Can we stop pretending racism isn’t a learned, mental illness?

Are we evolved enough to agree America would be a much healthier nation if we gave ourselves a long over-due reality check around racism?  I mean a couple hundred years of mostly ignoring the obvious, isn’t working.

As KKK members demonstrate, teaching their young to hate, racism is a learned, mental illness. Like cancer.

But when taught hate as a baby, hate then increases with nary a second thought.  This is how racism metastasizes from one generation to the next.

(The disgusting part, separate from the racist premise itself, is racist chest beaters act as if teaching hate as a family values – as the American way.  Racists slap a flag around this kind of ignorance, often adding a gun to the mix, and self-identify as “good” Americans.)

Except that teaching  this kind of toxic hate becomes after a time, a learned, mental illness.

The Oxford Handbook of Personality Disorders waited until 2012, to include a new chapter on identifying and assessing “pathological bias,” an extreme prejudice that could lead supremacists to commit random violence against another race.

Co-author Dr. Carl C. Bell, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, called for further study of racism as a personality disorder.

“Of course, most people do not understand the reality that probably 98 percent of racism is learned behavior,” Bell told one man in an email and telephone exchange, “and maybe 2 percent is due to some serious underlying personality problems.”

It’s way past time to sort things out

Some of my friends are “African-American.” Others are unapologetically “Black.” What works for them, works for me.

Also, as someone who as long said we should just drop the “Pledge of Allegiance:  – which isn’t much of a pledge since it’s clear “…and justice for all” hasn’t been any kind of overriding goal since 1863.  Put another way; Eric Holder:  Why haven’t you disbanded Ferguson Police Department?

However, while our alleged Justice Department has proven an immense disappointment, who is really overjoyed the State of Florida only recently decided to fire law enforcement personnel who were also KKK members?  I mean, come on people!  Get busy.

(As long as I’m standing on the soapbox, will quickly add anyone; A-n-y-o-n-e who is an attorney in the South, or who is in any southern law school; and not performing some kind of action to overcome voter suppression, is probably not going to be the kind of lawyer I would ever hire. Aside from a demonstrable lack of real ethics, civil rights lawyers are smarter than those who aren’t; as those attorneys who work in the trenches see problems and solutions, those office-bound attorneys, don’t.)

Also Racism, anti-gay, or misogynistic?

Who believes we choose just one?

Patricia Arquette – thank you and rock on.

As we’ve been ignoring the misogyny that’s woven in the basic fabric of America culture – I’m done with that. Ergo, whenever I see something like the below,

Misogynistic racist tweet from @CraigSJ retweeted by angry women of color

will respond.

Get a grip on reality, BlackbroDude

Just like women who tolerate abuse silently, only to become an accessory to the person causing them harm, not calling out misogyny; or anti-white racism towards Patricia Arquette is not something I will let pass, unchecked.

Whether one or both are true, either is an attack on Patrica Arquette.

As for hatred of others for being, other?  Again, mentally not healthy to hate anyone for their sexual orientation.  However, people dumping on Patty?  Stupid beyond the pale.  Remember the First Amendment?  Or do those complaining only like it if they are included in Arquette’s every thought?   So please.  Those complaining would do well to grow up and attempt to be gracious on the height of Patricia Arquette’s night of professional success.  It’s not as if Arquette doesn’t give to others; it’s just that she doesn’t have attend to your needs for her every waking moment.  So please. Give it a rest.

A sneaky way to end hate

Wish we could commit to figuring out how to expand the successful anti-hate program an Irish priest came up with Dublin back in the 70’s when Dublin white Catholics were killing Dublin white Protestants, over, God.  (Unlike present day conditions, the Irish were bombing each others churches over mostly the same God.)

Celtic Rosary

But the priest was a pragmatic guy.  He took one Catholic boy and one Protestant boy, and shipped them both deep into Mexico for the summer.  As neither child spoke a word of Spanish, they found themselves stuck in a brand new culture with only each other to talk to and, depend.  But by summer’s end the boys saw each other as

human beings.

Soon after the bombings stopped.

Peace broke out.

Radical.

Could we decide to get radical about working to eliminate the kind of mental illness that is the root cause of our national issues?

I hear the first step is Americans admitting we have a problem.  🙂

Lets start with Disbanding Ferguson PD and legislating equal pay for all women.