Psychology 12: Introduction to African American Psychology
S/R Paper for February 26,
2009
By
Halford H. Fairchild
Film Lecture
Barack
Obama (Address to Congress on Feb. 24, 2009):
Changing the “cognitive map” of social groups. Major points:
·
Obama’s popularity will erode anti-Black racism
·
His excellence contradicts prevailing stereotypes
·
His platform seeks to direct the American economy toward (1) energy;
(2) health care; and (3) education.
·
Energy: providing jobs
·
Health care: giving coverage to those not covered
·
Education: “dropping out of high
school not an option”; making the U.S. the country with the highest proportion
of college graduates by 2020; extending college tax credits to 4 years ($2500
per year);
Reverend
Jeremiah Wright
Stimulus: Reverend Wright provided a very entertaining
talk on a perspective relevant to African American psychology: Differences are not deficiencies. He notes that the proper beginning for a talk
of this nature is to answer the question, “Who are we?” He then provides a long list of “Who” African people are:
(from great historical figures to contemporary figures in popular
culture).
Response: This speaks to the reclaiming of the humanity
of African people. African people are
people; sometimes great people.
(Responses underlined in the following.)
Stimuli: His talk was consistent with the theme of the
convention: The Ori
Ire (Properly Aligned Consciousness). “If
you don’t know where you started from, you will always be faced in the wrong
direction.”
The naming of ancestors is in keeping with the
tradition of the pouring of libation.
Emphasis on the spiritual nature of human
existence: we are a spiritual people
(Nobles); “Our souls are restless until they find rest in God” (Augustin), or “Nothing but God can fill the God-shaped
vacuum in the center of our souls” (Wright).
An understanding of the African past is necessary to
understand the African American present.
Recites anecdote of Asa
Hilliard encountering a worship service in
Notes that the leaders of
African American psychology have roots in religious traditions.
Dr. Bobby Wright:
“The problem with the Black church, except
Call and response evident
during the talk.
Discusses African Survivals. The problem of Miseducation
(Carter G. Woodson), is that we look at our oen people through the European lens of epistemology. Slavery was not the beginning of African
American history. (Olmecs)
Deficit model:
If Europeans are the norm, then anything different is deficient.
No such thing as “bad English.” [And the linguistic inventiveness of the
linguistically isolated: rap]
JFK as speaking “American,”
not “English.”
[The JFK reference was part of Wright’s “stump
speech,” for which he was heavily criticized during the 2008 Presidential
campaign.]
African speech must be understood within the context
of an African background. Body language
may be more important in African American communication.
Concludes with anecdotes
about “hybridization.” We are African AND American.
Responses
Wright, a brilliant orator, is seen as a kind,
funny, and compassionate man. He was
made out to be an unpatriotic hater of
The inclusion of Reverend Wright shows African
American psychology’s trans-disciplinary character.
Maugh, T.H., II (2007). Ancient Kush
rivaled
Gold processing plants in
ancient Kush (now,
Response:
Africans had high culture and high civilization thousands of years
before the earliest Europeans. A piece of evidence in the rehumanization
project.
Fairchild,
H.H., & Tucker, M.B. (1982). Black residential
mobility: Trends and
characteristics. Journal of Social Issues, 38(3), 51-74.
Stimulus: This article provides a transdisciplinary
review of the literature on Black residential mobility. An emphasis is on the external constraints to
freedom of choice. “Freedom” is
illusory.
Ghetto makers:
White flight; Public policy
Outcomes:
jobs, education, economies, crime and violence, health, social
pathologies.
Responses: The article is emblematic of Black
psychology: trans-disciplinary with an
historical emphasis. It also shares an
international perspective.
The slave trade portion uses the word slave,
in-advisedly.
Emancipation Procrastination did a lot for African
Americans psychologically, or did it?
Internal colonization – and
multiple-parallel discriminations.
Even in the absence of discrimination, a “cultural
inertia” will result in the continuation of segregated living arrangements.
Black/Latino conflict is now being played out in the
jails.
Relative deprivation is increasing, despite some improvement
in the quality of housing and other indicators of well being for Blacks.
Contact hypothesis:
equal status, common goal, interdependence, cooperation, sanction of
authority.
Housing audits lack external validity: only confederates put themselves in a
position where they will face discrimination.
Fairchild,
H.H. (1991). A sad tale of persecuted
minorities.
Stimulus: The article details conflicts between Korean
Americans and African Americans, with the killing of Natasha Harlins as a point of departure.
Responses: This article, like most by Fairchild, seeks solutions
to problems. These ay be vague, however
(e.g., eliminating racism, implementing equal opportunity, enhancing
cross-cultural sensitivity, resocialization to the
non-violent resolution of conflict, joint economic ventures, changing society
and its popular culture (stereotyping in entertainment media).
Fairchild,
H.H. (1993). Drip by drip, the indignities go
on.
Stimulus/Responses: This article debunks the idea the “riots” of
1992 were due to the Rodney King verdicts; instead, they were due to the
drip-by-drip accumulation of ethnic insults that result from structured
inequalities. “…those verdicts were only
the spark that lit the fuse of the powder keg that was ready to explode from
decades of abuse and neglect.” These
were: residential/geographical isolation
(facilitating unequal treatment), financial institutions (pawn shops), major
food stores (& cineplexes), over-crowded and
underfunded schools). Drip-by-dripà To be Black and to
be aware, is to be in a constant state of rage (James Baldwin).
Solutions:
multifaceted: reverse decades of
benign neglect (or malignant), schools, jobs, criminal injustices.
Fairchild,
H.H. (1992). Aren’t they really us? LA
Times, May 13, 1992, p. B7.
Stimulus: Examines reactions to the conflagrations in
1992.
Responses: Use of first person pronoun is informative.