the psychological and socio-historical antecedents of violence: an africentric analysis

The Psychological and Socio-historical

Antecedents of Violence: An

Africentric Analysis

i Kevin Cokley

With the passing of the 1980s and the advent of the 1990s, the upsurge of violence has terrorized this nation. Youth are carrying guns to school in alarmingly increasing numbers, often for the sad and misguided reasons of protection. All the while, images of dangerous black males are constantly shown during the televi- sion news hour. Much attention and research has been devoted to the theme of violence, particularly the pro- clivity of black male adolescents to be involved in violent acts. Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1989 to 1993 and current president of Morehouse School of Medicine, organized what came to be known as the "Violence Initiative." Sullivan had hoped to look at a variety of factors (i.e., poverty, un- employment, use of illicit drugs) that might contribute to the likelihood of violence. Sullivan's ideas about violent behavior were primarily from a psychological and sociological point of view (Williams, 1994). However, researchers began investigating a possible link between biology, genetics, and violence. This area of research has generated much controversy and furor among scientists, researchers, and academics, causing the harshest critics to decry "modern day eugenics" while supporters ar-

Kevin Cokley is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, College of Education, Georgia State University, Uni- versity Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30303-3083

Violence as a construct is

reviewed using an Africentric paradigm. Black

male pathological models

of violence are debunked

while an alternative

psychological and

sociohistorical framework

is presented. Nobles's

(1989) comparative world

view schematic and Akbar's (1989)

conceptualization of Black/

African identity are

discussed while the

definition of violence is

broadened using Wilson's

(1991) analysis. Violence is

thus explained as a vicious cyc/e that is a result of

American values and social

inequities.

4 J o u r n a l o f A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n M e n

A public discourse that engenders one-dimensional emotional postures of blaming black males for societal ills will only further polarize the nation along racial lines,

gue that socioeconomic status is not a sufficient variable to explain violent behavior. Whether one supports a nature or nur- ture stance on the origins of violent behavior, it is apparent that black males wil l shoulder a disproport ionate amount of the blame for violent acts. Much if not most violence has been examined through a Eurocentric lens, which tends to take advan- tage of, and sensationalize the plight of poorer blacks for the tit i l lation of a white middle-class audience. Ishmael Reed (1994) addresses this in an article in which he states that "Network news, in an attempt to win the ratings war, has behaved like preda- tors in their approach to "objective' reporting, coaxing young black males and females to recite stories of drive-by shootings and ugly crimes." It is this type of slanted media that encour- ages truncated discourse on the analysis of violence and its antecedents. A public discourse that engenders one-dimensional emotional postures of blaming black males for societal ills will only further polarize the nation along racial lines. When public discourse on violence is framed in the rhetoric of Eurocentric analysis, the questions asked are often based on inaccurate as- sumptions, which lead to faulty conclusions, and which shift the focus from the structural, educational, and environmental inequities that facilitate acts of violence. For example, when one asks the question "Why do black males commit a disproportionate amount of violent crimes?" the assumption is that black males do in fact commit a disproport ionate amount of all v iolent crimes, and therefore they must be predisposed to being violent. A more appropriate question to ask is why users of crack cocaine are given harsher sentences than users of powder cocaine. When the breakdown of users is along racial lines, it becomes obvious that black users of crack cocaine get st i f fer penalties than white users of powder cocaine. This question re- veals the pattern of discrimination that is present in the lives of black men, and it provides a context for understanding attitudes and behaviors of black people. Gunnings and Lipscomb (1986) state that the future of black people depends on the kinds of quest ions.. , raised, not necessarily the solutions that they fos- ter. For instance, they ask "How do the person's actions rein- force and complete the cycle of oppression? What forces in society were the underlying causes of the difficulties that this Black man is facing?" Continued Eurocentric analysis of a phe- nomenon that has at its core the problem of emulating and embracing the very tenets of a Eurocentric worldview will continue to propagate misleading and false information on the antecedents of violence. An Africentric analysis presents a more systemic examination of violence, therefore being more appli-

Cokley 5

cable to a problem that is clearly a result of American social values as well as social inequities.

It should first be stated that the author is not trying to excuse violent acts of any kind. Echoing the sentiments of Wil- son (1991), this article is not an attempt to "explain away" or rationalize the misbehavior of black delinquent youths. The goal is to understand violence from a framework other than the black pathological framework that is currently the dominant paradigm.

EUROPEAN VS. AFRICAN WORLDVIEW

Scholars of black/African psychology have stated that the worldview of Europeans differs markedly from the worldview of Africans/African-Americans. Worldview refers collectively to the ontology, philosophy, epistemology, axiology, and cosmol- ogy of a group of people. Baldwin (1992) notes that the Euro- pean worldview is anti-African, and that it defines European people (i.e., European-Americans) as the center of the universe to the exclusion of all other peoples. The central tenet of Eurocentric social theory, according to Baldwin (1992), is white or European supremacy and dominat ion. The Afr icentr ic worldview places black people as the center of the universe, with the central tenet being oneness with nature. Nobles's (1980) comparative worldview schematic lists the fol lowing as components of the Eurocentric worldview: individuality, uniqueness, difference, competition, individual rights, separation and indepen- dence, survival of fittest, and control over nature. He lists the components of the Africentric worldview as groupness, sameness, communality, cooperation, collective responsibility, cooperative- ness and interdependence, survival of tribe, and oneness with nature. Harris (1995) notes that Africentric values emphasize spiri- tuali ty over materialism. It has been argued that positive mental health for black people is associated wi th their African self-consciousness, which is subsumed under an Afr ican worldview (Baldwin,1992). Violence is now examined from the vantage point of black mental health (i.e., African self-consciousness).

BLACK MENTAL HEALTH

Akbar (1989) states that "Black/African identity is a bio- genetically determined core of the Black self and as such it is a vital part of black mental health." He argues " . . . when one is out of touch with this self one is in a pathological, misoriented, or disordered self." This is operationalized by the violence between black males we see today.

The Africentric

worldview p l a c e s

black people as

the center of the

universe, with the

central tenet

being oneness

with nature.

6 J o u r n a l o f A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n M e

After hundreds of years of acculturation and assimilation of European culture, African Americans continue to struggle on most economic and social indicators because of conflicting values.

It has been well documented that when Africans wes enslaved, every attempt was made to destroy their identity t stripping them of their religion, language, and culture. In doir so it was necessary to inculcate them with European religio language, and culture. After hundreds of years of acculturatic and assimilation of European culture, African Americans co tinue to struggle on most economic and social indicators becau of conflicting values. The problem of violence among black mal can be conceptualized as an internal struggle between two d tinct and opposing worldviews, the Africentric and the Eur centric. Harris (1995) notes that it is the confusion and amt valence caused by conflicting norms and standards of masculini that eventually result in maladaptive coping strategies and ps chological distress. While it is more difficult to delineate tho vestiges of an Africentric worldview in the behaviors and at tudes of many troubled black males today, the Eurocentl worldview becomes much more apparent. For example, mai of these youth, when asked whether they value life or not, see to respond in a manner indicative of total disregard for hum~ life, particularly black human life. The killing of other blacks h become as functional for them as the adoption of Eurocent values has for many blacks. These black youth exhibit a callot ness toward black people which, upon closer inspection, in~ cates a level of self-denigration. They have bought into tl Eurocentric worldview, namely, that one must look out for or self (individuality) in this "dog eat dog" world, that one's o4 needs and wants become paramount to what is best for t group (individual rights), and that one's survival depends up, one's ability to outperform someone else (competition and sl vival of the fittest). As Harris (1992) so aptly notes: "As long a Eurocentric ontology of individualism obtains in the Afric American community, one may expect casual and justified in~ manity. A black brother might say, "After all, if it's good for n it's good for me. So step off, chump." The gangster image the individualistic African American just described is, if you w the whiter side of an all-white philosophy that is not deri~ from the Black World experience."

How is this manifested in black youth behavior? M~ black youth desire those things that seemingly elevate their s tus among their peers (i.e., clothes, shoes, jewelry, cars, et American society rewards those behaviors and values that here to the Eurocentric worldview (i.e., competition, survival the fittest, rugged individualism). These black youth have, Piagetian terms, accommodated to Eurocentric values and I haviors. When some of our misoriented black youth, particul~

Cokley 7

black males, see something they want, they take it, with no re- gard for the consequences. While some would argue that this is not consistent with a Eurocentric orientation, one only needs to review the European history of colonialism and colonization to realize that the similarities are striking!

Wright (1990) states "One of the most diff icult tasks of a Black scholar is to analyze the influence of racism on Black behavior and attitudes while escaping 'the analysis of the victim' methodology present in much of Western scholarship." He goes on to state that this shifts attention away from the real problem, that of white pathology. Wilson (1991) adds that " . . . an analysis of Black on Black adolescent violence needs to include the sociohistorical relationship between Afrikans and White America, as well as the contemporary socioeconomic, socio- political, sociocultural, and ecological contexts within which these Black adolescents must resolve their developmental adolescent crises for better or for worse." Simply put, black on black adolescent violence is fueled by a social context.

Any Africentric analysis would be incomplete wi thout an examination of historical antecedents that have laid the foun- dation of the social and psychological problems we face today. One problem with the Eurocentric analysis is that it conceptual- izes time in a linear fashion. Harris (1992) states: "The way one thinks about time determines the role that history plays in social change. If t ime is conceptualized in a cyclical fashion, then history plays a fundamental, one might say, a definitional role in social change. If t ime is conceptualized in a linear fashion, then history has little if any role to play in social change." When a linear model is applied to the analysis of violence, violence is taken out of its sociohistoric context and examined ipso facto. To talk about violence as merely a problem of angry inner city youth raised in single parent households with little to no moral training is to seriously devalue those social forces that have op- pressed blacks and left them at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. If we expand our conceptualization of violence to include acts of racism and oppression, then we see that violence, like child abuse, is a vicious cycle that, once perpetrated upon an individual, manifests itself in a way that causes the individual to vent the rage inward (i.e., against one's racial/ethnic group). These black males, many of whom are raised in destitute fami- lies and are struggling to make ends meet, know no other way of expressing this frustration and rage than to turn on each other. It must be added that "Black on Black violence speaks not primarily to social relations between Blacks, even though that is of ultimate importance, but to the nature and complexity of the


social relations between Whites and Blacks in America and in the wor ld" (Wilson, 1991). As such, one cannot discuss violence without discussing certain social realities. While neoconservative blacks would have you believe that the violence among our youth is simply the result of the breakdown of black family values, to target the cause of violence to only that one factor is, as West (1993) noted, " . . . playing a deceptive and dangerous in- tellectual game with the lives and fortunes of disadvantaged people." As West further points out, "We indeed must criticize and condemn immoral acts of black people, but we must do so cognizant of the circumstances into which people are born and under which they live."

DEFINING VIOLENCE

It is interesting to note how the word violence immediately connotes "some rough or injurious physical force, action, or treatment," as defined by the Random House College Dictio- nary. Unbeknownst to the unassuming person, the word violence has multiple meanings. The Random House College Dictionary also defines violence as "of, pertaining to, or constituting a dis- tort ion of meaning or fact." If this definit ion of violence was the dominant definition, the nature of the dialogue on violence would be radically changed from one of black male pathology to that of the very foundations of Western scholarship and West- ern civilization. The Random House College Dictionary also defines violence as "unjust or unwarranted exertion of force or power." Power is defined as "the possession of control or com- mand over others." If the old adage "Money is power" is true, then economic discrimination must be seen as a violent act. Re- search has shown that this is a systematic violence that takes place every day against the masses of African Americans. Marable (1994) recounted a couple of studies proving this point. A Mil- waukee study stated that only 30 percent of black homes were insured, while nearly 80 percent of white homes were insured. What's so insidious about this is that blacks and Hispanics in- curred higher rates to insure their homes of identical value, even though in most cases they are most likely not able to afford it! Marable also quoted a study published in the Harvard Law Re- view of ninety researchers bartering for cars with a list price of $11,000. The results showed white men spent an average of $11,352, white women, $11,504, black men, $11,783 and black women, $12,300! This type of violence is far less likely to make it on the 6 o'clock news than the violence of a menacing black male killing another black male.

Cokley 9

When one considers the degree of violence African Ameri- cans have encountered historically and on a day to day basis, "African slavery in America, economic discrimination and war- fare, political-economic disfranchisement, Jim Crowism, general White hostility and Klan terrorism, lynching . . . . differential ar- rests, criminal indictments and incarceration of Whites and Blacks, segregation, labor discrimination, housing discrimination, police brutality," etc. (Wilson, 1991), the resiliency of African Americans becomes even more astounding. Thus, when black male violence is examined using an Africentric paradigm, a new picture emerges. Psychologically, black male violence can be seen as an internalization of white racist projections onto people of African descent (Wilson, 1991). Others such as Kambon (1993) believe it is the faulty attempts to cope with White/European supremacy that cause African Americans to be self-destructive and disconnected. This in turn causes many adolescent black males to consciously and/or unconsciously deny their African roots, thus feeling no connection with other African Americans. A sense of connection to a cultural group is important for positive mental health and functioning. When an individualistic orientation of self supersedes a communal orientation of the group, the end result is an individual who is accountable to no one but himself, and is governed by those acts and principles that pro- vide instant gratification and self/group destruction, rather than being governed by the mores of the cultural group. There is a tendency to feel a certain amount of contempt, hostility or indifference toward other African Americans and all things "black" or African (Wilson, 1991). As a result, black psychology as a discipline has been at the vanguard of liberating the minds of black people from negative thoughts about being black, and healing the debilitating condition of disconnectedness from an African/ African American cultural worldview. Recognizing that violence as a construct has been perpetrated on Africans and African Americans not just physically, but more importantly, psychologically, black scholars embedded in black psychology have addressed issues of racial identity as being central to much of what ails black communities today. In terms of Cross's (1971) model of black racial identity development (Nigrescence), these adolescent black males would be placed in the Pre-encounter stage, because their thoughts and attitudes devalue blackness and overassimilate white cultural values."

Carl Rogers and Wade Nobles (cited in Parham, 1989) stress the necessity of achieving congruence between the real self and perceived or ideal self if one is to be a fully functioning and well-adjusted individual. We're reminded of DuBois's (1906)

. . . black psychology as a discipline has been at the vanguard of liberating the minds of black people from negative thoughts about being black


concept of double consciousness, that part of us that is African (real self} and that part of us that is American (perceived/ideal self}. The constant struggle between the two captures the es- sence of the dichotomous existence between Africentric and Eurocentric orientations. This struggle has contributed to the dysfunction present in our communities.

VIOLENCE IN THE SCHOOLS

Much attention has been given to violence in the schools. When one thinks of violence in the schools, images of gun-wield- ing, defiant black males are immediately conjured up. The media has effectively propagandized the masses of blacks and whites alike to associate black males with being the perpetra- tors of all violent activity in the schools. Once again, an Africentric analysis of violence in the schools asks a different question, that is, why are black males disproportionately suspended, expelled, or labeled as behaviorally and emotionally disordered, educable mentally retarded, learning disabled, hyperactive, and attention deficit disordered? Dr. Nancy Arnez (cited in Kunjufu, 1985) re- ports in her book Implementation of Desegregation as a Dis- criminatory Process that in 505 school districts in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Arkansas which had classes for those labeled as "educable mentally retarded," over 80 percent of the students so labeled were black, although less than 40 percent of the total school district was black. A large percentage of the black students in this study were male. It seems that violence in the schools is indeed real; however, once again a very narrow definition of violence has succeeded in singling out black males in an educational system that arguably is systematically destroying them. Kunjufu (1985, 1986, 1990) has argued for years that schools are destroying black boys. He notes that what makes this "conspiracy" to destroy black boys so com- plex are those people who do not plot together to destroy them, but through their indifference, perpetuate it. Data on the educational attainment of black male youth (cited in Lee, 1992) re- veals a disturbing profile. To illustrate:

�9 Black males are far more likely than other ethnic/gender groups to be placed in general education and vo- cational high school curricular tracks than in an academic track.

�9 Black males are three times more likely to be placed in classes for the educable mentally retarded and for students with learning disabilities than in gifted and talented classes.

Cokley 11

�9 Black males drop out or are pushed out of school sys- tems at higher rates than other ethnic/gender groups.

�9 Black males are suspended from school more fre- quently and for longer periods of time than other ethnic/gender groups.

�9 Black males complete high school at significantly lower rates that other ethnic/gender groups.

�9 Between 1976 and 1986, despite increases in overall minority enrollment, including black female enrollment, college enrollment rates of black males 18-24 declined from 35 percent to 28 percent.

What greater crime can there be than to systematically single out and alienate a specific group of students in the educational system, demoralizing and disenfranchising them in the process, and then wonder why they are so angry and volatile? To bring this point closer to home, let me share a personal experience. Having always felt an obligation to help young black males, I have consistently jumped at the opportunity to work with them as a counselor and as a role model. While in Greensboro, NC I was asked by a black male who was student teaching to go to his school to talk with a group of black males. Upon my arrival, I was taken to a small resource room where I was to meet the students. After a brief introduction, I showed them a short vi- gnette from the film Boyz in the Hood, after which we discussed it. The discussion was very lively, and the students shared their experiences of being singled out in classrooms as troublemak- ers (even though other students, particularly white males, were every bit as rambunctious). During the discussion, one of the teachers, a white female, entered the room and asked one of the students if he had taken some item from another student (who was white). What resembled more of a police style inter- rogation rather than a simple questioning resulted in the student being sent to a resource closet to stay until school was over (fifty minutes). I asked the teacher if I could spend a few minutes talking with the student. This teacher, as well as other teachers, shared the sentiment that the student would eventually drop out of school and end up in prison or dead. A conversation with the student revealed a young boy whose real life experiences almost made school seem inconsequential. The boy was the head of a gang, and his life was constantly in danger. He shared his frustration with school and the numerous negative experiences he had with teachers. The point of this story is that the educational system has miserably failed our black males. In order to

In order to

effectively educate black males (and

all students),

teachers must be more sensitive to environmental

factors that

directly or indirectly influence

a student's behavior and performance in school.


I I

effectively educate black males (and all students), teachers must be more sensitive to environmental factors that directly or indirectly influence a student's behavior and performance in school. With numbers like those previously mentioned, a vicious, violent cycle has been set up. When black males are alienated from the educational experience they eventual ly drop out or underattend and become wards of the penal system. There is an adage that states "Violence begets violence." This statement describes to a great extent the phenomena that we are witness- ing around us.

CONCLUSION

This article has attempted to point out the importance of not addressing violence from a myopic, Eurocentric viewpoint but rather using a systemic, Africentric analysis. While violence has been a political issue as well as a focus of recent research grants and studies, neither arena has adequately dealt with the issue in its broad conceptual complexity. The vilification of young black males in the pathological models of violence is eerily remi- niscent of the historically negative themes in psychological research on minorities. Both Parham and White (1990) and Sue and Sue (1990) have addressed these negative themes. There is something malicious about discourse on violence that entertains only the notion of the violent black male while conspicuously leaving out this country's historical legacy and contemporary reality of perpetrating violence in all its forms on African Ameri- cans.

As the vanguard of African and African American cultural awareness, it is paramount that scholars of black psychology present analyses such as this article on violence so that alternative explanations regarding social and psychological phenomena are mainstreamed into social consciousness. When we hear "scholars" and lay persons propagating black male pathological models of violence, we would be remiss to not challenge them.

I again must stress that my point is not to excuse violent acts of black males, but to emphasize that words such as violence evoke certain thoughts and images. If we are to ever begin to solve the problem, we must broaden our thinking about what constitutes violence. Then and only then will African Ameri- cans, white Americans, and other ethnic groups begin to work together to solve the problem.

Cokley 13

Note / While the author is aware of the criticisms of Cross's model (Akbar, 1989, Nobles, 1989), for the purpose of this essay, the model will be used to support various stages of black consciousness.

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the psychological and socio-historical antecedents of violence: an africentric analysis

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