Addressing Racism at the Root
"Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason."
- Abraham Joshua
Heschel
Many of you know that I wrote a column for the Grand Rapids Times for several years entitled, "What's Really Going On?" I wrote a series of articles on racism for that column. I reflected over a couple of them this past week entitled, "No Frame of Reference: The Dilemma of Unchallenged Racism," and "The Unrealistic Expectations of Racism, Classism, and Sexism." Each article I wrote described racist behaviors that I either encountered, witnessed, or saw in the media. My articles did not simply discuss the behaviors; I coded the dysfunctional, conscious and unconscious, beliefs that produced the behaviors. As a master-level therapist, I'm aware that behavior modification, albeit important and necessary, will not entirely solve the problem. Behavior modification, coupled with Cognitive Restructuring, along with changes in policies, procedures, practices, and laws will be much more effective.
The American Psychological Association defines "Cognitive Restructuring" as, "A technique used in cognitive therapy and cognitive behavior therapy to help the client identify his or her self-defeating beliefs or cognitive distortions, refute them, and then modify them so that they are adaptive and reasonable." Many of the beliefs that produce racist behaviors are UNCONSCIOUS. Unconscious beliefs are so powerful because of their unknown property. For example, if a person is afflicted with the dysfunctional, unconscious belief, "You have to compensate for your presence with goods and services," that person doesn't consciously think in that manner. He or she would not say, "Hello, I believe that I have to pay people to tolerate me for short increments of time." When a person of color is automatically classified as dangerous or suspicious, simply based on the color of his or her skin, there is a belief system at play. In one of my previous articles, I discussed how a salesman at a store was extremely dismissive of me when I asked about office furniture. I was the only person in the store shopping. I was looking to furnish an office and a conference room I had just leased. He dismissed a lot of money from the store based on his belief system about an African-American women. I have an MBA and an MSW. I didn't have to come in the store with my degrees taped to my chest. I was the personal assistant to the Mayor of Grand Rapids for three years, the Honorable George K. Heartwell. I didn't have to read my bio to the salesperson to buy office furniture. The stakes are much higher when the person with the dysfunctional belief system is entrusted with the safety of the community and has taken a vow to serve and protect.
If America is going to start doing more trainings, the trainings need to include something different than the hundreds and hundreds of training that have already produced poor results. Let's deconstruct the unconscious belief, "Certain people (based solely on the color of their skin) are not entitled to the same rights, opportunities, and privileges as others," at the training. Let's dissect the dysfunctional, unconscious belief, "Certain people have to accept abuse without question." I have a large database of dysfunctional, unconscious beliefs. Let's examine the implantation methods – how the beliefs were implanted in the mind. Let's quantify how much those beliefs have cost American in unnecessary deaths, in lawsuits, in loss of business, in reduced gross domestic product, and the list goes on. Let's talk about how the dysfunctional beliefs are triggered. Let's practice the deactivation techniques and marinate on the functional, alternative beliefs. Let's start the training by saying, "We the people in order to form a more perfect union..."
Copyright © 2020 Anneshia Freeman – All Rights ReservedAnneshia Freeman MBA, MSW, CADC, CPRM, CCS-DP, is a Program Developer, Trainer, Therapist, Consultant, Life Coach, Career Coach, Author, President and CEO of Anneshia Freeman and Associates Consulting Services, LLC, and founder of "The Lies That Bind®" Cognitive Restructuring Program.
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