A Response To "Racism Is A Mental Illness"
Start writing a post
Politics

A Response To "Racism Is A Mental Illness"

So... Do you agree?

122
A Response To "Racism Is A Mental Illness"
atacrossroads

So I’m mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed per usual, and I come across this video that immediately caught my attention. It’s titled “Race is a Mental Disease.”

It’s a video essay produced by “This Matters” creative platform (a emerging Buzzfeed-like platform). The video addresses the idea that racism is a result of a mental health illness which raises a lot of eyebrows. The video is below for available viewing purpose:

The argument includes the concept that racism is a form of PTSD with signs including, “agitation, irritability hostility, hypervigliance, and social isolation,” in which these racist individual are “traumatized” for the United States long and shameful notion that racism still exist despite the insistence of school history books creating this allure that racist time are over and justice will always serve equally. Calling out that “every new racist episode is like a flashback,” the video argues that racism is a coping mechanism for the painful history of genocide, segregation laws, and the slave culture developed in this country’s beginnings.

It uses clips from multiple real-life accounts of racism filmed by bystanders and news clips of Tomi Lahern because why not? Of course it doesn't excuse racists for their behaviors and actions but wants to find a way to hold them “accountable.”

Although the video is thorough in it’s argument especially comparing it to symptoms of PTSD, I cannot agree with everything. Racism is a social construct that was created to categorize the superior, or the one gazing towards “The Other.” It is to mystify the object the superior observer is viewing.

Racism was not raised white—it was raised within all colors of the racial rainbow with prejudice, with hate, with refusal of an more open perspective which is natural. Many people prefer to enclose themselves within a community that is more familiar to their culture and upbringing. Also the video used an immense amount of clips of white racists—which I’m not denying. However there are racists of color too. I’ve personally have been called “ching chong” by a girl of color (not going to enclose what her ethnicity entails) that hated me in elementary school. I mean, I think she just had a personal vendetta against me for me (not for my race), but still her racist comments about me were intolerable and unacceptable. And I, as an Asian-American, raised in the Asian church culture can note that there are some seriously racist Asians out there (the old-school ones). My conclusion: everyone is racist, some way more than others.

Everyone is born with the possibility to change his/her ways. If someone was a racist, they can change their ways. However it shouldn’t be categorized as a “mental illness” just because they are “traumatized” of change. The one inflicting the racist comments shouldn't be coddled to trauma because that would undermine those that have been victims of racism. If people who have experienced racism aren't able to have the advantage of undermining their conditions just as the racists, that just isn't fair. This is about education and social realization that a group of people that inputs prejudice against a group of people based on the color of their skin.

However I feel like racism can be relieved over “exposure,” not the “exposure therapy” the video was talking about as a solution. People need to have a civilized discussion about race, understand the other side. Maybe the girl that was teasing me at school was insecure about her ethnicity and needed to feel superior in a way. A play I had read in my upper division English Course, The Wash, implies certain Japanese people held negative, racist sentiments towards white, black and hispanics due to the fact that no one stood up for the Japanese during the internment camp period in the United States. Conversation needs to open up, issues must be solved, the discussion must continue until we fix it “Racism will always repeat. Until we interrupt it.”

Also, the American Psychiatric Association’s definition of a mental illness includes, “[a] health condition involving changes in thinking, emotion, or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illness are associated with distress and/or problems function in social, work, or family activities.”

Being racist doesn't affect your health or does it affect your social life. Yes, people will hate you if you are racist but being one doesn't affect your work, school, social, or family life. Ask the current Executive Branch of this nation. It seems to functioning effectively despite all the racist executive orders and systematically oppressive education system bill it passed recently that will effect a ton of low-income students (especially ones of color).

Racism isn't apart of one’s biochemistry, it’s apart of your cultural upbringing. If someone had a mental illness, their brains are wired a certain way, the neurons are not communicating well together, and/or there is some sort of physiological damage of the brain’s structure. This notion undermines individuals with actual mental illnesses. Alcoholism affects the brain’s neural chemical activities and PTSD alter’s the brain’s defense mechanisms and hormones. Racism is brought up from cultural conditioning.

I get what the video was trying to do, it was considerate to understand where the roots of racism comes from and how to end it. It is pretty flawed but the attempt to finding a solution to end racism is pretty noble and a discussion that should spark.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

58886
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

38007
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

959527
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

195556
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments