been Black men who respond to racism through conformity. White and Cones (1999) explain how some Black men accept mainstream American values and goals and mainstream methods of achieving them. For example, one of the consequences of internalized racism is the assumption that there is one type of Black male, which leads even Black people to embrace the burden of racial performance to prove themselves—often by performing racially stereotypical behaviors (Young, 2007). In predominantly White environments, this pressure to act stereotypically Black can be greater than usual because Whites may provide social rewards for such behaviors (Brewster et al., 2014). Under Barack Obama’s presidential administration, the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force went into communities across the country and held listening sessions and talked with young men and boys of color. They found many young men engaged in behaviors to compensate for the prejudice others had about them. In their report they explain two heartbreaking admissions that the boys and young men made: (1) they too had internalized negative views of themselves and sometimes feared other boys and young men of color, and; (2) they would often diminish themselves during their daily lives to not appear threatening to others (Johnson & Shelton, 2014).
One type of compensatory striving or self-reduction is the GEMM mentality. Being a GEMM and attempting to assimilate to a racist environment comes at a dangerous cost as some Black men experience stress from attempting to adjust themselves for the comfort of Whites or others. For example, mental health specialist, Paul A. Dawkins (1999) explains that many Black men may experience stress related to altering their behavior to ease the minds of Whites while increasing their own anxiety. Dawkins explains his own experiences with adopting a less threatening posture around White women:
While searching for a public pay phone recently in Durham, North Carolina, I found myself reexperiencing a situation I had encountered several times before in the 15 years I have lived in this, my adopted country. I had spied an available and, I hoped, functioning pay phone in a convenience store’s parking lot and decided to pull in. There were two phones side-by-side. One was being used by a well-dressed, slightly older White woman. As I pulled in and parked my car, I discovered, much to my dismay and chagrin, that I was a bit reluctant to get out of my car and use the phone while this woman was still there. In questioning my hesitation, I came to the puzzling conclusion that I did not want to make her “uncomfortable.” I was surprised, and yet not surprised, by my reaction. Surprised because I hadn’t quite realized to what extent I had allowed others’ perceptions of who I was to seep so pronouncedly into my psyche. Thinking back, while I remained seated in my car, I realized that as an almost 40-year-old Jamaican-born man (who was aware of race relations in the United States before arriving here), I’ve found myself not wanting to make Whites, particularly White women, uncomfortable. I’ve even found myself apologizing, at least internally, for being a Black male. At times I’ve gone so far as to adopt what I consider a less threatening posture whenever I encounter a White woman, especially an older one, in ←41 | 42→places where we are alone together. Sometimes I catch myself slowing down as I walk to my car in a parking lot if there’s a White woman heading to a nearby car-I don’t do this with White males or with men or women of other races, for that matter. I either reach loudly and obviously for my keys or hold back until she is safely in her car, for fear that she thinks I’m a potential rapist, purse snatcher or carjacker. I hold back because I don’t want to relive the dignity bruising experience of seeing her hasten her steps to her car, and/or hear the power locks being quickly, and loudly, activated, which happened once several years ago while I was attending graduate school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Now as I walked up to the pay phone, I realized that this hesitation had, in fact, been coloring my actions over the years almost imperceptibly. I was also angry at myself. Had I been so influenced by the newspaper accounts, studies and opinion polls I had read that indicated that Whites, particularly White women, were fearful of Blacks, particularly Black males, that I felt the need to make constant apologies on behalf of all men of my race? It was an angry burden to carry and it was getting way too heavy. I neared the available phone. The woman had her back to me, and although she might have sensed that someone was approaching to use the other telephone, she did not turn around just then. As I picked up the receiver to dial, she turned, as anyone probably would have, to see her new “neighbor” When she saw me, she turned back around. Almost subconsciously, I continued to observe her as she proceeded to pull the handbag that had been hanging by her side in front of her. I decided that this time, I would not continue to go out of my way to be accommodating. Previously, I would have done something like taking my large business planner with me to the phone to make her aware that I was not a thug. After all, thugs don’t usually carry business planners, I reasoned. Previously, I would have spoken a little louder than necessary on the phone so she could hear not only my accent and diction but also the content of my conversation. Then she would realize I had a legitimate reason for being there-that I was a dignified, purposeful fellow human being! This time, however, I decided I had had enough. I had to let it go. It had become too draining, too taxing, to apologize for being what I could not change, and for trying to apologize for every man with my pigmentation who might have done harm to someone like her at some time in the past. I decided that from that point on I would not edit my actions. I forgot about my neighbor and completed my call, in the same way, I would have if a White male, Black female or Hispanic male had been using a nearby phone. I determined that life was too short and that my self-respect was too valuable. (p. 64)
Relative Powerlessness and Fatalism
Some Black men are compelled to adopt the belief that their fate isn’t in their own hands, but in the hands of their oppressors due to the imbalance of power and privilege in society. Unable to see the fragility of systems of oppression, many Blacks adopt mystic beliefs about the invincibility of their oppressors. Azibo (2014) suggests that this sense of relative powerlessness and hopelessness related to race is a consequence of what he defines as Eurasian supremacy stress. Racism produces a profound feeling of helplessness in Black men, forcing them to abandon hope of the world becoming a better place for them (Head, 2005). Franklin (2004) similarly argues that invisibility can lead Black men to experience feelings of being trapped and without hope. Additionally, it is also important to note that the experience of racism and high-profile racialized killings (i.e., police terrorism) of Black males are not just threats to Black men’s sense of control over their fate and ability to protect themselves, they are also a threat to Black men’s sense of their ability to protect their loved ones from racial hatred (Franklin, 2004).
Stress
Resulting from prolonged exposure to racism, stress occurs at the unconscious and conscious levels, ranging from mild to extreme. Blacks report greater stress related to racism than any other ethnic group (Wong & Schwing, 2014). The more racial discrimination is experienced, the greater the decrease in self-esteem, academic performance, happiness, and life satisfaction (Wong & Schwing, 2014). According to Wilson (1991), this stress is sometimes due to a chronic sense of threat and vulnerability due to a history of unprovoked, irrational racist hostility and psychological abuse. The consequence ←42 | 43→may be that many Black males maintain a chronic sense of stress while anticipating harm and rejection (Wilson, 1991).
Low Self-Confidence, Worth, and Motivation
Majors and Billson (1992) argue that White racism can ultimately debase Black men’s sense of self because they must carry the weight of White-originated stereotypes of them at every moment of their lives. When internalized, this weight can ultimately affect their confidence and motivation. According to Leary (2005), Black people can experience low self-esteem as a consequence of the pronouncements of Black inferiority from three key spheres of influence: society, community, and family. According to Azibo (2014), this lack of self-worth can emerge from Black people using White American cultural standards and definitions to evaluate themselves.
Similarly, Franklin (2004) argues that the sense of invisibility that Black men experience can also cause them to question their own worth. It can cause them to question their deservingness. The imposter phenomenon is a sense of intellectual and professional phoniness experienced by high-achieving individuals (Clance, 1985). These feelings are found to be related to depression symptoms (McGregor, Gee, & Posey, 2008). Head
