indoctrination of a white supremacy culture/system. This system, designed upon a foundation of contempt for African people, shaped African people=s perception of the universe for everything, from their God concept to their self concept. This paradoxical situation and its dangerous consequences are unmistakable. After all, the propositions of white superiority and black inferiority are fundamental to white socio-cultural arrangement and central to white beliefs and values. Consequently, the black man [figurative] became mentally and psychologically programmed with a contempt for himself which is as virulent as the white man=s contempt for the black man. In effect, black people were programmed to preserve and protect white dominance, even to the detriment of themselves and their own group. From those blacks of previous centuries who opposed and betrayed the rebellions, insurrections, runaways and other mechanisms designed to liberate African people from chattel slavery, to those blacks who currently oppose and betray the mechanisms designed to liberate African people from social, political and economic enslavement, the black population has suffered serious setbacks to its liberation from within its own ranks.

The willingness of black people to act with indifference or hostility to the liberty interests of black people, revealed a misguided sense of identity and misplaced allegiance. Doubtlessly, this is an identity crisis with catastrophic potential and effect. In light of this, black, used as a generic term to identify people of African ancestry, can be very misleading and warrants examination. As author, James Baldwin so aptly puts it, AYou can=t always tell that a man is black by the color of his skin.@ This is to say that in terms of human identity, black denotes much more than a colour. It denotes African culture, history, experience and mentality. Black people under the influence of internalized inferiority, and thus alienated from an African cultural experience, are compelled to view and analyse the world from an European frame of reference. Some argue that the selected frame of reference is a personal or individual choice. But this argument ignores the fact that the choice is dictated by the influence of European socio-cultural indoctrination. More important, this argument ignores the fact that European social indoctrination inculcates the conviction that an African frame of reference either does not exist or has no legitimacy. The truth is, the incidence of internalized inferiority determines whether people of African ancestry (Black people) identify themselves as black by virtue of culture and history (African) or identify themselves as black by the unfortunate circumstance of pigmentation (Negro).

Therefore, as Black people address either fundamental or peripheral issues in regard to the appropriate approach and objective in dealing with the problems of the black population, the conflict, mistrust and antagonisms which manifest themselves can be explained in terms of the fundamental distinction between the African mentality and the Negro mentality. The fundamental contentions and conflicts lie in whether Black people analyse their problems and propose solutions from an African, as opposed to European frame of reference. Naturally, the European frame of reference is bounded by its indifference to African people and its presumption of African people=s inferiority or less than complete humanity. The solutions proposed are therefore designed for those of lesser human value. On the other hand, those who view and analyse the world from an African frame of reference, contemplate the complete humanity of African people. Consequently, they would find the analyses and proposed solutions generated from an European frame of reference to be inadequate and insulting, and such analyses and solutions would invite their dissatisfaction and resentment.

Internalized inferiority poses the most serious threat and erects the most formidable barrier to Black people=s liberation growth and development, particularly because it operates from within. Primarily, it sabotages the progress of the black population, forbidding its mobilization into a community. The patterns of thought and behaviour which are motivated by internalized inferiority, whether consciously or subconsciously entertained, whether voluntarily or involuntarily practiced, constitute the demise of the black population in the interest of and in service to white dominance and supremacy. No amount of ideological justification could change that reality or make it more acceptable. Within the scope of the thought and behavior patterns, the social decadence called black on black violence is as much a function of internalized inferiority as is the refusal of the black middle class to identify with the problems of the black underclass or the failure of black elected or appointed officials and other civic leaders to adequately represent the interests of a black community. In a word, members of the black population are actively involved in holding the black community hostage, threatening its survival. Despite the presence, persistence and dedication of black liberators, the disturbing image is that of a black population orchestrating its own destruction.

It is important to remember that the removal of black people from the discourse of world history was not inadvertent. It was done with deliberate intent as part of the objective of excluding black people from the definition of humanity. As the honorable Marcus Garvey reminds us, AA people without the knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots.@ This is a despairing but appropriate analogy of what blacks face as a people. A tree, weak without grounding or foundation, lacking a direct connection to life sustaining nutrients, incapable of regenerating itself or contributing to the survival of its species, facing death and extinction with the possibility of leaving the earth without a trace that it ever existed. Given the current situation, for any group of blacks to consider themselves exempt from this danger, is nothing short of a naive avoidance of reality.