Abstract
This chapter focuses on the politics of servitude and/or the slave mentality. It will explore the human rights abuses that the African slaves endured after being kidnapped or traded from indentureship from warring tribes – by the hands of the White man. Due to that colonized relationship, many Africans and then Blacks or African Americans felt a sense of inferiority. That sense of inferiority was caused by a narcissistic relationship where the owner who saw the African or the Black as property put themselves in the place of God and harshly treated their property as an “it.” Over 100 years later, a remnant of that psychological abuse is left.
“Preguntale a Nelson Mandela
Yo sigo libre aunque me detengan
El Espiritu que a mi me llena no es de pena,
Es uno de guerra…”
-Rap by Tommy Royale in KB’s Libre (2021)
Translation:
“Ask Nelson Mandela
I’m still free although they stop me
The spirit that fills me is not ashamed,
It’s one of war.”
--Rap by Tommy Royale in KB’s Libre (2021)
“My king, the Europeans wish to conquer us. They will not stop until the whole of Africa is theirs.” – Viola Davis as General Nanisca in The Woman King
TopMain Focus Of Chapter
One of the main issues, controversies and problems in this chapter that will be addressed is how man treats man. The question that “we,” the collective “we” is still trying to solve is – “What happened?” (Sister Souljah, personal, June 29, 2016). Many years ago, I read a book titled Ich und Du or I and Thou by Martin Buber (Buber, 1958). Martin Buber is known as a Jewish philosopher. He is profound and his works are so dense that often one reads them more than once. When my “brother” was older, I gave him a copy of Buber’s book that I had picked up from Strand’s Book Store in Union Square so that he too could consider who man is and his relationship to God and to his fellow man. In exploring race, colonization, and slavery, I am taking poetic license to explain the premise of this book as it will be the foundation of this discussion.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Manichean Psychology: The analysis of the process that inherently exists and occurs within a racist society.
Roots: A TV program in 1977 that focused on a new Guinea slave named Toby and what slavery looked like in the United States of America. The first time the Middle Passage was depicted so honestly. This TV series prompted a national discussion like probably no other ever seen up until today.
Glass Ceiling: The concept or phenomena that people of color or females face extensive barriers to obtain senior-level positions and often can never break through the glass ceiling regardless of experience, credentials, or previously produced work products.
Psychopolitics: The scientific study of politics and the behavior of actors who are involved in leading or ruling governments.
Psychology: The scientific study of the mind and human behavior.
Critical Psychology: Finds its roots in critical theory and it challenges how psychological principles and theories are applied and understood. Its purpose is to promote social change.