Since they usually come from the same type of background as most white Americans, many white therapists likely harbor negative and stereotypical views of African Americans, and thus of their African American patients. These negative stereotypes can affect the health care black Americans receive. In a survey of practicing psychiatrists, Doris Wilkinson found that “cultural conditioning to racial beliefs and attitudes . . . pervades therapeutic contexts in which minority women are clients.”
Racial stereotypes among medical practitioners often stem from hoary societal stereotypes and centuries-old myths, some of which may be linked to scientific racism and its notions of biological “races.” Physicians who accept any of these old stereotypes, even unconsciously, are likely to communicate some negative feelings in their verbal or nonverbal behavior, thereby causing many black patients to withhold the kind of self-disclosure that is necessary for effective psychotherapy. Doing so may cause them to be labeled as “noncompliant,” which is a further stigma provided by the mental health care profession.
Some researchers have found that, for African Americans, psychotherapy with a white caregiver often leads to “unhealthful consequences.” In addition, diagnostic tests themselves are sometimes racially biased and thereby elevate the observed rates of certain types of mental illness for black Americans.
<br Indeed, most diagnostic measures for mental illness, which are routinely used to assess the mental health of African Americans, have been validated only for whites. A white standard of “normal” is usually taught to, and used by, therapists. Yet, the subcultural norms for what is “normal” and “abnormal” behavior are sometimes different for blacks and whites.
Joe Feagin and Karyn D. McKinney, The Many Costs of Racism (via wretchedoftheearth)
i refuse to get therapy with white people and it’s fucked because i need the help but the last white woman i saw didn’t even know the term angry black woman. how can you treat a group of people you don’t even know the common stereotypes and shit they face? and thing is, you know it, you old white bitch. you know that stereotype, you’ve treated plenty of black women like that in your past i’m sure. to her, it’s not that serious and i’m not really depressed and she basically dismissed me like make an appointment whenever. while i’m bawling. ugh. so true.
(via strugglingtobeheard)
check this, the youth in DSS/foster care/juvee pipeline, their therapists tend to be pink suburban people who have only seen black people in gangster movies on tv and believe the world is postracial, so all they do is fucking victimblame, gaslight and essentially re-traumatize the children and add more woes, …children who are mainly black, latino and native american. the school of psychology currently reinforces abuse culture, and colonialism. it does nothing to dismantle those cycles but rather ensures they continue.
(via bad-dominicana)
Doctor stops to help accident victim, disrespected for her race
Last Friday, Phyllis Phukubye, 27, left Helen Joseph Hospital and headed home but had to stop when she saw a motorcycle accident victim on Douglas Road, Saturday Star reported.
When she arrived on the scene, she saw that the victim was badly hurt and many bystanders surrounded him.
Phukubye introduced herself to the victim and the people who were standing around, “mostly white people”.
“I put on my gloves and attempted to assist the man. But no one seemed to believe that I was a doctor or a health professional, because they kept uttering stupid remarks in the background. They were even telling me what to do and what not to do,” she told the newspaper.
Phukubye said a white lady assumed that she was a nurse and kept saying to her that her son’s friend was a doctor and he was on his way to the scene.
Paramedics arrived and they also “shooed ” her away even physically pushing her.
She finally walked away, assuming that the patient was in good hands.
So… when I talk about the fact that people are more invested in white supremacy than survival…
(Source: thefemaletyrant)
We [white people] need to accept that when a person of color tells us we’ve fucked up, the answer is not to get defensive. When we get that instinct to say “geez, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way at all,” it’s time to stop right now. It doesn’t matter how you meant it. It really doesn’t. Someone doesn’t have to have racism in their heart to do something racist. And doing something racist doesn’t make you an evil person who can never do good again, should never be an activist, should run off and hide in a hole somewhere. It means you did something hurtful, you made a big mistake, and you need to own that mistake. You need to say “I’m sorry.” Full stop. I’m sorry. And if the person who called you out is generous enough to take time to explain what you did wrong, you need to have a seat and listen.
Avory Faucette (via anochercushion)
you don’t have to have racism in your heart to do something racist
(via celeryandhummus)
Foreign languages sound like “jibberish” to non-speakers of that language because they don’t recognize where the words start and end. I slept thru a speech and hearing science lecture about it.
This is possibly the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen. The damn examples don’t make any sense. We are all human beings and your point is?!
(Source: flowers-for-mr-ukki)
[TW: Racism & Cissexism] I Hate Cis Feminists: Inga Muscio Edition
Inga Muscio, author of Cunt, called me a “tranny son” to my face today.
“There’s no context, she might’ve meant it in a good way!”Fuck that, but you want context? Here’s the context:
Inga Muscio is being hosted by our University (WAGS dept specifically I believe) to come and do a talk on the intersectionalities of identities and rape. She’s also a well known author of several books: Cunt, Rose, and Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil.
Today’s first event that included Inga was a “Lunch with Barbie” to bring a discussion and awareness to eating disorders and the beauty standard. It was a great time with a bunch of grues casually erasing trans* people and only focusing on grue shit and shaming people who were thin, got plastic surgery, etc… Awesome, sweet, amazing, and oppressive as shit.
Then we had a two hour talk with Inga on a variety of things, but most notably on what kind of activisty-things we were doing in life/wanted to accomplish in life. There was really no point to this talk except for her shameless plug of her work, life story, and for her to- on face value- get to know us. Fine, dandy, whatever.
Then we had some downtime where people were talking to her about how to become a better writer, etc… After that was over I had a question for her: ”Would you explain the mindset behind the word choice in your Afterward of Cunt, specifically where you use the terms “Biological woman,” “transgendered,” and “tranny/trannies/trannyfolk.”“
She first responded that “cisgender was only invented two years ago.” Know what? Fine, whatever, I’ll give you that; even though it was apparently coined on the ‘net in 1994-1996 and used in print in 1998. And you know what? I’ll give her “transgendered” as well.
But tranny, lets move on to the word, tranny:
Let’s also note that she is cis, she is a “biological woman” and lives her life “as a woman.”
So where does she get off thinking she can use the word “tranny,” and not mean it in an offensive way?
Her explanation revolves around 3 points:
1) It’s all about the intent of a word
2) It’s the culture I grew up in and everyone in the queer culture in San Fran used it so I can use it too.
3) You can’t tell people that some people can use certain words while others can’t.
1) So if her intent is to mean something positive; a cis person, according to her, can use the word “tranny” in a non-oppressive way. She also said here that she can use racial slurs because “that’s what they would say in Alabama. They wouldn’t say ‘the n-word’ they would actually say the word (and she did actually use the racial slur several times).” Completely ignoring the fact that there are ways you can inform a reader what the word is, without actually using the word, and thus actually being oppressive due to your use of the word. Also, she only used that one racial slur as an example.It was also here that I told her about the difference in the in-group/out-group use of a word: where the out-group has a history of oppressive use of a word and only those in the in-group may reclaim a word, or use it without an oppressive meaning. I gave her the example of me being able to call myself a “tranny,” but if my dad did it would be oppressive; she then told me that it shouldn’t be offensive if my dad calls me his “tranny son” since he is now a supportive and accepting father.
2) She thinks that because the QUEER (not explicitly trans*) culture in San Fran uses the word “tranny” all the time, that she may then use it, because that was her world. It means that she can call us that slur in front of all her readers (she used it 6+ times in the afterward of her book), and mean it in a positive way. It means “because my friends use it this way, it means all trans* people are trannies and they shouldn’t be offended if I call them that.” It means a cis person is labeling an entire group of people with an oppressive slur that has time and time again been used to dehumanize our group from her own group. But it’s okay, because she means it in a good way.
She never defined what a “good way” was, and she never defined in her afterward that she was using it in a “good way.”
3) This, fucking this piece of shit. It’s an entitlement complex that shines out her ass that shows how fucking problematic she really fucking is. “You get to use that word and not mean it in an offensive way? That means I can too! And if you don’t let me, you’re being oppressive!” She has no clue about the history of slurs. She has no clue what her words mean, even though she expressly stated that “words have power.” She has no fucking clue about and vehemently denies her privileges.
I also want to note that she was within punching distance during this entire conversation; and I had to use all my power to contain myself, especially when I was called a “tranny son,” to not lift a finger to her.
She also still holds to her guns on her argument.
Occasionally, I’d notice that I had become a peculiar creature to many people, and even a few friends, who had assumed that being Palestinian was the equivalent of something mythological like a unicorn or a hopelessly odd variation of a human being. A Boston psychologist who specialised in conflict resolution, and whom I had met at several seminars involving Palestinians and Israelis, once rang me from Greenwich Village and asked if she could come uptown to pay me a visit. When she arrived, she walked in, looked incredulously at my piano – ‘Ah, you actually play the piano,’ she said, with a trace of disbelief in her voice – and then turned around and began to walk out. When I asked her whether she would have a cup of tea before leaving (after all, I said, you have come a long way for such a short visit) she said she didn’t have time. ‘I only came to see how you lived,’ she said without a hint of irony. Another time a publisher in another city refused to sign my contract until I had lunch with him. When I asked his assistant what was so important about having a meal with me, I was told that the great man wanted to see how I handled myself at the table.
Edward Said, Between Worlds: a memoir
Great commentary on how academics, scholars, etc. that write/research about certain ethnicity or community of people often treat them as such, a study, a research topic, a “a peculiar creature” as Said points out, people that need help with gaining a voice, someone who needs assistance. This kind of narcissistic mentality where the savior complex of these people is in full force is not only toxic and demeaning to people they “study” but it’s disrespectful the issue at hand, because at the end of the day what might be a paper topic, a book that needs to be published, an article for these so called scholars is a real ongoing issue for people they study. Writing, studying, researching certain issues, people, and communities does not automatically excuse you from being considered racist unless you actively work against that racism already in place.
(via loohn)
Not every white person is a racist, but the genius of racism is that you don’t have to participate to enjoy the spoils. If you’re white, you can be completely oblivious, passively accepting the status quo, and reap the rewards.
—Mychal Denzel Smith, “White People Have to Give Up Racism” (via thenationmagazine)
A very good definition of privilege.
(via blueandbluer)
To the white guys on the beach yelling, “China! Filipino! Japanese? Beautiful Asians!” at us from across the street… To all the white girls who tell us, “You’re so lucky! I just want to be dark like you.” To that one white guy who wrote a paper on genocide in our country and told us, “…you probably won’t understand it.”
Fuck you. Fuck your fetishization, white privilege, and racism.
Linda and Lenée. Best friends. Cambodian girls. Forever angry.
Offended because someone compliments you…grow up and find something better to bitch about.
If you cannot comprehend the difference between fetishization and compliments, then I doubt your intellect. If you cannot comprehend the difference between exotification and compliments, then you are a fool.
- Yazmine
Badass photo and great commentary. To the 2nd person: shut the fuck up and take your whitegirl crap somewhere else.
story time pt 2; the niggER story
i was like 14
volunteering at a nursing home
field trip trype shit
so we were walking around the place with the old people
we got partners or w/e my partner was this old white lady
i told her to go down the steps or some shit?
i dont even remember
i was just like “oh ok go this way”
and the bitch goes
“in all my years i never thought i would see the day that I took orders from a nigger.”
i dead didnt know how to feel
i just pinched the bitch then walked to the bathroom and sat in there until it was time to leave
I think this is the most concise summary of privilege I’ve seen yet
That’s right. I don’t want to draw people of colour. Why? I don’t find them aesthetically pleasing. And no, that doesn’t make me racist. I have nothing against people of colour. I don’t have a problem with them. Some of my best friends are people of colour, and I don’t think any less of them for that.
I just don’t find poc attractive. Kinda like I don’t find big noses or buck teeth attractive. Or curly hair, or bushy eyebrows, or super thin lips, or certain face shapes. Or a lot of Freckles. Or really huge butts. Or ginormous boobs.
I like to draw things that I find attractive or interesting, so that’s what I’ll draw. If it doesn’t fit into what I think is attractive or interesting, I tend not to draw it.
And I don’t have to. So all you “BAH YOU DON’T DRAW POC! YOU RACIST!” people need to stfu. People can draw whatever the fuck they want, and you can’t force them to draw something they don’t want to. They might be racist, they might not. But it doesn’t matter. We all have free will.
submitted by -belle-of-ponderosa
Don’t you dare use your friends that are PoC to justify your vile words. We people of color, we do not all look the same but words such as yours, have been used for hundreds of years to demonize our features, to stigmatize us. Congratulations, you are another no good racist artist. - Yazmine
i’m actually sick.
I hope OP chokes on shit forever. Worthless racist scum.
lmfao drop dead. seriously.
“Some of my best friends are—” SHUT THE FUCK UP AND NEVER STOP
Idle No More and Bitter Angry White People (TW: Racism)
WINNIPEG-A new blockade shut down Winnipeg’s busiest artery Wednesday.
Portage Ave., the main route to Western Canada, shut down by Idle No more, and the drivers left idling their cars got angry.
“I’m not any more special than them, they’re not any more special than me. Everyone’s equal,” says one middle-aged driver. “I can’t do something like that, neither can they. Everybody’s got to be treated equal and that kind of stupid stuff should not be allowed by anybody. Plain and simple.”
The man, however, admits he doesn’t know why the people rallying under the Idle No More flag are there.
“No, but it doesn’t matter,” he said.
His wife leans over and adds her opinion.
“We bear the brunt of paying tax money that is allowing them to live in this country and not work,” she says. “We are paying taxes for these roads that they are barricading and not allowing us to use.”
But the demonstrators would say she’s got things turned around, that it’s Aboriginal people that have let Canadians move in for 300 years. Today, they say, they have become second-class citizens on their own land.
“Hopefully people understand and hopefully people start to ask questions. Why? As their government, why? What’s going on? Why is this happening? Why can’t I get to point A to B?” said Idle No More supporter Nathan Felix.
Like most other peaceful blockades, this one will last only a few hours. However, that hasn’t stopped tensions from rising.
A pamphlet with the image of a middle finger and the word “Indian” was handed out at a New Year’s round dance.
Meanwhile, Sun News Network held a contest asking people to use one word to describe Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, who is on day 23 of her hunger strike, and win a prize.
Some of the words used, included: fat, oink, garbage, chief two-chins and hippo.
Others couldn’t stick to just one word. One wrote, “Stop sucking Lysol.”
But with round dances and blockades popping up in busy city streets and shopping malls, Idle No More seems to be gaining momentum and some new supporters.
“It’s cold out here, they stand up in this cold out here, try to fight for their rights,” says one man.
“The issues of clean water, proper housing are issues for all Canadians and First Nations are entitled to get these grievances redressed and this silent peaceful, but very important protest is a place where we should be,” said Paul Moist, national president of CUPE.
With the racism that has started to surface at these rallies, some are wondering just how far the protestors are will to take this movement and if the police will have to get involved.
Let’s start by pointing out that intersectionality isn’t such a scary word, and gasp, plenty of people who haven’t been university-educated are capable of looking it up and understanding it. Here’s a good definition. It’s not that hard to understand. It’s essentially a useful way of saying that things like sexuality, race, class, religion and ability overlap. For example, a white woman’s experience of sexism may be vastly different from a black woman’s. Has your brain died from exhaustion yet? It’s so condescending to suggest that non-academics just aren’t smart enough to get this.
