to explain Black male behavior. Structural factors include the economic/political factors such as accessibility and availability of economic opportunity (i.e., jobs, resources, services).
Sometimes those who use the deficit model to view Black males promote the idea that change must come not through changing societies’ institutions, but via change in people’s cultures (i.e., academic underachievement is a product of a student’s home and neighborhood culture, and not one of faulty educational structures). According to Noguera (2014), what is missed by placing too much emphasis on culture or structure is the fact that individuals’ identities and behaviors are shaped by the complex interaction between both structural and cultural factors (Noguera, 2014).
Black males have unique cultural patterns that contribute positively to human civilization. Recognizing this is essential to seeing the humanity and personhood of Black men and boys. Their cultural patterns represent the unfolding of their African heritage and their creativity in the diaspora. Recognizing their cultures is a critical step for Black males in the process of realizing their own power. Moreover, knowledge of Black male culture is essential for the cultural competency of providers of services to Black males. Understanding Black male culture is the only way to begin to properly interpret and make sense of attitudes and behaviors of Black males in ways that do not revert back to popular anti-Black male stereotypes. Due to cultural oppression, Black males must contend with tremendous social pressure to abandon their cultures or read their cultures as marks of inferiority. Black male culture is highly subject to cultural appropriation and other forms of cultural exploitation. However, intentional, systematic approaches in cultural affirmation or cultural revolution will better position Black males to realize their potential and enhance their understanding of themselves and their possibilities.
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Black Males, Racial Identity, and Anti-Black Maleness
Black males stand to draw their greatest source of power from their racial/ethnic identity and solidarity. Yet the opposition and hostility they are confronted with are a direct consequence of the threat they pose to people who benefit from efforts to subordinate Black males. They experience anti-Black maleness which is not only racism but includes a specific kind and level of hostility that the world has reserved for Black men and boys. To perceive this experience, it is important to gain a clear understanding of the various types of racism that confront Black people in general, and how Black males have experienced it both similarly and differently than their female counterparts. This chapter focuses primarily on the unique ways that Black males are impacted by anti-Black-male racism and the tools and steps that have proven effective in maintaining the success, health, and well-being of Black men and boys in hostile, anti-Black male environments.
Race is a socially and culturally defined concept; far more than a biological reference, Black identified people have defined Blackness beyond the ways that Whites have imposed racial designations on them. Blackness is determined by the worldview of those who claim it as their identity (Johnson & Cuyjet, 2009). Blackness for Black people who self-identify as such may mean common history, common struggle/resilience, community, common region or nation or origin, pride, culture, ancestry, values, ideals, identity, and/or physical appearance (Markus & Moya, 2010; McDougal & Jayawardene, 2014). Therefore, the hard distinctions between race and ethnicity relative to Blackness are primarily academic (Markus & Moya, 2010).
Black Male Unique Experiences with Racism
Being victimized by racism is not enough to understand how it functions and affects Black males on a systematic level. Many studies find that African American males report more experiences with racism than any other race/sex category (Belgrave & Brevard, 2015; Cogburn, Chavous, & Griffin, 2011; Sellers, Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Lewis, 2006). The anti-Black male racism they face involves their ←29 | 30→being subjugated not because they are Black or because they are male, but because they are Black and male (Allen, 2013). According to many scholars, Black males have experienced the most damaging consequences of structural racial inequality (Howard, 2014; White & Cones, 1999). According to Swanson, Cunningham, and Spencer (2004), Black males are the most highly stigmatized and stereotyped group in the United States. Whites have been found to respond more negatively to minority males compared to minority females in general (Kaiser, Pratt-Hyatt, & Simpson, 2009). Historically, Black males have been the chief targets of racial terrorism because they are more feared. Plus, the patriarchal leadership structure of the Civil Rights Movement made them generally more visible than Black women (Head, 2004).
According to some researchers, the racism males experience is a form of terrorism, in that both racism and terrorism involve the systematic infliction of physical and mental suffering to force or coerce targets to conform to society’s expectations of them (Pierce, 1992). From this position, Black males have been engaged in warfare for hundreds of years. Racist terrorism can result in trauma and trauma-related symptoms. The consequences of racist and traumatic events share qualities such as suddenness, uncontrollability, and negativity (Wong & Schwing, 2014). These traumatic racist experiences can be stored in one’s memory, and be reactivated triggering negative feelings again and again, such as frustration, anger, and helplessness (Booker, 2000). Some conceptualize the racism Black males’ experience in America as a form of warfare—a constant stream of messages portraying Black men as deviant and criminal, accompanied by policies that disproportionately disadvantage them, often with fatal consequences (Moriearty & Carson, 2012).
Reasons it is Important to Study Racism and Black Males
Any strategy to address the social problems that Black men and Black communities face must involve researching methods for challenging and rendering anti-Black male racism ineffective (Wilson, 1990). Understanding anti-Black male racism is critical when attempting to understand the experiences of Black men because it has in part, shaped the economic, educational, political, etc. conditions under which Black men enter societies’ institutions. Contrarily, the color-blind ideology of ignoring race is a way of avoiding the much harder work of respecting difference. That can simply be a technique of evading the effort needed to address racial inequality on a structural/institutional level.
At the heart of racism is the struggle for power. Williams (1994) argues that enslavement emerged because of Europeans’ desire for profits from colonization, and that anti-Black racism emerged from slavery. Racism persists at many levels of society—psychological, cultural, economic, political, etc.—because Whites continue to benefit from the system of power and privilege that racism systemically produces. White males have constructed a system in which they have wealth, power, and privilege and disproportionate influence over politics, economics, and law in American society. This power and privilege expands their spheres of influence in society, including their abilities to reduce opportunities for Black males (White & Cones, 1999).
The Role of Power in Racism
Failure to understand the role of power in racism can lead to ineffective strategies to challenge Black racial oppression. At some points in African American history, Black people have attempted to remedy racial oppression by appealing to the goodwill of their tormentors. An example: Black members of the military who fought
