"THE TRUTH"

BY: DR. FOREST LEWIS

     CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST

FRIENDS OF "THE TRUTH"

WWW.CAPITOLHILLCOFFEHOUSE.COM

WWW.TALKSTREAMLIVE.COM

The formula for being a racist is as follows, Prejudice + Power= Racism.

Prejudice means that we pre-judge individuals before we know anything about them. Power is having control of various institutions in America: and using said institutions to the advantage of certain people--and shutting others out.

Some would argue, where are the institutions that African-Americans control? Supreme court Justice, Clarence Thomas may not own, or control an institution, however, he has the power to rule on legal matters that can impact our lives for years--or conceivably forever. Factor in prejudice, and Clarence Thomas could indeed be a racist. To be clear, "I Am Not Calling Thomas A Racist". I am simply using him as an example.

In the wake of the out of control shooting in New York City by members of the NYPD, people like Al Sharpton are tossing around the "R" word. He is of the opinion that the police unloaded a barrage of 50 bullets at the car of a black man, simply because the man was African-American. The driver of the car was killed; and two others were wounded.

But, hold on, two of the cops involved in the shooting were black, and another was Hispanic. How could the two black cops be racists?

There is a litany of research performed on the subject of "Black Self-Hatred". Let's say, these cops hate being black--because society see blacks as an anathema. The black cops thus side with those who hate them; and will assume surrogate duties to please the majority.

It is not much different from the jews who were given leadership positions in Nazi death camps in the 1940's. These jews were far more harsher on their compatriots, in some cases, than were the Nazis. They hated being jewish; and took out their frustration on their fellow prisoners. The Nazis loved their sociopathy. The jews in the death camps who harmed their fellow jews were engaging in the defense mechanism known as "Identification". In other words, they identified with their abusers when meting out punishment.

In 1973, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, a Social Psychologist at Stanford University, performed a study using 21 male undergraduate students. Each participant was paid $15.00 dollars to take part in the study.

Nine of the students were selected to take on the role of "Prisoner". The rest were divided in to three shifts of "Prison Guards".  The "Guards" worked around the clock.

It didn't take long before the guards and the prisoners made their new roles "Part of Their Persona". While the guards became more aggressive, the prisoners became more docile. Their passivity and apathy created fertile ground for any lack of solidarity.

"The Prisoners" spent most of their time talking about ways to escape, complaining about how bad the food was, and the reasons why their spirits had been crushed.

Initially, both groups were excited about the experiment. However, after some unpleasant encounters with the guards, the prisoners became dejected. The guards would wake the prisoners up, and make them line up and repeat their ID numbers. The prisoners were also ordered to do push-ups, to the point of exhaustion.

When the prisoners tried to engage in an uprising, they were placed in solitarity confinement. They were also ordered to clean toilets "with their bare hands".

Next, the guards started to use psychological tactics. They isolated the prisoners. Eventually, the prisoners came to not trust one another.

During the sixth day of the Zimbardo experiment, the study had to be halted. Dr. Zimbardo was later to admit that he was totally unprepared for the psychological trauma that invaded his social environment.

Zimbardo also became convinced that our behavior does not simply exist in a vacuum. That our behavior emanates from a number of complex variables.

The Zimbardo experiment also shows how the conduct of an individual can be shaped by his or her environment.

Remember, the guards were "Good Boys" going in to the experiment. However, their intoxication from their powerful positions as guards, quickly changed them in to ruthless tyrants.

So, can black people be racists?  I believe so.  Remember, what the Zimbardo experiment teaches us. Our environment plays a huge role in how we will conduct ourselves.

There are some good people in the NYPD. However, this department is not devoid of its bad apples. Or, to put it another way, racist cops who want to use their "Prejudice + Power", to erode race relations. 

These cops can be white, black, brown, yellow, or red.

So, let's not just point the finger of guilt at the white police officers.

Sharpton and his sidekick, that master of elocution, "The Reverend Jackson" make their living off of dividing people. It is high time that we reject the rhetoric of these two phoneys, who live high and mighty off of the pain and suffering of the very people they claim to represent.