Essay On Internalized Racism

In the science there are many forms of mental disorders. There are the ones that have to do with internal forces and others that occur due to outside forces. The case we looking at today were looking at a disorder is something that can be effected by both external forces but upheld by internalized ones. The idea of racism is something the world knows to well it has to do with discrimination of a whole people and can sometimes be a hindrance in our society. The formal definition of racism is, “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” What if it was a possibility for someone to hold those ideals inside themselves and see themselves as something less? This is the idea of internalized racism. Some of the symptoms that might occur from this disorder are a constant need to not of a different nationality. “Minorities suffering from internalized racism, may loathe the physical characteristics that make them racially distinct
I suffered with this “disorder” for a number of years in high school. I didn’t like myself because I African American and I wanted nothing to do with the other black kids at my school because so were they. They were loud, obnoxious, rude and overall just awful people. At least that’s what I consistently thought. I know this wasn’t true for everyone there but it just made it easier to generalize the entire population in my school. I wasn’t like them so instead of admitting to myself that I was black I told everyone that I was “mixed”. This helped to alleviate my stress and it made me more approachable to my peers. To this day I don’t identify as African American but it’s not because I hate myself but instead because I don’t truly understand my