Bass v 2.0
Biblical Warrior For God.
The Bass will post some key points from this study.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development Article date:April 1, 2002 Author: Utsey, Shawn O. ; McCarthy, Eileen ; Eubanks, Robin ; Adrian, Genaro
White racism and suboptimal psychological functioning among White Americans: implications for counseling and prejudice prevention.
Although recent empirical research is scarce, some anecdotal evidence suggests that Whites do experience psychological and emotional distress related to White racism. For example, Whites have reported experiencing anxiety, frustration, guilt, and shame when confronted with issues related to their own racism or to societal racism in general (Bowser & Hunt, 1996; Pettigrew, 1973; Welsing, 1991). According to Carter and Jones (1996), Whites often experience feelings of guilt, shame, anxiety, and helplessness interwoven with a sense of intense confusion around issues related to racism. Furthermore, Whites who consider themselves to be egalitarian, while simultaneously holding that some forms of discrimination against Blacks are justified, have been found to experience emotional and psychological discomfort regarding discrimination (Wright, 1981). Simpson and Yinger (1985) posited that White Americans experience a personality distortion from the tension associated with this sense of moral ambivalence.
More recently, researchers examined the role of White racial identity attitudes in understanding the dynamics of White racism (Carter & Jones, 1996; Helms, 1990, 1994; Ponterotto, 1991). Helms (1994) identified the following six ego statuses (formerly stages) to describe the development of racial identity attitudes in Whites: Contact, Disintegration, Reintegration, Pseudo-Independence, Immersion-Emersion, and Autonomy. Of the six White racial identity statuses described by Helms, the first three (i.e., Contact, Disintegration, and Reintegration) represent the struggle of Whites to abandon racism. The remaining three White racial identity statuses (i.e., Pseudo-Independence, Immersion-Emersion, and Autonomy) are characteristic of Whites adopting a nonracist White identity. According to Helms (1990), in order for Whites to develop a nonracist White identity, they must accept their "Whiteness" and acknowledge those ways in which they collude with and benefit from racism.
That last bolded text the Bass cannot stress enough, unless whites get out of denial of how racism has benefited and continues to benefit them they will maintain a racist white identity, whether they are aware of it or not. Moving on:
More recently, object relations theory has been used to conceptualize the psychological mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of White racism. According to Timimi (1996), racism is driven by the underlying anxiety that is associated with a person's difficulty in tolerating that which is dissimilar and the inability to resist attempts to control or dominate individuals who are perceived as being different. Hence, persons for whom racism serves as a means of controlling external objects that are different from self will tend to manifest increased levels of underlying anxiety. Defense mechanisms, such as projection, are often used to manage feelings of anxiety by identifying those aspects of self that are despised with individuals who are viewed as separate and different (Timimi, 1996). Here, the self (ego) is concerned solely with safety and seeks to avoid anxiety at any cost; power, status, and prestige are the primary mechanisms through which safety is sought (Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983). By viewing Blacks as inferior and representing all that is evil, individuals harboring racial animosity are able to project those aspects of self that are despised and disowned onto Blacks, thereby reducing their feelings of anxiety and achieving a sense of psychological safety (Timimi, 1996).
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development Article date:April 1, 2002 Author: Utsey, Shawn O. ; McCarthy, Eileen ; Eubanks, Robin ; Adrian, Genaro
White racism and suboptimal psychological functioning among White Americans: implications for counseling and prejudice prevention.
Although recent empirical research is scarce, some anecdotal evidence suggests that Whites do experience psychological and emotional distress related to White racism. For example, Whites have reported experiencing anxiety, frustration, guilt, and shame when confronted with issues related to their own racism or to societal racism in general (Bowser & Hunt, 1996; Pettigrew, 1973; Welsing, 1991). According to Carter and Jones (1996), Whites often experience feelings of guilt, shame, anxiety, and helplessness interwoven with a sense of intense confusion around issues related to racism. Furthermore, Whites who consider themselves to be egalitarian, while simultaneously holding that some forms of discrimination against Blacks are justified, have been found to experience emotional and psychological discomfort regarding discrimination (Wright, 1981). Simpson and Yinger (1985) posited that White Americans experience a personality distortion from the tension associated with this sense of moral ambivalence.
More recently, researchers examined the role of White racial identity attitudes in understanding the dynamics of White racism (Carter & Jones, 1996; Helms, 1990, 1994; Ponterotto, 1991). Helms (1994) identified the following six ego statuses (formerly stages) to describe the development of racial identity attitudes in Whites: Contact, Disintegration, Reintegration, Pseudo-Independence, Immersion-Emersion, and Autonomy. Of the six White racial identity statuses described by Helms, the first three (i.e., Contact, Disintegration, and Reintegration) represent the struggle of Whites to abandon racism. The remaining three White racial identity statuses (i.e., Pseudo-Independence, Immersion-Emersion, and Autonomy) are characteristic of Whites adopting a nonracist White identity. According to Helms (1990), in order for Whites to develop a nonracist White identity, they must accept their "Whiteness" and acknowledge those ways in which they collude with and benefit from racism.
That last bolded text the Bass cannot stress enough, unless whites get out of denial of how racism has benefited and continues to benefit them they will maintain a racist white identity, whether they are aware of it or not. Moving on:
More recently, object relations theory has been used to conceptualize the psychological mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of White racism. According to Timimi (1996), racism is driven by the underlying anxiety that is associated with a person's difficulty in tolerating that which is dissimilar and the inability to resist attempts to control or dominate individuals who are perceived as being different. Hence, persons for whom racism serves as a means of controlling external objects that are different from self will tend to manifest increased levels of underlying anxiety. Defense mechanisms, such as projection, are often used to manage feelings of anxiety by identifying those aspects of self that are despised with individuals who are viewed as separate and different (Timimi, 1996). Here, the self (ego) is concerned solely with safety and seeks to avoid anxiety at any cost; power, status, and prestige are the primary mechanisms through which safety is sought (Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983). By viewing Blacks as inferior and representing all that is evil, individuals harboring racial animosity are able to project those aspects of self that are despised and disowned onto Blacks, thereby reducing their feelings of anxiety and achieving a sense of psychological safety (Timimi, 1996).
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