The Danger of Borrowed Perception

At some point in our lives we have all been taken advantage of emotionally, physically, psychologically, or perhaps even financially. These events are painful, devastating, and for the privileged, they are infrequent. Sometimes there are relationships that last too long and we find ourselves made to feel as if we are merely puppets controlled and manipulated. It is imperative to address these toxic relationships because usually they involve a very devious, insufferable or calculating, individual. For blacks living in an anti-black world, this is how we feel each and every day in our relationship with the white world.

Controlling the acts of others is a huge part of morality. Why? Because morality is prescriptive. On a very basic level, when I say that you ought not to commit murder, I’m also telling you not to commit murder. Now, this may not necessarily implicate violations of bodily integrity, but if there are at least some things which it is morally problematic to do to one’s own body, mindlessly obeying orders whether they are spoken or unspoken, is by far one of our most dangerous self-inflicted offenses.  In this unit we’ve looked at products of white control and explored what it looks like to ultimately be autonomous-less. Because the black subject must constitute itself through obedience we do not always know that we are being taken advantage of, or on worst terms, controlled take Tina Turner for instance. White society has a deep yearning for being society’s regulator. Power has always been a tool used by the conqueror in order to pave the way to things such as success and happiness. Those who possess power usually live freer lives where they have the ability, time, money, and right to happiness. These individuals seemingly have full control of their bodies. Blacks do not. It is our lived experiences that demonstrate that society controls the black body as its primary object in such a way that we are unable to link ourselves to the larger social order. As a child, I frequently used the word “happy” whenever I described my state of being. Happy for my adolescent mind was much more like content; I was happy whenever I had a doll in my hand or even when I didn’t have to get my hair done. Although I do not believe those things are what lead to my happiness now, I still admire the innocence and control I had over connoting what “happy” was. Because white society controls ideas regarding image, perception, and good human performance, black people in return have begun to internalize these same ideas. Thus, it reveals itself to be true that because whites control black perception they also control black bodies.

Very crudely put, solipsism is the philosophical view that only “I” exist. I’d like to argue that whites possess a very solipsistic view of the world which in return has caused issues within the black community and psyche. Because white people feel they have a claim to human hood they also believe that they are moral and just. White people commonly endeavor to lower the moral status of beings they wish to make the targets of their transgressions. For example, men who want to mistreat women often work hard to cast them as inferior. Another example, people who want to mistreat animals typically convince themselves that animals are inferior beings and hence can be mistreated. Solipsism seems to present the ultimate reduction everything other than me is nothing, which is presumably as “low” as it goes. This creates a social order where whites assume the position as regulators and leaves all others victim to their reign; in constant comparison.  Psychologist Albert Ellis in his outlining of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy points out a few thoughts which he labels “rational thoughts”. These thoughts stuck out to me in a very alarming way. Why? Because they were all thoughts that I was familiar with in my own life. What may seem like a simple list of familiar thoughts is actually a model for ideal black behavior.  This one list is successful in the sense that we blacks are all familiar with these claims/emotions and in a weird way believe that these claims are truly rational which breathes life into the idea that blacks are inferior. It very plainly states that these thoughts, most commonly experienced by blacks, are rational but I would argue the opposite. These thoughts are irrational thoughts of a black person living in a world where they do not have the ability to set their own standards.  The outside white world is constantly theorizing about black lives. They act as “big brother” in society, constantly examining us. When we begin to add analysis to our lives we begin to see the light in our dark positions. Blacks have the ability to be in control of our own lives and we will do so by regaining control of connoting “black”.