Breaking the Chain of Psychological Slavery - Book Report/Review Example

Breaking the Chain of Psychological Slavery I agree with Akbar’s description of the African Americans’ attitude towards work (p.4). In what seems like a tradition passed on from their enslaved and freed ancestors, some of the current African Americans associate work with slavery. It is work that made them leave their cradle land in Africa. Work is associated with a white master issuing instruction while cracking the whip at the same time. Some psychologists claim that work has a traumatic effect on most African American people. Were it not for the necessity of it, I bet most of them would opt not to work a single day of their lives. This attitude towards work is largely responsible for the many Black Americans, who are on welfare. Robbery statistics in the US do not salvage this assumption either. Regarding the section on the property, I tend to disagree with the writer (p.6). The writer attributes the current acts of vandalism to the notion that owning of a property was associated with white slave masters. I know that slaves did not own any property, but they never vandalized or destroyed their masters’. In recent demonstrations in Baltimore, there was indiscriminate vandalism of both White and Black-owned property. My explanation for the love of vandalism and defacing property among the African Americans is based on the fact that most of them do not own much property. Apart from a house and a “pimped” car, these people do not own anything else. They do not know what it takes to establish a good business premise. They do not know how much pain one has to go through to secure property in the US. We cannot rule out the prospect of an element of jealous. This explains why they are so quick to vandalize and deface public and private property alike. In Chapter 2, the writer talks about liberation from mental slavery in the modern African American. I agree with the writer’s idea of knowledge of self (p.34). African Americans should stop viewing themselves as descendants of slaves. That chapter is closed now. The modern African American has equal opportunity with the White man across the street. They should stop alluding all their problems to slavery. They should embrace the tales of common Africans that were able to stand against the stereotypes. Families should embrace the examples of Karl Max, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jamaica’s Marcus Garvey. These were descendants of slaves who made a difference in their lives and those of others. More and more African Americans should strive to be above the stereotypical Keyshia and Malik. I also suggest that the curriculum developers include more than just slavery when describing the African American history. They took part in some landmark events such as the liberation of American and the civil war. I disagree with the writer’s idea of Unity. Of course, unity is good because it confers a greater bargaining power. However, his idea of unity came off as racism. The writer asks the African Americans to unite against a common enemy (in this case, the white man). Calls for such types of unity could be the preeminence of hate attacks. Unity based on the primary idea that the African Americans were once subjected to slavery is likely to cause animosity. Such unity will paint the other races as evil as it could get. The modern white man is not a slave by any means. They are just descendants of a regrettable regime. As they say, the son shall not pay for the sins of the father. Calls for unity should only be aimed at making the life of the modern African American better. Unity against police brutality towards African Americans is a worthy course. I agree with the author’s idea of religious imagery. For a long time now, black people have been made to believe that anything associated with the black African religion is evil and backward. During the slavery days, African slaves were made to denounce their beliefs and take up the Caucasian version of Christianity. The White masters forced them to attend church every Sunday and change their names to sound more “biblical”. This idea of Christianity painted a superior image of the white slave masters. They associated their masters with religion and consequently, thought of them as some god. As the writer said, the African Americans did not have a problem with the depiction of Jesus as Caucasian. They had an issue with the lack of black characters in TV productions and children books, but in some way they felt that it was all right to depict Jesus as Caucasian yet nobody got to see him. The feeling of inferiority is the main reason for some people not liking the African American label. They argue that they have never been to Africa hence not necessary to refer to them as African American. I think the actual intention behind it is that these people have been raised to believe anything African is inferior. I agree with the writer’s solution to the African American problem. Political activity to eliminate the idea of a white supremacist is a good idea. Barrack Obama’s ascend to the highest office in the land was a major boost to the African Americans’ confidence and self- pride. Although he could not solve all the African American problems single-handedly, the symbol of the presidency alone was a sense of pride for most people. Professional bodies have a major role to play. Black professionals such as government officials, scientists and scholars should play their part in ensuring that the inferiority of black populations is done away with. They should encourage young African Americans to aim higher than being street gangsters and pimps. Maybe if these young people had role models, we would not be having this much social and economic problems. The idea of associating Caucasians with certain jobs is a blow to the African Americans. This does not mean that some have not risen against the odds, but there is much more to be done. The said problems do not imply that the African American community is completely doomed. Some good traits must have been a result of slavery. An aspect such as maintaining family ties is common among the African American communities. Overall, there is still hope for the emancipation of the African American community. Work Cited Akbar, Na’im. Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery. Copeland Street: Mind Productions. 1996: 1-89. Print. Read More