America’s Racist Fundament 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Neil Shpancer suggests that incidents of outright racist brutality, such as the recent killings of George Floyd and others for being while black, as horrifying as they are, may distract us from the true character of day-to-day racism. He argues that racism is embedded so deeply within American culture, laws, and public life that it propagates itself, even in the absence of individual acts of overt racism.
Here’s a bit, including four elements he identifies as blinding us to the systemic character of said systemic racism:
(snip)
- First is the process of habituation, by which nervous system activation decreases after prolonged exposure to a stimulus. In other words: things we get used to no longer register. . . .
- Second is internalization, defined as the integration of others’ attitudes, values, standards and opinions into one’s own sense of self. . . .
- Third is learned helplessness, defined as the sense of powerlessness arising from trauma or persistent failure. . . .
- Fourth is the one-two punch of confirmation bias . . . .
(Slightly edited for grammar and clarity.)
