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Coming clean about Brain-washing


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Chris Hayden and Tom Burrell, the author of a new book challenging the myth of black inferiority, apparently think they are among the enlightened few obligated to spread the word that - "Negroes are brain-washed!" So what else is new? I have been hearing this and the arguments that accompany it for almost 50 years, and it's a declaration that is always imparted in the form of a scold. "You poor clueless negroes are just tryin to be like white folks!" As if white folks have a monopoly on the desire to live the American dream; as if any black person who strives for this is - trying to look white, trying to talk white, trying to act white, trying to deny their African Heritage. Brainwashed! Screw the fact that the Jews who are the most successful ethnic group in this country also Anglo-sized themselves before they made inroads into the dominant society, and if black people are going to move up, they damn sure better avoid being brainwashed by the "detergent" of semantics. Yes, black folks are influenced by the dominant culture which is white. But is this "brainwashing". Or is this the pragmatism that spawns far more success than the lectures from malcontents who spout simple solutions for complicated problems, - who try to sanitize a "misery loves company" doctrine with a "united we stand" spin. Brainwashing, indeed.

Black women catch a lot of the flak from pontificating black men. Yes, many of them get perms and hair extensions. And so do others! The big rage among white women nowadays is tanning, and breast implants, and plastic surgery. They pay to lie in booths, exposing themselves to the danger of skin cancer just so they can transform their white skin into a golden hue. They undergo other procedures to plump up their lips to make them fuller. They do all manner of things to acquire the money to have their A-cup breasts expanded into D-cups. Even Asian women have eyelid surgery to change their slanted eyes. Puleeze. Are they any different from black women? Or are ALL women slaves to vanity?

And of course, all of that flak enables the "black hate" argument. "Black people hate themselves," the naysayers drone. Gimme a break. There's nobody who loves herself more than a fat sista backin up that booty down at the club. And why do other black females look down their noses at any brotha who doesn't have a car and a job? Because they hate themselves? Hell no. Because they love themselves too much to "settle". And WHO has more swagger than a self-satisfied black man? Who ridicules square white people who don't act like they do any more than smirking black people? Self-hate is hardly the phrase to describe those who, through all of the adversity, still enjoy each other, still know how to laugh and have fun and roll with the punches. I don't agree that we hate ourselves. We just resent white people who don't recognize our ABILITIES.

I'd be the first to admit that materialism ranks right up there with racism when it comes to black progress, but we live a society brainwashed by consumerism. Blacks, like the rest of the population, reject a Spartan lifestyle, preferring to indulge themselves. Blame capitalism.

And, yes, Blacks should organize and pool our money and assets for the common good. Yes, we should stress education and aspire to many different professions. Who disputes this? And can anybody dispute the breakdown of the black family as the root cause of most black problems? Yet, anybody who tries to brainwash black folks into adjusting their breeding habits is shouted down with cries of "genocide", and being "a part of the problem instead of part of the solution" is always the rationale directed at those who want to give the race a makeover. Oooh, don't hurt the feelings of those poor ghetto folk who perpetuate their "unique" culture, and black-on-black crime is no more prevelant that white-on-white crime. It's the media, the media, always the MEDIA. The media influences how white people perceive black folks! This can be true. But how powerful is the media? Are Blacks stupid enough to believe that all white people act the way they do in the media? Has the media simply become a convenient scapegoat? Whatever.

In any case, it would seem that what Brainwash Accusers desire is for Blacks to not physicaly emulate the white race but simply mimic what it does to achieve success. This is an admirable goal. Only problem is we'd have to regress to "square one". But - go for it. Me and my brainwashed self, however, have been around since 1933, and I know that not only is black inferiority a myth, but so is Utopia. And, so it goes...

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How would I know it existed

Had not I been brainwashed my self?

In any case, it would seem that what Brainwash Accusers desire is for Blacks to not physicaly emulate the white race but simply mimic what it does to achieve success.

(Would that it were only that.

Why do the black kids STILL reach for the white dolls when asked to choose the PRETTY one? These kids ain't thinking about success as you call it. They are revealing what their parents have been teaching them--what they have seen on television, et al.

I can still remember, back in the 50's being in an all black gradeschool class, and all of us drawing people, and all of us using making the drawings of WHITE people to the approval of the BLACK grade school teachers, and the one kid getting in trouble using a brown crayon.

Denial is not just a river in Africa.

You cannot be healed until you admit you are sick.

You resist. But your resistance is weakening.

If what I said was preposterous, you would all laugh it off instead of making these long posts.

No pain. No gain.

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Cynique, I agree with you, but you are missing to things especially with regard to Burrell's book.

(1)

The book is not about White people, Chinese people or any other folks. It is about Black people.

So the valid points you make about white folks getting tans to darken their skin, for example, are beyond the scope of the book.

In fact I would add (and this was not a point that Burrell raised); that the "brainwashing" especially by ad men knows no color boundaries. It is about money. They have sold us ALL on the idea that we all need to change to look better. Perfectly normal white women spend billions on cosmetic surgery. They spend hours in tanning beds, beaches and roof tops across the country to make themselves darker -- despite the cancer risks. They are all duped ("brainwashed") into believing that their skin color is too light. They will even buy creams to darken their skin. While dark skinned women buy skin creams which purportedly lighten their skin because it is too dark.

The same companies sell both products and hire ad men to brainwash us into thinking we need them.

(2)

The consequence of Black people's brainwashing is that we lag in virtually every measure of success in this country.

While Asian women are getting surgery to "fix" their otherwise normal eyelids, they are not lagging behind in academic achievement.

Cynique, forget the stats for a moment. Anecdotally, do you think Black folks are doing better now in 2010 or in 1950? Do you think our prospects for the future are better now or then? Why?

Thanks

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I realize, Troy, that I am on a slippery slope in my implicit criticism of an author whose book I haven't read. But my reaction has a lot to do with the whole concept of “brainwashing“.

Everybody is brainwashed about something. Soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq are brainwashed into thinking they’re fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way”.

Are black people under-achievers because they have been brainwashed into believing they are inferior? I don't know that black people feel inferior. I think they are just unmotivated. The underclasses have become superior in figuring out how to get over on the System. Members of the middleclass are superior in exerting their individuality and independence.

Maybe focus should be placed on exorcism instead of brainwashing. A certain segment of the black populace seems to be possessed by a compulsion to have more children than they can take care of. This "demon" is at the core of the problem and it has nothing to do with white folks.

Black America just seems to be in a state of limbo. All problems don't have solutions. Sometimes they just morph and work themselves out.

I'll reply to your question about the 50s in a new post.

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Are black people under-achievers because they have been brainwashed into believing they are inferior?

(Now, there is some more of that slavery thinking.

There are lots of black people who are OVERACHIEVERS because they believe they are inferior. Different people react to it differently. Some people believe that and you wouldn't even know it the way they act. But it eats at them, oh yes it do!)

I think they are just unmotivated. The underclasses have become superior in figuring out how to get over on the System. Members of the middleclass are superior in exerting their individuality and independence.

(You always want to make this about class. This thing ain't about class. Negroes at the very top of the food chain can be the most cringing Uncle Toms you ever seen. Penniless Negroes can be extremely aware.

You must not recall how they made Negroes suffer for standing up--there are lots of Civil Rights veterans who are broke because they are blacklisted or undependable, even t this day.

Members of the black middle class are superior mostly in licking white folks' butt. Let's be honest. There are plenty of talented Negroes starving. Why? They can't get along with white folks. Negroes get promoted in white system because they are perceived as no threat or getting along with white folks.

I used to think middle class and upper class Negroes were unaware of this. Then I attended a party thrown for a black man who was appointed to the Federal bench. Those Negroes spoke honestly right there, and I almost fell out. I thought they didn't know. They KNEW! They knew what games they were playing and why.

I don't begrudge them. All I ask is that people acknowledge the real deal.

I used to see this all the time with Africans and Black people come in from the Caribbean. Oh, they were going to show us dumb Negroes how to do it. They walked into those white firms strutting and came out switching. And mad as hell.

A certain segment of the black populace seems to be possessed by a compulsion to have more children than they can take care of.

(This must be a personal situation. You bring it up all the time. According to some our problem is too much abortion. What is it? It can't be both)

Black America just seems to be in a state of limbo. All problems don't have solutions. Sometimes they just morph and work themselves out

(I see Negroes doing better than ever and the more well off Negroes obsessed by a number of blacks that ain't doing so good.

Guess what. This is a CAPITALIST system. It is dog eat dog. It IS a ZERO SUM game. In order for there to be a Barack Obama, got to be a bunch of niggas who fall by the wayside.

Until you change it, you got to make sure you aint one of em.

That's all you can do)

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You always make things about "Uncle Toms", Chrishayden. You can't lump all Blacks together which is why I inject class into the equation. The guy who wrote the book in question is apparently claiming that the myth of black inferiority is what is making black folks lag behind. I was just commenting on that.

The breakdown in the family which is at the core of all black problems is caused by single women not being able to manage the broods of children the have and are unable to take care of. Those who say abortion is the problem are "right-to-lifers" and their sympathizers who think they can intrude into women's private lives.

It is difficult to sort out the black dilemma because it is full of contradictions as you have just proven. First you put down the frivolous middle class then you admit that they know how to play the game. You persist in making heroes out the underdogs for no other reason than that you have contempt for the upwardly mobile. Underdogs are losers until they prove themselves to be winners. You always blame everybody else for their plight.

I don't pretend to have all the answers to the Black dilemma. All I do is speculate.

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