*During the NBA finals, LeBron James’ house had been spray painted with the N-word. With all his success, fame and wealth, even he couldn’t be exempted from racist slurs. The only way the black community can come out of this problem is by understanding the mainstream values of the United States.
The strategy is known as respectability and intends to display the culture of black people as part of social citizenship. By adopting this strategy, many from this community are protected from racial exposure and stigma. This mainstream adoption leads to an opportunity to express an equality of values to the whites tangibly.
One approach to doing this is by avoiding stigmatized practices or products. What Rosa Parks did in the Montgomery bus was not the same. She used a mainstream service but identified that she was being treated unequally. The other approach involves us to destigmatize these objects and practices.
When one opts for the approach to avoid stigmatized objects, you can’t find a better example than Michelle and Barack Obama. Their whole persona revolves around the strategy to avoid anti-black stigmatization. Everything from the way they dress and the way they socialize, helps them fit into predominantly white settings.
When this strategy fails to work, then you can move onto the second strategy. Some people in middle-class households and occupations cannot resort to ‘fitting in’ and therefore have to destigmatize their practices. Your method should not be the same as was done in the 1950’s, because racial hostility and discrimination are not as open as it was then.
There are several ways of inducing acceptability in a white society. An example of this can be the artists which bring forward the pride of the Black cultural heritage. Rnb, hip-hop and pop singers are seen promoting such values so that these are widely accepted in a white society. Now we even see white people opting for rapping as a career.
Combating stigma requires some patience and some people in the Black community even refuse to internalize this. Others, however, are seen expressing themselves through their clothing styles, hairstyles, home displays and art collections. Also, it is very important for people to share stories of how they disavowed stigmas in order to help those who have no clue.
Once attached, stigma can survive for the longest of times. Build an identity that can keep this problem at bay.
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