Sample Essay on African Psychology
The black experience is a large topic. In psychology the concepts of African-Americans and Anglo experiences are compared. While psychology tries to understand the black culture, it makes a mistake by trying to compare two totally different styles of living.
When blacks are compared with the white community conclusions are drawn out that the African American society is inferior, and weak. Psychologist say that black people are culturally deprived, and the type of environment that blacks are usually reared from keeps blacks from becoming socially prepared to be able to achieve within the Anglo middle class society.
The idea of African-Americans being weak is a sad misunderstanding. Blacks as well as other races have survived humorous hurdles that were set to block off the race from achieving equality. The black culture is very strong and aware. An African-American child understands at a young age that they exist in a complicated environment. At an early age the black child has already grasped an important understanding in psychology, that pain and struggle are unavoidable. Some psychologists are not able to recognize the strong character in black children, because of how hard they focus on the so-called weakness. When a white middle-class individual walks into the black home there is no doubt he will see things that he is not accustomed to. Instead of seeing the Anglo culture material that they see in their home, there are ebony magazines, the radio is tuned loud on the hip-hop station, and everybody in the house may be trying to talk at once. The observer may feel that the household is not right, but the blacks that live there feel that all is normal. The goals and views of the two homes are largely apart, which would make the experience of both homes obviously different.
Family is an important topic of conversation when we are discussing the facts about white and black society. For starters, the black family is more of a matriarchal structure than anything. Usually in the homes of African-Americans there is only one parent in the house. The Anglo society is more likely to have the mother and father in the home raising the child. It is a fact that the black male is rarely grounded in the home of African-Americans, because of that fact psychology labels the black male raised in a one-parent home by saying he has identity troubles. Psychologists say the cycle continues because the offspring carries their hang-ups into the next generation.
The home of the black family may be matriarchal, but psychologists seem to forget about the extended family in the African-American culture. Aunties, uncles, grandmothers, older brothers and sisters contribute to the raising of a young one. The African-American family is based on the African culture. The African culture bases their belief on a community way of life, and everyone has their part contributing to the society. The basic community for African-Americans is family orientated. When there is not a father in the home the child either can pick a model for their selves or allow an extended family member to fill the role.
A lot of the black male models for the African-American community are characterized as the “super nigga”. The “super nigga” is opposite of the model for the Anglo society is opposite of the model for the Anglo society that is a white collar , business suit, hard worker that succeeds through time and retires happy. The “super nigga” is glorified because he does it his way, which is cunning, sly, and succeeds by creatively getting by in a Anglo dominated world where he is not meant to be successful, The models for both Anglo and African-American can be seen on television. Though, there are more positive role models for the black community they are not shown as much as the white hero that does it all by the book.
The homes of the Anglo and black community are rooted in two different soils. To be quick to jump to a conclusion of which upbringing is correct would be ignorant. Psychologist should not be focused on the rearranging of the black society and getting it closer to the Anglo-middle class society. What should be focused on is strengthening the community to be strong in one body like the culture African-Americans are reared from.
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