Killing Rage: Ending Racism

hooks looks back on the 1960s Black power movement. Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, and others spoke of “colonization and the need to decolonize our minds and imaginations” (119). This included advocating for self-love, such as loving the physical features of Black people. In response, argues hooks, white people denied the existence of a caste system based on skin color, willfully ignoring history to avoid accountability. On the contrary, claims hooks, there is colorism even among Black people. The Black power movement sought to dismantle the system of privileging lighter skin tones among Black people, promoting Blackness of all shades as beautiful.

hooks then states that Malcolm X marrying a darker-skinned woman helped redefine beauty standards. The way Black women embraced their natural hair texture also indicates shifts in beauty standards. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, coarser textured hair was stereotypically seen as unprofessional—so much so that the stigma attached to Black hair kept people from getting jobs. As a result, some Black people gave into white supremacist ideas about beauty in order to succeed financially, since assimilation is key to class mobility under the capitalist patriarchy. An example of this is some successful Black businesswomen hiding their natural hair texture under wigs.

hooks discusses how people forget Martin Luther King Jr.’s anti-capitalist messages and notes that Angela Davis, while displaying her natural hair texture, doesn’t center on “continued decolonization of our minds and imaginations” (124). Black people must continually work for self-determination, which is not given media attention. hooks states that she teaches self-love in her classes and publishes books to try to combat internalized racism—an effort that must be sustained to fight white supremacy.

To develop ideas about the color-caste system, hooks contrasts depictions of Black women. Lighter-skinned Black women are, stereotypically, believed to be more beautiful. Darker-skinned Black women are, stereotypically, portrayed as evil. hooks gives examples of these stereotypes in the TV sitcom Martin and the 1988 Spike Lee film, School Daze. She asserts that “bi-racial white and black” women are portrayed as more desirable than Black women (127). hooks offers the example of supermodel Naomi Campbell using wigs or weaves to appear whiter and succeed as a model, and hooks observes how she is considered more of a sex symbol than singer Tracy Chapman.

hooks argues that dark-skinned Black men do not have the same beauty standards, however. For instance, Michael Jordan is considered beautiful because dark skin is associated with masculinity. One reason this is important is because desirability is a factor in class mobility, as well as sexual attraction. Expanding on this idea, hooks discusses how white supremacist beauty standards negatively affect the self-esteem of children and teens. She also discusses how a documentary titled A Question of Color identifies the system of color caste but doesn’t offer ways to combat it.

hooks argues that everyone should critique and question representations of Blackness and whiteness. Specifically, activists need to challenge mainstream media’s assertion that racism no longer exists and work with government lobbyists. There must be ongoing vigilance against colonization. Not only conservative Black groups, such as the Nation of Islam, but also progressive leaders need to emphasize self-love among Black people. This will lead to healing after attacks from white supremacists.

hooks describes how activists in the 1800s and early 1900s were not interested in victimhood. They “chose to embrace a psychology of triumph” (133). People like W. E. B. Du Bois highlighted the exceptional artistry and intelligence of Black people. While this came with many benefits, Black people who discussed their racial trauma during this time were also shamed, and repressing their trauma resulted in acting as if white supremacy had not damaged their psyches. Citing Frantz Fanon’s work, hooks argues that psychological trauma and triumph need to both be discussed in order to decolonize the minds of Black people.

hooks notes that in the late 20th century, the rhetoric of triumph has been replaced with a rhetoric of cool. Black people present themselves as being too cool to be psychologically distressed. Lisa Jones critiques hooks and others who advocate for discussing trauma alongside celebrating the triumphs of Black artists and scholars. Hooks then makes a distinction between pleasure and agency, adding that Black people have experienced pleasure even while being subjugated. She points out that the people who focus on coolness and deny pain are economically privileged and highly educated Black activists.

However, hooks argues against the other extreme: Black people performing pain for white people. Black self-hatred is being denied rather than overcome by upper-class Black people. This denial leads to “a psychology of victimhood” (137). hooks argues that Black people need mental health care that addresses the negative psychological effects of institutional oppression. Some Black authors of fiction, like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, have grappled with Black trauma in their work. They discuss the intersections of sexism and racism, unlike their white female contemporaries.

hooks compares the works of fiction with works of nonfiction by Black feminists. These writers—such as Audre Lorde, Toni Bambara, and Michele Wallace—call for Black people to discuss psychological trauma and examine how people can heal from it. hooks observes that discussions of race are dominated by Black heterosexual men who don’t want to discuss trauma, however. By contrast, Black gay men are willing to discuss trauma.

Nex, hooks highlights the fact that the books about racial trauma that have become popular describe racial oppression in the past. For instance, Beloved is set during the era of slavery and reconstruction. This focus on the past distracts from contemporary conversations about racism, hooks argues. She then refers to Elaine Brown’s autobiography, A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story, which discusses how leaders of the Black power movement didn’t advocate for psychological development alongside resisting white supremacy. Also, hooks condemns mental health practitioners who do not look at political injustice as well as personal pain.

hooks points out that survival strategies for living in a white supremacist culture may in fact be damaging to the psyche. An example of this is masking—or pretending to be someone else—in front of white people, which can spill over to not being genuine among other Black people. hooks calls for emphasizing strategies that are not harmful over those that can jeopardize bonds of love. Repressing psychological trauma can lead to feelings of helplessness and addiction. Repression can also spill over into parenting and hinder the development of self-esteem in Black children. hooks concludes by stating that people must discuss pain alongside triumphs and resistance must replace shame.

hooks describes a class discussion that she led on Nella Larsen’s novel, Passing. She hoped her students would discuss loving Blackness, but instead, they fixated on the desire of Black folks to be white, and the self-hatred therein. hooks reflects that loving Blackness is decolonizing the mind, but even white friends and lovers can be intimate with Black people without ridding themselves of “white supremacist thinking about blackness” (148).

She next quotes James Cone about loving Blackness and destroying whiteness. To him, Blackness represents goodness, and whiteness represents evil. hooks observes that his extreme opinions are meant to shock the audience into becoming anti-racist. hooks argues that deconstructing whiteness, as a category, is key to combating racism. Cone argues that white people need to focus on—and celebrate—difference rather than insist that Black and white people are the same. hooks connects this with feminist writing that advocates for “positive recognition and acceptance of difference [...] to eradicate white supremacy” (151). To develop this point, hooks quotes Ron Scaap about white people’s need for the rhetoric of sameness to be empathetic.

hooks applies this to workshops about unlearning racism. She notes that many of these workshops teach that racism also harms white people, rather than underscoring how racism benefits white people. hooks again quotes Cone here, referring to his claim that white people don’t know how they are being harmed by oppression and, if they did, they would fight for revolution. hooks describes her experience giving a lecture on how the commodification of Blackness by white people does not challenge white supremacy. An audience member asked about all people being socialized to be racist. hooks replied that white people must be actively working against racism, and must take accountability rather than being passive receptors of societal norms. The woman argues that Black people are just as racist as white people and leaves.

After recounting this story in her essay, hooks writes a response. She asserts that the negative associations that Black people have with white people and whiteness are not part of a system of domination. All-Black communities are not racist against white people, but instead are sanctuaries where Black people can find solace from racism. hooks then paraphrases Shelby Steele’s claim that Black separatism is rooted in feelings of inferiority and it ultimately mimics white people’s racism. hooks refutes this claim, saying that Black people need spaces where they do not have to hear racist comments, such as spaces Black students create at predominantly white academic institutions.

hooks next describes her experiences working at Yale, where white students would take issue with Black student groups. hooks argues that while Black culture has become cool, white people have not unlearned racism. Citing Jonathan Rutherford’s claim that diversity has become commodified under capitalism, hooks adds that capitalism rewards Black people who pretend there is no difference between Black people and white people. hooks gives the example of “misogynist rap which reproduces the idea that black males are violent beasts” (158). White people consume this music, which perpetuates racist stereotypes.

hooks returns to the novel Passing, noting how it is the bourgeois class that punishes the main character for her desire to love Blackness, an act that they deem threatening. hooks connects the fictional character with the 1960s Black power movement. She argues that, since then, material success has become more important than Black self-determination and loving Blackness. hook quotes Paule Marshall’s novel about a Black man’s quest for material success. His widow, years later, has to recover her love of Blackness and realizes she was not vigilant about protecting that love.

Next, hooks argues that systems of oppression require self-negation. hooks asserts that self-worth can only be obtained by overcoming denial about Black self-hatred. She quotes Vincent Harding who describes self-love as a religious quest, adding that love of Blackness is necessary to resist forces of domination.

hooks opens this essay with the observation that some Black people refuse to talk about class differences. hooks discusses how civil rights activists ignored poor people. For example, Epsie Worthy, a lower-class woman, was ignored while Rosa Parks was put in the spotlight. While the civil rights movement focused on the bourgeois class, militant Black leaders critiqued capitalism. However, when hooks was writing, few Black leaders continued to talk about class. She quotes rapper Ice-T speaking about the poor community in South Central Los Angeles, but notes that he also praises capitalism and doesn’t talk about sharing resources. hooks argues in favor of mutual aid, such as Black communities growing their own food, and against liberal individualism.

She develops this point by noting that Black upper-class people imitate the way that white upper-class people use resources. Rather than rich people spending their money on the same kinds of things as white people, hooks wants rich people to build educational institutions for Black people. However, Black people who gain monetary privilege, argues hooks, do not want to admit they have privilege. She explains that the “connectedness of capitalism and the perpetuation of racist exploitation makes class a subject privileged blacks seek to avoid” (166). These upper-class Black people emphasize racism that lower-class people are not part of, such as being ignored by cab drivers.

Upper-class Black scholars, moreover, write to an upper-class white audience. These scholars lack knowledge about working-class issues and thus fail to educate white people about many of the issues Black people face. In addition, upper-class Black scholars, rather than working-class folks, dominate the media. For example, they censor “gangsta rappers” and claim they do so to combat sexism (168). However, they aren’t concerned about the welfare of women but are instead concerned about class rebellion. They therefore put their economic interests first and do not work for solidarity across class lines.

Once Blackness became cool, hooks continues, these upper-class Black people claimed their Blackness. They have therefore come “back to blackness because it is opportunistically lucrative for them to do so” (169). This focus on capital and financial success only serves to uphold the white supremacist patriarchy. hooks argues that bourgeois Black leaders need to deconstruct their class privilege and listen to the voices of lower-class people, and they must be willing to commit class suicide to start a revolution since working for solidarity across class lines is important in overcoming white supremacy.