For my Cultural Representations of Violence class, I wrote my final paper as a response to psychologist Steven Pinker, who argued that violence is on the decline. To summarize, I argued that he only considered physical violence and did not take into consideration the psychological/mental aspects behind violence. To demonstrate the latter point, I discussed the plight that black Americans face whenever a race-related tragedy strikes the nation.
For example, the essay that I referenced to articulate psychological violence was an article on Black life being a life of mourning. I found this particular essay striking because the author captured how black Americans live: We live in a state of mourning because of the normality of black death. The author discussed how the mother of Emmett Till utilized mourning "as a method of acknowledgement"; a way to show that the 'slain and mutilated' is an unfortunate, yet normal component of the American psyche. For black Americans in particular, it almost seems as if we are in a psychological stasis when it comes to mourning...we are unable to move from this mindset because it is ingrained. The mere sight of a black body being slain by the hands of a white (or white-esque) individual is enough to keep this mindset active.
From what I'm understanding of this, it appears this is what goes through the minds of black Americans when an incident such as Eric Garner or Jordan Edwards occur. The perpetuation of mourning becomes a way for us to be heard.
One aspect that continues to bother me whenever these incidents occur is how the public respond to them. For me, it is particularly troubling to see comments such as the slain deserving their death for not following orders, or comments that attempt to justify the actions of the murderer (i.e. citing a criminal record; stating they were a thug); or better yet, comments that serve as a means of taking attention away from the slain and focusing on other aspects. Although these comments may seem 'decent' on the surface, I personally see them as a barrier to understanding the black life. I get the impression that those who make these comments are saying that the condition of black Americans is not worth being understood. Unfortunately, it's comments such as these that help maintain the cycle of mourning. This cycle of mourning exists because there is a lack of desire to understand what black Americans see and think when one of their own is slain.
Some may wonder why are we so focused on the racism component when much of the publicized murders are between black Americans. Although I admit that this is a problem, I am also of the opinion that this does not help the cycle; primarily because it comes off as a justification for killing simply because we kill ourselves.
Some may also bring up the anti-white/anti-cop sentiments that exist within the black community. If I'm to be fair here, this is a problem that needs to be mentioned. For the longest of time, I struggled to align myself with the black community and their causes because of these attitudes. To me, they have proven to be not only counter-productive to improving race relations, but they can be equally destructive. The Golden Rule comes to mind here, as it seems like a common sense way to move forward. Why would we discriminate or hate others because we were hated and discriminated against? In relation to the cycle, however, I think it's safe to say that these sentiments are the next 'logical' step. When an individual or group has been pushed around for an extended period of time, they tend to either bottle up their woes or unleash them the moment they are struck. The black community for the longest of time have done the former. I fear that as long as this cycle of mourning is present, we will continue to see animosity grow between black and white Americans.
Even though I started this piece discussing violence, I wrote this with the intention of bringing to life the deep-seated mindsets that are active as a result of racism. I did not write this with the intention of adding solutions. That is a group effort. I am not sure if I have achieved my goal, however, if we are set on truly tackling racism (and issues similar to such), then perhaps it is time that we looked beyond outward expressions of racism and make a deliberate effort to tackle the psychological components of it.
