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‘Internalization of white supremacist ideologies’ can prevent such
A study first published in June claims black parents who have “higher levels of appropriated racial oppression” were “less likely” to offer “culturally protective” and racially prideful messages to their kids.
According to an August 25 U. Illinois Urbana-Champaign News Bureau release, the study defines “appropriated racial oppression” as “shaping one’s behavior and self-concept around dominant cultural norms of whiteness.”
The abstract of the study (titled “Linking Parents’ Appropriated Racial Oppression to Their Racial-Ethnic Socialization Practices: An Intergenerational Examination Among Black Parent-Child Dyads”) defines the term, aka ARO, a bit more strongly — an “internalization of white supremacist ideologies.”
Primary author Shardé McNeil Smith said the study’s results “raise troubling questions about the generational effects of racial oppression” and highlight how ARO “may hamper [black] parents’ ability to instill resilience, cultural pride and other protective qualities.”
“[W]e find that parents’ own racialized worldview can impact their ability to transmit positive messages that are empirically found to promote well-being,” Smith, a professor of human development and family studies, said.
“Interestingly, our research found that this is particularly apparent for parents and youth with lighter skin tones.”
The study assessed black parents’ ARO via a “24-item scale” which included items like “emotional responses to being a member of their race” and “perceptions of attractiveness or superiority associated with skin tones.”
Children’s “perceptions of their parents’ or caregivers’ racial or ethnic socialization messages and behaviors” also were measured; these included “emphasizing racial pride and unity,” “instilling self-worth and positive feelings toward other Black people,” and “discussing racial inequalities and coping strategies.”
The full text of the study is behind a $37.50 purchase paywall.
The team found that parents with higher levels of appropriated racial oppression were less likely to cultivate self-worth and racial pride in their children or convey messages about racial equality and inequalities, according to the teens’ responses on the surveys. These adults also were more likely to focus on negative messages, the teens reported.
“The adults’ and their teens’ skin tones — but not gender — also played a role, in that parents who reported greater appropriated racial oppression were less likely to discuss racial barriers with their children who had light or medium skin tones,” Smith said. …
Smith said the findings suggest that appropriated racial oppression may reflect a form of internalized disempowerment that undermines parents’ ability to affirm their child’s racial identity and engage in culturally affirming socialization practices that are protective, promote resilience and prepare young people for navigating societal oppression.
Parents who have internalized anti-Blackness may also internalize mainstream attitudes about discussing racial topics within their families by avoiding these issues altogether, the team hypothesized.
Smith said “interventions” for (black) parents to help “process and resist appropriated racial oppression,” along with those combatting “structural and institutional conditions that perpetuate” such “may be key to fostering resilience and racial pride in the next generation.”
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