UNDERSTANDING THE "PSYCHO-HISTORY" OF WHITE RACISM

Many Americans have been left wondering what causes racism to persist in our society, and what sort of psychological toll acts of hatred like the Charleston shooting take on members of the black community.

According to Dr. Pricillia Dass-Brailford, "racism has to do with thinking of oneself as being different from other people. Racists see others as being less than and think of themselves as being superior. Just as you would have attitudes about anything — about poor people, for example, or immigrants — you have to think about where those attitudes began and how they developed. Was it environmental? Was it upbringing? Was the person born that way? So, there’s the age-old debate about nature versus nurture here." 

Using Psychiatrist Joel Kovel's classic study White Racism:  A Psycho-History (1979) The Black Reality Think Tank will discuss historical factors that might give some insight on why White Racism keeps "going and going and going."  The goal and objective of the Black Reality Think Tank is to study and understand the past, in order to dissect the present and support implementing a meaningful future.