Breaking the Chains of Psychological by Na'im Akbar - Essay Example

The first topic Akbar covers is work. He states that under natural human circumstances, work can be seen as being essentially equivalent to play (5). It is an actualizing activity that gives the worker pride because it both provides his or her sustenance, sustenance for his or her family, and, under the best circumstances, also allows for a mode of self-expression (7). Slavery, Akbar contends, corrupts and perverts this ideal. The slave does not work for his own benefit, but for that of his master.

Furthermore, working harder, better, or getting better results (such as a good harvest) does not benefit the slave but benefits the master, which saps the slave of willingness to work harder and enjoy his work (8). The slave only works in order to avoid punishment, and thus work, like any chore with no benefit to the self, becomes a punishment in and of itself (9). Akbar says that this attitude towards work continues in African American society today, where work is still joking referred to as “slavery” (9).

These negative effects of the impression of work are intensified by community divisions. For the slave master, who is in constant fear of uprising, dividing slaves into different privileged classes is a great way to maintain control, by allowing some slaves (house slaves, foremen etcetera) to identify with the master class rather than he slave class (15). Akbar contends that these divisions continue into the present day, making black Americans focus more on what divides them than unites them, preventing effective organizing to combat the problems in the African American community (17).

Akbar’s contentions on both of these issues are certainly somewhat convincing. It is easy to imagine how having a vast history of slavery could fundamentally alter one’s view of work, especially service work which African Americans are all too often relegated to through lack of employment opportunities. The problem with Akbar’s argument, however, is that he fails to identify a mechanism through which the memory of slavery, and its psychological impacts, continues to spread throughout the black community.

Is it passed from parent to child, generationally? Does learning about slavery historically lead to still identifying with the slave? Do these psychological effects only impact people with a family history of slavery, or more recent black immigrants as well? Akbar leaves all of these important questions unanswered. After outlining two ways in which the chains of psychological slavery still impact black society, Akbar proceeds to offer some solutions, some steps towards healing. The first, he contends, is celebration of self.

Akbar feels that the black community lacks enough images to communicate the greatness of black society (a process he insists, “does not necessitate the degradation of others (37). Akbar insists that discussions of authenticity have no place in these celebrations. Kwanzaa, for example, “