Racism is indoctrinated in every facet of life that we know of. It is pervasive in education, policy, and practice. And it is a privilege to be aware that these things are operating against us. That is why the need for Black Psychology is real.
Black history in the States is taught to have begun with enslavement. This ugly history sets the tone for the Black American experience. Its implications are the foundation for various forms of racial oppression that are still presently at work. Miseducation, Jim Crow, voting laws, mass incarceration, a European standard of beauty and more exist as systems of racial oppression that disadvantage Black people’s ability to achieve an ideal positive mental health state.
Schooling is a large part of a child’s day. They spend some 8+ hours in school learning basic math and reading skills, “history,” and social skills, among other things. If Black children are learning history through a white supremacist lens, for 8 hours a day, K-12, it follows that they may internalize the beliefs of their oppressors.
It is up to us to teach them the correct history. Their history. That Black history begins with Lucy. That all other beings came from the womb of Africa (Google the Eve gene). It is up to us to shift the narrative that our people’s history starts with enslavement when in fact, we are the blueprint and we had advanced civilizations (i.e. Kemet, Songhai, Egypt) well before white colonizers disrupted us. With a baseline of royalty, why wouldn’t you be great?
