ABSTRACT
Ta-Nehisi Coates says, “Race is the child of racism.” Emancipation resulted in further white denigration and mystification of racial difference. I discuss the work of artist Kara Walker, whose works embody the contradictory emotions that emerged from that process. “Becoming Black” concerns an African American’s first awareness of his or her racial identity. I present patient reports, and look at the writings of Du Bois, Darryl Pinckney, Franz Fanon, Forrest Hamer, Kimberlyn Leary, Ralph Ellison and Anne Cheng, as well as research on African American children and racial attitudes. “Racist Mythology: Alive and Well” focuses on clinical material and the internalization of racism. “Feeling Racism” begins with accounts of experiences of racism in Claudia Rankine’s Citizen, and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, while “Presumed Guilty” uses clinical vignettes describing the effects of being seen as dishonest through the lens of white racist stereotypes. The concept of “micro aggressions,” coined by Chester Pierce, is introduced. “Skin and Hue” considers the issue of skin shade as reflected in case material, early twentieth-century African American music, Charles Mingus’ memoir, and research with black subjects about attitudes about skin color.
